Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: Robert & Karen Abroad

by 12 Comments

“I have not been that wise. Health I have taken for granted. Love I have demanded, perhaps too much and too often. As for money, I have only realized its true worth when I didn't have it.” —Hedy Lamarr
“I have not been that wise. Health I have taken for granted. Love I have demanded, perhaps too much and too often. As for money, I have only realized its true worth when I didn’t have it.”
—Hedy Lamarr

The other day, Karen and I went to the new Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles. We ordered tickets in advance, parked, and only had to wait a few minutes to get in. The Museum bureaucracy is a model of organization and all the docents were incredibly friendly and helpful.
The other day, Karen and I went to the new Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles. We ordered tickets in advance, parked, and only had to wait a few minutes to get in. The Museum bureaucracy is a model of organization. The staff—mostly young hipsters—are incredibly friendly and helpful. You can also download the free Broad Museum app to your smartphone and choose from several guided tours, a convenient addition to the museum going experience.

 

Here's a view from inside the lobby. As you can see, there's a long line to get in which was a surprise because we were there in the middle of the week.
Here’s a view from inside the lobby. As you can see, there’s a long line to get in which was a surprise because we were there in the middle of the week.

 

We took an escalator that cuts through the central vault of the compelling building to the galleries on the upper floor.
We took an escalator that cuts through the central vault of the compelling building to the galleries on the upper floor.

 

Karen and I both find museum going to be kind of exhausting. Your senses are bombarded with powerful images. Here Karen studies an elegant and disturbing painting by John Currin. Patch and Pearl 2006 oil on canvas 80 x 50 in. (203.2 x 127 cm)
Karen and I both find museum going to be kind of exhausting. Your senses are bombarded with powerful images. Here Karen studies an elegant and disturbing painting by John Currin. On the one hand you get Norman Rockwell faces and pose, but the pregnant bodies seem backward. Patch and Pearl, 2006, oil on canvas, 80 x 50 in.

 

Big Orange by Sam Francis brings to mind French Impressionism, clouds and the dappled surface of a garden pond. Big Orange 1954-55 oil on canvas 118 1/4 x 76 in. (300.36 x 193.04 cm)
Big Orange by Sam Francis brings to mind French Impressionism, moving clouds, and the dappled surface of a garden pond. 
1954-55, oil on canvas, 118 1/4 x 76 in.

 

It's easy to forget that Roy Lichtenstein's comic book inspired art was considered quite radical when it first appeared in the 1960s. Now, looking at his work is like meeting up with an old friend. I...I'm Sorry! 1965-66 oil and Magna on canvas 60 x 48 in.
It’s easy to forget that Roy Lichtenstein’s comic book inspired art was wildly radical when it first appeared in the 1960s. But Lichtenstein brilliantly married pop culture with classical art. This is the biblical Eve as a modern woman, regretting what she has done. I…I’m Sorry! 1965-66, oil and Magna on canvas
60 x 48 in.

 

Here's a wonderful work by Mark Grotjahn.
Here’s one panel of an elegant nine-panel work by Mark Grotjahn. The images seem to dance in shifting perspectives.

 

Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Dancing Black Butterflies) 2007 color pencil on paper in nine parts variable, 9 parts from 65 3/4 x 47 3/4 inches to 72 x 48 inches
Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Dancing Black Butterflies), 2007, color pencil on paper in nine parts, variable, 9 parts from 65 3/4 x 47 3/4 inches to 72 x 48 inches.

 

Jeff Koons' work is a one-note statement about art and commerce. But I have to admit that his dopey work makes for a fun picture. Michael Jackson and Bubbles 1988 porcelain 42 x 70 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.
Jeff Koons’ work is a one-note statement about art and commerce. But I have to admit that his dopey work makes for a fun picture. Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988, porcelain, 42 x 70 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.

 

This spectacular painting by modern master Richard Diebenkorn is a lush field for the eyes. Ocean Park #90 1976 oil on canvas 100 x 81 in. (254 x 205.74 cm)
This monumental painting by modern master Richard Diebenkorn is a lush field for the eyes. The Ocean Park series, painted in Santa Monica, are abstract, but look carefully and you will glean references to the ocean, street traffic, architecture, and light that washes through windows. Ocean Park #90, 1976, oil on canvas, 100 x 81 in.

 

The big lady in pink by Charles Ray is amusing but she's also somewhat threatening. Fall '91 1992 mixed media 96 x 26 x 36 in.
The eight foot tall lady in pink by Charles Ray is amusing but she’s also somewhat threatening. Fall ’91, 1992, mixed media, 96 x 26 x 36 in.

 

Cy Twombly paintings bring to mind the mad scrawlings of a giant trying to discover language. Nini's Painting, [Rome], 1971, oil based house paint, wax crayon, and lead pencil on canvas, 102 3/4 x 118 1/4 in.
Cy Twombly paintings bring to mind the mad scrawlings of a giant trying to discover language. Nini’s Painting, [Rome], 1971, oil based house paint, wax crayon, and lead pencil on canvas, 102 3/4 x 118 1/4 in.
This painting by Ellsworth Kelly is such a powerful optic that I could not stare at it for very long without becoming dizzy. Green Relief with Blue 2011 oil on canvas, two joined panels 70 x 67 x 2 5/8 in. (177.8 x 170.18 x 6.67 cm)
This painting by Ellsworth Kelly is such a powerful optic that I could not stare at it for very long without becoming dizzy. Green Relief with Blue, 2011, oil on canvas, two joined panels 70 x 67 x 2 5/8 in.

 

 

Under the Table 1994 wood, metal and enamel 117 x 312 x 216 in. (297.2 x 792.5 x 548.6 cm).
Robert Therrien, Under the Table, 1994, wood, metal and enamel, 117 x 312 x 216 in.

 

Our favorite work of art is Robert Therrien's Big Table and Chairs. As children we all crawled underneath the dining room table where our imaginations ran fee. The museum encourages visitors to stand under the table, but not to climb up the chairs—which is a huge temptation.
Our favorite work of art was Robert Therrien’s Under the Table. As children we all crawled underneath the dining room table where our imaginations ran free. The museum encourages visitors to stand under the table, but not to climb up the chairs—which is a huge temptation.

 

Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Still series is hear earliest and still her best work. Untitled Film Still #54 1980 gelatin silver print 8 x 10 in. (20.32 x 25.4 cm)
Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Still series is her earliest and most fully resolved work. She conjures old Hollywood as a haunted frame of celluloid. Untitled Film Still #54, 1980, gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 in.

 

“You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.” ― Marilyn Monroe
“You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.”
― Marilyn Monroe

 

Lielle Meital wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.
Lielle Meital wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.

 

fin

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Those examples to me were binary – I either liked them or disliked them. The pregnant women – were bizarre. Don’t get the Diebenkorn picture – but I suspect you either get it – or not.

    Jackson Pollock? For me, forget it.

    Perhaps my view of art is a result of not being educated enough it it, but I like what I like.

    Melbourne, Australia has a wonderful art museum and I remember years ago being taken by many exhibitions Australian high schoolers had on temporary exhibits – as the permanent display paintings.

    I remember seeing the Paul Gauguin museum in Tahiti and a quote from him that he if could only get a few francs for one of his paintings, he could have a decent meal (or something to that effect) so appreciation of art – or lack of it – there is no scientific formula.

    It’s not objective but subjective and time can alter one’s appreciation (or lack of same).

  6. I love the exterior of the museum photo — very cool. I really like Lichtenstein’s comic book technique. Ellsworth Kelly’s blue and green is compelling, but I have to agree — the table exhibit is my favorite!

    Now, about your photography technique — I hope Karen likes having her backside photographed! 🙂

Leave a Reply