![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Getty Museum and London Trip Update
Apr. 9th, 2006 07:06 pmThe last time I went to the Getty Museum (December 14), I had a wonderful day.
Today, was a good day too. The small exhibit on "The Medieval Bookshelf" was lovely, and I'm glad I caught it before it left. Today was the final day. I also enjoyed the Courbet exhibit immensely. I had him mixed up with Corot, who also did nature paintings, but his style was much freer and more spontaneous than Corot's dark exemplars of the Barbizon School.
Still the most notable moment for me was going into the Impressionist area. The last time I was there, I'd talked with a guard in the area about one of the paintings have been hung poorly. It's one of Monet's Cathedral at Rouen pictures. I'd heard about them in various classes, but I didn't wee my first one (it's a series) until I went to the Jeu de Paume when I was 17 or 18. As I came to the top of the stairs, I saw a picture of a Gothic cathedral that was so precise it loooked like a photograph. Imagine my surprise to walk closer and find it a Monet. That one instant opened up so much about Impressionism to me.
This picture from the series was hung in such a way that it was physically impossible to get far enough away from it to have that little moment of revelation. There was literally only one place in the room where it could be hung so that an observer could view it from the correct distance. The guard mentioned there was a comment box in the main entry of the museum.
On my way out, I wrote my comment and dropped it in the box. Today, the picture was hung in the right spot. That just amazes me. It probably wasn't my comment that did it, but it was way cool to think even for a second that I had something to do with it.
I love that museum. I also found out I could make more money (OK, only $.58 per hour more) as a security guard at the museum than I'm making at my current job.
On the trip front: Snow and I have been able to push our Edinburgh reservation back by a day. I've made the reservation for the night of May 29 at the London hotel, and will pay for it next paycheck. I also got us tickets on the noon "flight" of the London Eye on the day we arrive and to see Coriolanus at Shakespeare's Globe on the Saturday night. It really feels like everything's coming together. I won't be completely happy until I've bought my ticket for Boston (and return *sigh*), but everything seems to be gelling.
Today, was a good day too. The small exhibit on "The Medieval Bookshelf" was lovely, and I'm glad I caught it before it left. Today was the final day. I also enjoyed the Courbet exhibit immensely. I had him mixed up with Corot, who also did nature paintings, but his style was much freer and more spontaneous than Corot's dark exemplars of the Barbizon School.
Still the most notable moment for me was going into the Impressionist area. The last time I was there, I'd talked with a guard in the area about one of the paintings have been hung poorly. It's one of Monet's Cathedral at Rouen pictures. I'd heard about them in various classes, but I didn't wee my first one (it's a series) until I went to the Jeu de Paume when I was 17 or 18. As I came to the top of the stairs, I saw a picture of a Gothic cathedral that was so precise it loooked like a photograph. Imagine my surprise to walk closer and find it a Monet. That one instant opened up so much about Impressionism to me.
This picture from the series was hung in such a way that it was physically impossible to get far enough away from it to have that little moment of revelation. There was literally only one place in the room where it could be hung so that an observer could view it from the correct distance. The guard mentioned there was a comment box in the main entry of the museum.
On my way out, I wrote my comment and dropped it in the box. Today, the picture was hung in the right spot. That just amazes me. It probably wasn't my comment that did it, but it was way cool to think even for a second that I had something to do with it.
I love that museum. I also found out I could make more money (OK, only $.58 per hour more) as a security guard at the museum than I'm making at my current job.
On the trip front: Snow and I have been able to push our Edinburgh reservation back by a day. I've made the reservation for the night of May 29 at the London hotel, and will pay for it next paycheck. I also got us tickets on the noon "flight" of the London Eye on the day we arrive and to see Coriolanus at Shakespeare's Globe on the Saturday night. It really feels like everything's coming together. I won't be completely happy until I've bought my ticket for Boston (and return *sigh*), but everything seems to be gelling.
