I'm a Museum Nerd

 

I am what many people would call a museum nerd.  I love a good museum and I seek them out wherever I go.  I also love the ancient history of Egypt so, museums that feature Egyptian artifacts have a special draw for me.  (Above is the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.)

Yesterday I read an article in the New York Times about the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo and it inspired me to scan through my photos and look at all the Egyptian artifacts that I've seen that are not actually in Egypt any longer.  The Egyptian government would very much like to change that.

I've visited the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (pictured above) at least twice and I'd very much like to visit it again.

I found this duplicate of Nefertiti at the Rosicrucian Museum.  The original is in a museum in Berlin. The Egyptian government has petitioned for its return.  

When I was in London last August, I made a point of walking through the gallery with all the Egyptian statues and artifacts at the British Museum.  

One of those artifacts is the Rosetta Stone which the Egyptian government would very much like to have returned to them.  According to the Times article, negotiations are taking place.

When I was in London last August, I also took a day trip to Oxford and visited the Ashmolean Museum for the first time.  I was happy to discover another museum with a section dedicated to Egypt and the Middle East.  

The photos in that Times article are pretty spectacular and they insprired me to create this post.  Now if I could just figure out how to get to Cairo to see this new museum in person. That would truly be an adventure. Check out the photos on Google.  It's a place to be admired. 

Locating an Old Favorite

 

One of my all-time favorite paintings is this one, Night Hawks by Edward Hopper.  When I spent those years in Chicago for an assignment, I became a museum member and on the weekends that I didn't travel back to Phoenix, I would make trips to the Art Institute.  I got to know the place pretty well.  It has changed a lot since that time with a whole new wing added on.  On every visit to the museum, I have to call on my favorite Edward Hopper painting and say hello to him and those four people inside that cafe.

It is a popular painting among museum goers as you see from this photo.  It was drawing quite a crowd of admirers when I was in the gallery room.

The same can be said about the other famous painting at the museum.  It's Georges Surat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte that I featured in a post on the 22nd.  I was lucky when I made it to this gallery.  It was during the "member's hour" before the museum opened to the public.  The galleries were a lot quieter then.  

Two by Two

 

Every now and then, a little scene in a corner of a store or a museum or other place catches my eye.  I found these photos I had taken at different locations and each was a set of two.  The two chairs above were found in a corner at the Scottsdale Museum of the West.

This pair of chairs was at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort in a quiet corner of the hotel lobby.  

This table with two chairs was found in the courtyard area of the Heard Museum.

And, it just happened to have two oranges sitting on top of the table.  There were sets of two everywhere I looked.

Theme Day: Museum

 

It's the first of the month and time for a theme to challenge us bloggers.  This month's them is Museum.  I visit lots of museums in the Phoenix area but I probably visit the Heard Museum the most.  Here is a view looking north in the central courtyard of the museum.  I was standing at the museum entrance when I took this shot.  Those umbrellas to the right are over the courtyard cafe's dining area.  

To see other museums from around the world, click here.

Scottsdale Museum of the West

 

I've posted many photos from this museum before but I've never featured the outside of the building before.  During the pandemic when everything was closed, I wandered around the outside of this building photographing the sculptures that are outside the museum.  I featured that "cowboy" in front of the museum in one of those posts.

Tomorrow, I'll show you some of the other sculptures that live just outside this museum.  

Last Full Day in New York

 

Yesterday was our last full day in New York.  We have a few hours on Monday and then an evening flight home to Phoenix.

As you can see from the left, we spent some time at the Guggenheim Museum on Sunday.  They had a fabulous Kandinsky exhibit on display.

Then we did a very touristy thing and took a carriage ride through Central Park.  I've never done that before but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The trees in Central Park we only beginning to turn but we saw a few great colors anyway.

Then we ended the day with another Broadway show.  This time it was SIX, a new musical all about the six wives of Henry VIII.  Only these six wives were a lot more liberated and modern.  It was fun!

As I write this, I'm not sure what we will be up to Monday morning before we leave for the airport.  I'll report on that later.

Museum Day #2

 

I went back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday and ended up spending the whole day there.  My legs are tired but I'm a happy person.  I got to see the Temple of Dendur once again along with a lot of other ancient Egypt artifacts.

I made my way to the roof top of the museum where the view is always spectacular.  I love seeing all the buildings over the green of Central Park.

And I got to see this whimsical sculpture by Alex Da Corte called "As Long as the Sun Lasts".

It was a wonderful day!!

Museum Day

 

We started the day at the Neue Museum so that I could see the Klimt paintings, especially this one.  Ever since I saw the movie "Woman in Gold" which told of the fate of this painting, I've wanted to see it in person.  By the way, my photo above isn't the real painting.  No photography was allowed in the gallery but they set this one up for photo opportunities.  I'm extremely happy that I got to see it.

After viewing the painting, we had lunch in the Cafe Sabarsky located inside the museum then we strolled down 5th Avenue and made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  

Like so many grand museums, we only touched the surface of the things to see.  We've decided to go back again before we leave New York.  

So after all our museum crawling, we topped the evening off with a dinner at a new restaurant called Peak on the 101st floor of a new building called Hudson Yards.  Here is a view from the top.  Excellent view and excellent food and service.  All in all, a great day.

More Beautiful Navajo Weavings

 

Today I have four more weavings from that exhibit at the Heard Museum of Navajo weavings from their collection.  Above is another pictorial textile by Shirley Comb.  The four Navajo dancers look exquisite on that dark background.

Another one with a dark background is this textile by Aurelia Joe.  Her figures are conveyed through triangular shapes giving the whole image an otherworldly look. This was one of my favorites.

My other favorite was the one above by Christine Chischilly and named "The Rug Auction".  She has depicted 11 women holding on to various Navajo rugs for the auction.  Two of the women hold open a horse pictorial textile to show its beauty.  Christine has beautifully created a pictorial textile inside a pictorial textile.  Amazing!

This last one is also pretty special.  It's by Charlotte Begay and shows a corn stalk full of colorful birds.  All those beautiful birds is what drew me to this one.

I'm so thankful that generations of Navajo weavers have passed this skill on to the next generation.  The ability to create these beautiful pieces is greatly appreciated by many.  

The Gift of Navajo Weaving

 

When I was at the Heard Museum weekend before last, there was another exhibit in a different gallery that really appealed to me.  It was a collection of 46 Navajo rugs and textiles that are all part of the Heard collection displayed all together in one room.  I was amazed and stunned at the beauty in that room.

The first one above is by Nellie Curley and is called "Generation of Weavers" in tribute to the generations of weavers who have passed down their weaving skills to the next generation.

To the left is a pictorial textile by Louise Y Nez.  In the two upper corners are depictions of formations in Monument Valley.  In the lower corners are depictions of Cathedral Rock in Sedona and Ship Rock in New Mexico.  

The one above is by Alisa Ann Peacock and it's called "Rebirth".  Alisa is a 4th generation weaver.

To the right are two more pictorial textiles from weaver Michele Laughing-Reeves.  The top one is called "Canyonland Flight" and the one below is "Spider Rock".  Michele was inspired by the red rocks and canyons of Southern Colorado.  

I'll show you a few more tomorrow including two of my favorites.  

The Crown Jewels Room

 

A visit to the Heard Museum's Gift shop is almost as entertaining as the exhibits inside the museum.  I stop in every time I visit.  Attached to the gift shop is a room called the Berlin Gallery where extremely high-end Native American art works are displayed and sold.  I've always thought of it as the Crown Jewels of Native American Art.

That's where I found this huge Kachina carving.  It is hard to tell in the photo but this fellow is as tall as I am. The artist is Cecil Calnimptewa a Hopi Indian. He calls this artwork  "Shalako" and it's a mere $25,000.00 in case any of you are interested.  This fellow would certainly be the center of attention in any collection.

I also admired this bronze sculpture of five women.  There wasn't a descriptive card on this one but I'm guessing it's by Doug Hyde. It looks like his style.  

I make a point of visiting the "Crown Jewels" every time I visit the museum.  I can't afford anything in that room but looking is always free.

Hiding in Plain Sight

 

Last Saturday I went to the Heard Museum to see the exhibit called "Hidden in Plain Sight".  It contained the artwork of Leon Polk Smith (1906-1996).  Smith was born and grew up in Oklahoma  and had contact with Native American tribes in that area.  He was influenced by their use of color and shapes in their crafts.  The paintings above and to the left were painted around the 1945 time frame and were known as hard-edged abstract compositions.  All those patterns caught my eye immediately.  The close up to the left was called "Homage to 'Victory Boogie-Woogie' #1".  What a name.  

Here is another one with interesting patterns.  It is called "Inca" and dates to around 1970.

As you can see from these photos, his work is very abstract with bold colors.  I liked the way he used unusual shapes for many of his works.  It was certainly a unique exhibit about an artist who had a style completely his own.  

My Favorite From 'Clay Today'

 

My favorite two pieces at this exhibit were by the same artist, Sandra Luehrsen.  This first one is called "Busy Being Free Like a Cactus Tree".  I love this.  It would look great in my house.

Her other piece is also very nice.  This one is called "Tree of Life: Back to the Garden".  This also would look good at my house.

It was another great exhibit at the Shemer Art Center.  For such a small space they certainly have some fantastic exhibits and they support local artists.  They do a good job of filling the four exhibit rooms with wonderful things to see and enjoy. 

Clay Today

 

I mentioned yesterday that I went to the Shemer Art Center on Friday to see exhibit there called "Clay Today".  The exhibit is described as an exhibition of ceramic artwork reflective of current trends in form and style.  I was about to say that I love ceramic work but truth be told, I love art in all shapes and forms. Today I have a few of the pieces at this exhibit that I found especially interesting. 

I'll start with this bowl that I found exceptionally beautiful.  The artist is Rafiq Majeed and he calls this piece "Seven Women".  I took two shots so you could see the pretty design on the outside of the bowl along with the seven ladies inside.

Next up is a piece by Heidi Dauphin called "Tile Icon".  You can probably guess why I liked this one.  All those patterns drew me in.

These faces also attracted my attention.  They are by Dennis Alan Hubert and he calls them "Two Faces of Five" Something tells me that he might have made three more of these elongated faces.

This last piece is by Jane Kelsey-Mapel and she calls it "Herstory".  I feel like I might have met this fellow a while ago.

Once again, I'm impressed by the talent of these artists and the variety of creations.  Tomorrow I'll show you my favorite pieces at this exhibit.  

Eventful Weekend

 

For the first time in over a year, I had a weekend that almost felt normal.  It started on Friday afternoon when I decided to go to the Shemer Art Center to see an exhibit there called "Clay Today".  To the left is a sample of some of the exciting pieces I saw there.  I'll have more about this show in future posts.  

When I returned home, these two were napping in the middle of the parking lot.  I don't think it's nesting time yet but they are certainly staking out their territory for future use.  Crazy geese.  And, you might notice that spot of rain water in the center.  We did get a light rain shower on Friday which was very refreshing.  

On Saturday I went to the Heard Museum to see a new exhibit there and to have lunch.  This was my first lunch served to me at a restaurant in over a year.  I was seated out doors.  I'm not quite ready to eat inside yet.  I have been craving a bowl of the museum cafe's Pozole for ages and I finally got it.  I was so happy to dig in that I started eating before I took this shot.  Sorry about that.

The show here that I went to see was of works by Leon Polk Smith called "Hidden In Plain Sight".  Smith was an influential 20th century artist whose work was inspired by the Native Americans he grew up around.  I'll have more about this exhibit in future posts too.

It was great to have a weekend that felt like life was almost back to normal.