Art I Love
Recently, some of my friends have shared that they have been taking advantage of virtual tours being offered at art museums around the world. It seems like this is the first time some of them have ever been to an art museum, so I guess that’s a great first step!
I love going to the art museum and I certainly have my favorite sections. And, as an artist, my friends always ask me where that is. Recently, well not too recently, my son and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It was during the busy Christmas week and it was like sardines in there. We grabbed our tickets, and like mother like son, we went to our favorite section (it’s the same section)…Ancient Egypt.
I find it funny that my favorite art period is the ancient arts…Egypt, Mediterranean, Greece. Why do I find it funny? Because I am a flower loving nature artist, that’s why and my artist inspirations are far from this time period.
It must be because I am a closet history buff.
So, what do I love specifically?
I love the statues like King Menkura & Queen from the 4th Dynasty, Egypt, and I can look at the innermost coffin of King Tut and others like him all day. The intricate designs and gold are what get me every time. I also have a thing for all the ancient statues and architecture in Italy and Greece. Although I have never had the opportunity to create art like that, I think part of the fascination is the appreciation of what went into creating these works. Based on the time period they were created in, means the tools that were available to be used to chisel an entire life-sized person out of a block of marble is insane!! And those buildings?! Like, what? How did they build this stuff without nails? Or forklifts? Most of all, I am truly fascinated by the fact that it is still here. Many of my most favorite buildings, the Colosseum, the Parthenon, the Pantheon, are still standing!!
As for the tombs, well they were built to last well into the afterlife, so I guess they were pretty successful, am I right?
I’ve had the privilege of walking the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Modern Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. I’ve traveled throughout Greece and Italy and saw many of the sculptures and architecture I love. I’ve walked through the Parthenon, the Acropolis, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Vatican.
I would love to go Egypt and visit the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Pyramids in Giza and eventually I hope to get to the Louvre.
For now, a great way would be to try to see some of these museums on a virtual tour. There is nothing good on TV anyway!!
If you’re interested, her are links to some museums around the world giving virtual tours:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Ufizzi Gallery in Italy (I’ve been here)
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles
If you decided to check any of these out, I would love to hear about what your favorite section is!!
