Here are some of the photos from our trip to the Yale British Museum of Art this afternoon. More to come!

I found this piece very interesting. Unfortunately, I took these as I was being dragged out the door by an impatient 5 year old, who wanted nothing more than to select a pound of colorful M&M's from the store in Times Square, and was unable to get the name of the artist. I found it fascinating how essentially, the "strokes" or at least, the application of the paint to the paper, really was, at first glance, nothing more than paint dripping down the paper. However, when you get farther away from the painting, it resembles a very clear face.

This Andy Warhol was very cool to see as well. I've seen a lot of these paintings, and art in pictures, magazines and other references to pop culture/icons, but I never realized there were so many. I was under the impression that there was only the one "Tomato Soup." So, that was quite a discovery for me.

Ugh, sorry for the space between the paragraphs, it seems blogger doesn't allow for much editing - - or I just haven't figured out how to do it, which is entirely possible!

The next two pieces we encountered were The Olive Trees and Starry Night. Though these two pieces are very different in appearance, they were both painted while Van Gogh was confined to the Asylum at Saint Remy. The Olive Trees were actual trees located outside of Van Gogh's room at Saint Remy during his stay. Van Gogh had a history of depression, and other psychological issues, including anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Specifically, what landed Van Gogh in the asylum was an altercation he had with a fellow artist, during which, he sliced off a piece of his own ear.

Starry Night is said to reflect his obsession with death, and the after life. Stars have a distinctly religious connotation relating to family members and friends that had passed. Van Gogh was notably obsessed with death. Some even argue that the steeple of the Church in Starry Night resembles that of an Egyptian obelisk, in honor of the Egyptian God Ra, who created the Earth and controlled the cycle of night and day. While this may seem somewhat of a stretch, Van Gogh was very intrigued in the Egyptian culture, and particularly with their art.

THE MOMA 11/22/09

Firstly, let me apologize for the lateness of my post. I still have tons of photos to upload from other museums that I will most likely not be able to upload tonight. In any event, we visited several areas of the museum. Unfortunately for us, my daughter lost her patience very quickly. However, two things really caught her attention, both of which, I recommend everyone in our class try to see as well. First, and there will be no pictures to follow, we went to the Tim Burton exhibit. As many of you know from our experience with this class, as this was not a collection, I was unable to take pictures. BUT, it was beautifully-creepy for lack of a better description. My daughter was enthralled with the colors, and juxtaposition of neon colors against blacks, and leather batman masks and catwoman suits.

Moving on, we practically ran upstairs to the fifth floor to see my absolute (still) favorite artist's exhibit - Vincent Van Gogh. Honestly, I felt like I was meeting a movie star. We were able to get really up close to the paintings, and to see every little brush stroke - "swirly" as my daughter and I dubbed them - and she was in just as much awe as I was.

The first piece we encountered was the "Portrait of Joseph Roulin." It was painted during Van Gogh's stay in Arles France. Joseph Roulin was a postman in Arles that Van Gogh become enthralled with. While he was impressed by his features (deemed "socratic" by Van Gogh, because of his short nose), his fascination was primarily in Roulin's personality. He very excitedly wrote to his brother Theo about this piece. The thing he was most proud of was being able to capture the feeling of Roulin, not through an exact mirror image of the man on paper, but through the use of color, and Van Gogh's famous short stroke.

Unfortunately, due to my being very sick, we did not have an opportunity to visit the Yale British Museum of Art. However, we are still on track with our plan to visit the MOMA in NYC on Sunday, and we are VERY excited! I just learned that director, Tim Burton (of the Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice (my favorite), and more) has an exhibition opening there on the same day!

Also, I found out that Van Gogh's "Starry Night," along with several of his other works, are on display as well. I am very excited about this as well. I've been drawn to Van Gogh since 3rd grade when our class created a large mural of "Sunflowers" and I wasn't sure if "Starry Night" was on tour, as it sometimes is.

I will post pictures, and a piece on our visit as soon as possible!! Have a great weekend everyone!

This is a comb from the Congo. This piece was interesting because of the tiny detail in the design. On top of the comb, is a mother with a small child resting on her back.

Me: "Wow, Ava come look at this."

Ava: "What is it??"

Me: "it's a comb! People would use it to brush their hair."

Ava: "no it's nooooot. People didn't use combs back then."

Since, after I get my bachelor's, I intend to go to law school, I found this piece very interesting. This was a piece that was owned by priests, who also played the role of Judge in their villages. Each time a plaintiff came to a priest with a problem, having had an injurious act commited against them, the priest would put a nail into the statue. This signified that the matter was being "tied down" and addressed.