The weekend before, we went to another St. Louis cultural favorite, the Art Museum! Andrew and Juliana were in town so after our Saturday morning Kaldi's tradition, we packed up the caravan and headed towards Forest Park.
We were all very excited to see the Monet/Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape exhibition. We were greeted with a dapper Monet welcoming us to his Giverny gardens, with these two rich pieces as an introduction. The jewel-tone blues and greens draw you right in.
Next was this rather odd piece, featuring water lilies and African lilies, the orb-shaped ones jutting up from the side. The stems, and light-colored section they grow up from are quite intriguing.
Joan Mitchell, an American Abstract Expressionist, also spent time painting a garden subject matter in France. Her bright and bold colors, and big expressive strokes pair nicely with Monet.
The right-most panel with it's heavy black and layered lower section was my favorite.
And then we arrived at the piece of the day.
The scratchiness, the cloudiness, the fluffy dreaminess! I have never seen a Monet quite like either of these.
We were all enamored. Lastly was this almost unfinished-looking piece, with much of the canvas left bare. Even cataracts and ever worsening sight couldn't stop Monet from painting; he just changed the style a bit. The quick strokes and many colors add so much movement, almost like the pond was filled with a rainbow of little fish darting about.
Over two hours, and twenty-four pieces later, we moved along to the next activity, but it was quite exciting seeing so much unknown-to-me Monet in one spot. And it's always fun going with people to discuss and compare thoughts. The exhibit will be at the museum until June 25, if any of you are interested.
(photos by e.hunt)
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