Art in Bloom #7

 Some of my photos of the art work to accompany the beautiful Art in Bloom creations did not photograph well but I would like you to see some of the bouquets.  This is my last post of this spectacular event until it occurs again next year!!

                                                                  

Art in Bloom #6-"Two Muses of Tavernelle (Niccoló?)

The two creators of this bouquet in their description said, "When selecting a piece of art for Art in Bloom, we only chose pieces created by women or featuring them.  Two Muses depicts Thalia and Melpomene,  two of  the nine goddesses of the arts, literature, and sciences.  We liked the brilliant colors and the challenge of interpreting the details."  I think that they did a masterful job by including carnations, Ming ferns, pansies, celosia, river cane and grasses.

After today I will show only one more photo from the exhibit, until next year! To see another Art in Bloom bouquet that I  have already posted, go here.

Patron of the Arts

Not all bouquets at the Art in Bloom's recent exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts were in vases.  For previous photos of the bouquets paired with pieces of art, click here and here.

ADDED LATER:  I just discovered from Irina's Moscow blog that yesterday was International Museum Day. I must remember it for next year!  I try to do my bit to honour art, in all its forms.  This is what Wikipedia said about the day:

The International Museum Day is a celebration that is held each year on or about 18 May. Each year, the Advisory Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a specific theme for International Museum Day.

“	The event provides the opportunity for museum professionals to meet the public and alert them to the challenges that museums face if they are to be — as in the ICOM definition of museums — 'an institution in the service of society and of its development'.

Camera Critters-Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Want a dog but allergic to pets?  Ask artist Yoshitomo Nara to craft a smaller fiberglass canine for you like this one at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which measures 72x51x108 inches.

To see more Camera Critters, click here.

Art in Bloom #2 "Bronze"

The floral arranger, Gloria Miller, indicated, "The first time I looked at this painting, I saw red flowers.  I have no idea what the artist is trying to portray, but that is what I saw.  I like the softness, but also the 'explosive' feeling of the colors and the entire painting.  It  has a very vibrant look to it."

Unlike many of the other floral arrangements in the show which tended to be somewhat large, I was struck by the contrast of the huge painting accompanied by the smaller traditional bouquet of peonies, alstroemeria (red) and eucalyptus.  

To learn more about the Art in Bloom show, the MIA had extended an invitation to the public on their website:

SPECIAL EVENT

Art in Bloom

April 28-May 1, 2011
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

museum-wide

Join us for Art in Bloom, a four-day festival of fresh floral arrangements and fine art, presented by the Friends of the Institute at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This spring celebration highlights the talents of more than 150 floral artists, whose work will be on view next to the works of art that inspired them. From Thursday through Sunday, you're invited to experience the floral fragrance throughout the museum, enjoy a lecture or demonstration, attend a party or free docent tour, and browse in the Art in Bloom Shop.

Conical Shelters

I decided that a little jaunt to that other city (Minneapolis) would be fun so I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a museum that never ceases to delight me.  On the front lawn several tepees are erected, facsimiles of the kind used by the Indians of the Plains and Great Lakes regions.  If these moveable conical shapes could provide housing and shelter for the Native Americans during our too-often-brutal winters, I guess I should have no complaints this year.  How's that for a little bit or rationalizing?!

Lucretia

"According to the Roman historian Livy, Lucretia, the wife of a Roman nobleman, was known for her virtue and loyalty. She was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the ruling tyrant. The next day Lucretia revealed the crime to her husband and father and, in their presence, took her own life, choosing death over dishonor. Rembrandt used the story of Lucretia as the subject for two of his most moving paintings in which he represented two moments in the tragedy of Lucretia's suicide. The first version, painted in 1664 and in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, depicts Lucretia just before she takes her life. This second version, painted in 1666, portrays Lucretia moments after she had plunged the knife into her heart." (From the Minneapolis Institute of Arts website). This version is part of the collection in the museum here in river city.  Students often exercise their talents by painting in the museum.

What would Rembrandt think?

Priceless Chair and Priceless Story

I snapped this photo on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at the entrance of the Chinese exhibit; take a good look at this priceless chair, valued at approximately $600,000. It has a priceless story attached to it, which occurred in June, 2000.

From an AP press report:
A museum visitor looking for a place to rest his feet
picked an expensive place to sit.

The man failed to heed a do-not-touch sign Sunday at
the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and sat down on a
16th-century Ming Dynasty chair, breaking its
horseshoe-shaped back in three places.

Officials said the chair, worth six figures, can be
repaired.

"We were very fortunate the chair backing broke on old
break lines," said Evan Maurer, museum director. "It's
been broken before."

The chair will be sent to the restorer in London who
previously worked on it.

No charges will be filed against the visitor, whose
name was not released.

"It was a terrible mistake, and he felt terrible about
it," Maurer said.
==========
My comment? STUPID MAN!!

Sunburst-The Answer

I thought that this quiz was going to be far more difficult. I guess that I gave too many hints in the commentary. Strangetastes from St. Louis, Missouri, clever little devil, found the answer on the MIA website and wins the postcard. The beautiful chandelier by Dale Chihuly can be found in the foyer of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. When it was being constructed, piece-by-piece, my then-preschool grandson and I sat off-and-on in the mezzanine for two days watching the worker bees putting each piece in its alloted place. Illuminated by neon lights in the interior, here is how the the museum describes it:

"Since the 1960s, Dale Chihuly has pushed the limits of glass in all directions -- including color, scale, and display -- to form organic, sculptural environments. Chihuly studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Rhode Island School of Design, where he experimented with glass, neon gas, steel, and Plexiglas. In 1968 a Fulbright scholarship allowed him to study at Venini Fabrica. There, he absorbed the ancient Venetian method of teamwork, in which glass masters work with assistants to produce a collaborative work. Chihuly brought the method back to RISD, and in the early 1980s, back to his home state of Washington. He centers his glassmaking and teaching activity in Seattle at his studio, The Boathouse, and the Pilchuck Glass School. Since loosing an eye in a car accident in 1976, Chihuly now serves as designer and director of his collaborative works, no longer blowing glass himself. Sunburst is made up of more than 1,000 individual pieces of glass and 100 feet of neon tubing. It weights more than 3,000 lbs." (MIA Website)