Sunday

I spent the day at the J. Paul Getty Museum.  The museum is located on top of a hill in Los Angeles and is the permanent home of one of my favorite pieces, Vincent van Gogh’s Irises.

The museum is full of inspiration for me.  Not only am I inspired by the works of art, but also the artist themselves.  Vincent van Gogh only lived for 37 years and sold 1 painting in his lifetime.  After cutting off his ear on Christmas Eve 1888, he was committed to an asylum. Although he suffered a dark life of mental anguish, he still managed to produce beautiful art full of life.  His painting, Irises (below) was done in the garden of the asylum in 1889 and he died in 1890.  He will never know how his art is inspiring artist today.  For me, the beauty of art is that it will continue to inspire others. 

In addition to permanent collections, the Getty is also at the forefront of restoring art.  One of their current exhibitions was discovered in a basement in Germany.  For the first time in 150 years, the works of 18th century animal painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry have been restored and are on display through September 2.

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/oudry/index.html

Getty Conservationalists spent 6 years re-weaving fragmented bits of canvas with tweezers and a magnifying glass so that we could enjoy Oudry’s Painted Menagerie.

The most famous of Oudry’s paintings is the life-sized portrait of Clara, a 3-ton Rhinoceros who became an international celebrity throughout Europe in the mid 1700’s.  This photo does not do justice to the actual life-sized piece.  When you are in the gallery with this painting, the enormity of the piece is so fantastic that I found myself staring at it in awe.

When Clara toured Europe in the 1700’s, she created clara-mania and rhino-mania.  Artist were inspired to create whimsical hairstyles ‘a la rhinoceros’ as well as small rhino sculptures, clocks, cases, prints and coins which were used as decorative objects in the homes of European aristocracy.