"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Sunday, August 12, 2012

LACMA (August 5, 2012)

As mentioned in this post, EPG took us to LA County Museum of Art on Sunday, August 5.

After the visit, we were discussing LACMA in comparison to the Getty (where EPG took us last year).  Both are wonderful places, to be sure.  The Getty grounds are more impressive, for whatever that's worth.  We probably prefer Getty, would gladly revisit both.

I thought the German expressionism - if that's the right term, I don't really know - was the most interesting exhibit of our 8/5/12 visit.  Really ties into WWI and inter-war stuff I've been reading.  How a wrecked country looked for some answers, or something - they faced a level of change that is unimaginable.

Click any image to enlarge all.  (And how about this look at LACMA?)

First item - caption immediately beneath it - self-explanatory.  Done by some poor guy that lived through the eastern front.



Second item - communist party - a serious contender for influence in Germany during these days (and elsewhere in the world, including the US).  Rosa Luxemburg.  Description beneath is useful.




Third item - the "Orator" - 1920 - eerie precursor to Hitler, one might say in hindsight - desperate people prone to falling for someone who appears to lead them out of the abyss.




Fourth item - just read the below description - this is detail from a large work - since it's from the French Revolution, it was interesting to me.



Item 5 - this looked great in the gallery, especially the sand.



Item 6 - they had some pop/folk contemporary work from Iran.  We were leaving so I didn't get a chance to figure out what this is supposed to be


And then there's the previously posted "Madonna with Child, Times Two".  Best in show.


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