Birthday Bronze

The next day was Taylor's birthday!  We met up for gift opening, dinner, and celebratory drinks afterwards.  Happy 25th, Taylor!

I had the next day off work so we planned a Cultural Tour of St. Louis, starting with a little coffee culture at Kaldi's.

After that we headed down to the art museum.  It was a beautiful day; sunny and in the sixties.  I got there a little before everyone else so I took a lap around the tree-lined sidewalk and viewing platform.

Once inside the museum, we started off at a new exhibit, "A Century of Japanese Prints."  It was made up of prints from the last century.  Not as cool as the really old Japanese woodblock prints, but there were some good ones.

This three-piece series was the first thing inside the door - a promising start!  They are woodblock prints done by Kawase Hasui around 1930.  While each is a dark, night scene, there are lots of layers of light and shadows, making them pleasing to the eye but also catching your intrigue.

In 1925, Yoshida Hiroshi printed this view of the Ancient Ruins of Athens, one in the daytime and one at night.  While they both depict the same location, the coloring makes it seem like two different places.

These two red-based prints are quite interesting.  The first, Bell Hill, by Fujimori Shizuo in 1923, has two distinct layers.  Shizuo used a rougher technique when carving the block, giving it the jarring movement and creepy feel.  The second, Seaside Village, by Ono Tadashige in 1965, has similar movement and depth, but was achieved in a different way.  Tadashige began with textured paper and colored it with dark ink before printing over the top.

Next, we moved into the Impressionism gallery, where Monet's Waterlily and Degas' Little Dancer of 14 Years were waiting for us.

In the same area, we found another stunning bronze sculpture, Daphne, by Renée Sintenis in 1930.  Sculpture is usually not my favorite medium, but the expressions and detail on both of these is captivating.  Daphne is a mythological nymph who turned into a tree to escape Apollo's unwanted advances.

Moving on, we found this wonderfully colorful and architectural piece, View of Basel and the Rhine, by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1927.  It's a very traditional subject, but portrayed in a very flamboyant way, giving it more movement and excitement.

Our last stop was the Contemporary section, where we found this Olympic-like painted bronze statue hiding behind a wall in the corner.  This is Titan, by Markus Lüpertz, 1986.

(photos by e.hunt)