Today my honors group went to the
Cleveland Museum of Art. I generally prefer portraits, landscapes and that kind of stuff, but today I made an effort to look at the more contemporary stuff and try to understand it.
For example, in the exhibition
Needful Things: Recent Multiples, a lot of the stuff there made me think and I was happy for at least that reaction. The
Mummified Barbie was disturbing for some reason. But a piece by Alexander Calder just reminded me of a mixed salad. Perhaps it was just sensory overload by that time.
I was thrilled when we moved onto the Impressionists.
Water Lilies by Monet was probably my favorite in that section. I also enjoyed seeing a John Singer Sargent
painting in person (the web really doesn't do justice to the size and vivid colors). Another favorite was
Oedipus at Colonus; very moving painting of the blind, wandering Oedipus with his suffering but loyal daughter Antigone.
Sadly, we didn't have long at the museum. We ate lunch at a fabulous little restaurant called Valentino's in Little Italy and then, while getting ice cream, saw a newly married bride and groom come down the steps of a Catholic church.
Lovely day all around.