Monet: The Early Years

What to do, when you are studying the mid 1800's and there happens to be a Monet exhibit in Fort Worth?  Sounds like a field trip day to me! The Kimbell Art Museum is hosting a special exhibit devoted to the young genius of Claude Monet, called Monet: The Early Years.  It concentrates on the first phase of the artist’s career, from his Normandy debut in 1858 until 1872, when he settled in Argenteuil, on the River Seine near Paris.

The exhibit includes his early work as a teenager, portraits of his favorite model turned wife, and his children in their early years. The exhibit include still life and landscapes including snowy scenes and windmills.  The exhibit included an audio tour giving the history behind many of the works. With probably over sixty works of art from various collections, the exhibit gave an extraordinary look at life in Monet's younger life. 

Because museums aren't always a teenagers favorite field trip, Abigail and I joined her friends Elaine and Katrina along with their moms for this educational event.  Afterward the girls talked us into lunch at Sundance Square.   

 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.  Ecclesiastes 5:18 

Kimbell Art Museum: Caravaggio: and His Followers in Rome

Calling of St. Matthew

David & Goliath



Entombment of Christ

Following our visit to the symphony we headed over to Fort Worth to see the Kimbell Art Museum’s new Caravaggio: and His Followers in Rome.  Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio [kara'vaddʒo] was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings had a serious influence on the Baroque style of painting.

In his early twenties Caravaggio moved to Rome where, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, many huge new churches were being built and paintings were needed to fill them. During the Counter-Reformation the Roman Catholic Church searched for religious art with which to counter the threat of Protestantism.

 

He burst upon the Rome art scene in 1600 with the success of his first public commissions, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew. After that he didn’t lack for work, but his hot temper would get him in trouble.

In 1606 he killed a young man in a brawl and fled from Rome with a price on his head. At the age of 38, he died of a fever in Tuscany, while on his way to Rome to receive a Papal pardon.

Infamous while he lived, Caravaggio was forgotten almost immediately after his death, and it was only in the 20th century that his importance to the development of Western art was rediscovered.  The Kimbell exhibit displays 10 Caravaggio’s along with 30 or 40 Caravaggisti styled works.  Several of the pieces were on loan from the Vatican in Rome!

The piece on display are stunning, the detail, and the lighting make them almost three dimensional.  If your headed with adults it would take a good hour to hour and a half to see the exhibit.  Today visiting with the kids I broke it up into sections, today we looked at only the ten pieces by Carvaggio.  We listen to the portable audio players with the description of each piece.  We will go back again before the exhibit closes and spend some time viewing the ‘followers’ paintings. 

Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,

do not associate with one easily angered.
Proverbs 22:24

Kimbell Art Museum: Picasso and Braque Exhibit

Picasso and Braque: The Cubist Experiment, 1910–1912, displays paintings and nearly all of the prints created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque during these two years of their artistic friendship.

During the years 1910 through 1912, these two great masters invented a new style of art now referred to as the Cubist Experiment.
 
The two friends would visit eachothers studio and compare work. Many of their pieces are very similar and most include ordinary objects in this new perspective. The exhibition includes paintings from a number of other distinguished collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Tate in London, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, and the Robert B. and Mercedes H. Eichholz Collection.

In an effort to draw a younger audience to this exhibit, curators have included iPads for use during the exhibit that visitors can compare and contract the various artwork. You may zoom in and out of the art work, adjust the lighting to see special details and even an electronic puzzle feature allowing student to re-assemble the artwork. Very Cool!

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,
and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.
Romans 1:25

Kimbell Art Museum: The Maya and the Mythical Sea

Having been to Cozumel and specifically Chichen Itza this summer, I was immediately excited to see that the Kimbell Art Museum had curated this exhibit on Maya artifacts. The Kimbell also incorporated the exhibit with their home school program allowing the kids to see a film presentation and short lecture.

.A docent led us through the four galleries looking at the accompanying wall essays, cue cards, and answering questions. Moving through the neatly arranged collection of artifacts, the Maya's human sacrifices were never mentioned, and when questioned the docent downplayed any knowledge of such atrocities. There were small animal figurines with human heads sticking out; exquisitely painted pottery with ornate scenes depicting moments in very unknown stories; plates decorated with royal scenes, dense with indecipherable symbols; stone reliefs covered in boxy hieroglyphics; tiny precious gems and jewelry; and what looked like trifling play things – tiny sculpted frogs, human figurines – that were executed with the utmost care and craftsmanship.

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In the hands on portion of class we created royal collars with glyphs. Abigail created a collar for birthday celebrations, and Frankie created a collar depicting Christmas images. My collar depicted hearts and the glyphs for '20' and 'years'. I also drew my rendition of the Maya temple at Chichen Itza and a small cruise ship. My final glyph was the easily recognized glyph for 'Jon & Lisa.' :)

Kimbell Art Museum: Home School Class

Today we enjoyed a really nice visit to Ft. Worth's Kimbell Art Museum. This was our first visit to the Kimbell. They had a program for home educators and children. Their newest exhibit, Picturing the Bible, the earliest Christian Art. Frankie, and older children created their own fresco. Caleb and Abigail created their own coins and gold inlaid glass work. After the art project the docent took us on a tour of the new exhibit. There was artwork from the catacombs, sarcophagus's of early Christians, even several pieces on loan from the Vatican. Sister Wendy, from the PBS program was visiting from England, and filming during our visit.