Yesterday R, Baby A and I spent hours at the Atlanta High Museum. I have been wanting to go there for quite some time as they have a new rotating exhibit from the Louvre. This exhibit will be in Atlanta until September of this year. It includes the "Kings as collectors" exhibit, which highlights some of the most magnificent paintings and sculptures acquired by Louis XIV (the Sun King) and Louis XVI (the last King of France). The French royal collections are the heart of the Louvre's present day holdings. We spent three hours walking around the entire Museum which housed works by Claude Monet, Frank Lloyd Wright, Giovanni Maria Benzoni, Deborah Kay Butterfield, Tilmann Riemenschneider, Sebastiano Ricci, Nicolas Tournier, Giovanni Battista Gaulli and many others. The High's first permanent home came in 1926 with the donation by Mrs. Joseph M. High of her family's residence on Peachtree Street. In 1955, the Museum moved to a new brick structure adjacent to the old High house. After 122 Georgia art patrons died in a plane crash on a Museum-sponsored European tour in 1962, the Atlanta Arts Alliance was founded in their memory, and the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center opened in 1968, constructed around the existing Museum. In 1979, Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff offered a $7.5 million challenge grant to build a new facility; Museum officials matched and exceeded the grant, generating a total of$20 million. Atlanta 's children broke ground for the new facility in 1981 and the building opened two years later. Due to the unprecedented growth the High has experienced during the past decade in exhibitions, community programming, and collection building, the Museum initiated a building expansion program. The High Museum of Art opened its expanded facilities to the public in November 2005, creating a vibrant "village for the arts" at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta. Three new buildings, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, more than double the Museum's size to 312,000 square feet. This allows the High to display more of its growing collection, increase educational and exhibition programs, and offer new visitor amenities to address the needs of larger and more diverse audiences. The expansion will strengthen the High's role as the premier art museum in the Southeast and allow the Museum to better serve its growing audiences in Atlanta and from around the world. Learn more about the High's recent expansion. We were amazed at the size of the museum as well as some of the items it housed. We spent a great deal of time looking at the Claude Monet's (of which there were three but I cannot locate the third one they had). Claude Monet 1873 Claude Monet I loved the Denial of St Peter by Nicolas Tournier. Tournier's favourite subject was without a doubt The Denial of Saint Peter that he painted on at least five successive occasions. These paintings must have been popular at the time, as we have come across innumerable old copies. The episode, taken from the New Testament where it is recounted in all four gospels, tells of how Saint Peter denied knowing Christ when questioned by a woman who had been present at the moment of Christ's arrest; a dramatic subject that Tournier interprets as a reflection upon the human condition. The woman's denunciation of the apostle does not stir the indifferent soldiers who are sitting playing cards around an old tomb. As he gains an increasing mastery of technique, Tournier increases the number of figures resulting in ambitious compositions such as the Madrid Denials and those in Atlanta. There were a great many sculptures as well. One of my favourites was The Veiled Rebecca by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873). The way he managed to create a sheer veil over her face in marble is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. I was so struck by the beauty of it. He somehow managed to make marble appear to be fabric in such a way that is was actually startling. Unfortunately, I cannot get a photo that clearly shows the veil or the beauty of the sculpture itself as a whole. The Veiled Rebecca Giovanni Maria Benzoni was trained in Rome, eventually establishing his own shop where he trained numerous students. This biblical sculpture depicts Rebecca, bride of Isaac, as she draws her veil about her before being presented to her future husband. This piece represents innocence and purity as Benzoni skillfully creates the appearance of a transparent veil, an exceptional technical achievement. Being a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright I was thrilled to see a few of his pieces there as well. The two most beautiful were the desk and the window panel. I love the fact that Wright, when he designed a building, also designed all the furniture to go in it. Frank Lloyd Wright Designed in 1936 for the S.C. Johnson Wax Company, this iconoclastic desk and chair still satisfy the needs of that person looking for a functioning work of art to place in their home or workplace. Brick-red metal frame with natural cherry wood accent top and arms. A pendaflex file drawer, wastebasket, and accompanying file rack complete this state of the art design. All in all it was an amazing day. I was so impressed with everything and am even thinking of becoming a member so that we can go back all year, any time we want, to se the permanent collection again as well as the remainder of the Kings Collection.
Getting me some culture
The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta 's Midtown arts and business district, the High has over 11,000 works of art in its permanent collection. 
In 1983, the Museum's Richard Meier-designed building opened to worldwide acclaim and has received many design awards, including a 1991 citation from the American Institute of Architects as one of the "ten best works of American architecture of the 1980s." Meier's 135,000-square-foot facility tripled the Museum's space, enabling the institution to mount more comprehensive displays of its collections. In 2003, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Richard Meier-designed building, the High unveiled enhancements to its galleries and interior, and a new, chronological installation of its permanent collection.
1840-1926
Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil
Oil on canvas
1840-1926
Houses of Parliament in the Fog
1903
Oil on canvas
Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873) marble
ca. 1866
Gift of Mrs. Edwin Clapp, 1884, to the Berkshire Athenaeum; transferred to Museum 
1867-1959
Window
1912
Oak, colored glass, and leading
5.2.07 17:06
|
Katja / Website (5.2.07 17:47) Wow - look at you, all cultured! I love the Frank Lloyd Wright window. |
|
Sioned / Website (5.2.07 18:09) I know... me smart and likey arty things. Have you seen any of his other windows or house he deisgned called Fallingwater? It is amazing! I could not have been more thrilled to be able to see some of his work in real life. I have only ever been able to see it on line or in books. 
http://www.wright-house.com/frank-lloyd-wright/fallingwater.html |
|
Katja / Website (7.2.07 12:02) Oh my gosh - that house is amazing. I don't know all that much of his stuff, but whenever I see it in books I always think 'wow'. |
|
sioned (7.2.07 13:28) What I love about him is when he deisgned buildings, he almost always designed the furniture to go in the structures as well. So when you see photos of the insides, you will see that the furniture matches it perfectly. Take a look at the photos of the house, inside and out - I would love to hear what you think of his work. I love him so luch I am always willing to talk about him 
|
|
amillionpieces / Website (7.2.07 18:08) Sioned! What a truly fab entry! I loved it!
The denial of St Peter looks awesome, and I love Wright. Do you have the Taschen book? It's got lots of his stuff in it, I was looking at it the other day. Fab. Have you looked at McKintosh too? He designed the buildings and the furniture too, although I find Wright more appealing. |
|
sioned (7.2.07 20:43) Pete - (how funny, I almost wrote your name Pate... I am rather hungry so maybe that's why?) I have not seen McKintosh but I shall go and do some looking right now. I think I will always love Wright.. there is just something about the "feeling" I get when I look at his deisgns... you know? |
|
amillionpieces / Website (7.2.07 22:53) Yeah, I know what you mean, Michelle. Architecture wise I'm like that with Norman Foster buildings, I love them. The MacKintosh site is here, if you haven't found it... http://www.crmsociety.com/ |
powered by
20six.co.uk
