summer met visit

until january 15th, there is a special rodin exhibition . . 

 pygmalion and galatea, modeled 1889, carved 1908-9, marble.

rodin has pygmalion resemble himself, stocky and bearded.

an edward steichen photograph of auguste rodin. rodin's monument to victor hugo is lit behind his profile. the photographer visited the artist in his studio for several weeks in 1901, during which this composition was made. rodin thought steichen was the greatest photographer of his time and that his photographs showed the true soul in rodin's sculpture's, helping the american people to understand the passion and strength of his work.

a woman admiring jules bastien-lepage's joan of arc (1879), one of our favorite paintings in the museum. bastien-lepage befriended rodin when the sculptor was starting out in the 1880's, and rodin designed the painter's memorial after he died at age 36 of cancer, depicting him with his paintbrush and palette (which you can see here).

there was a special exhibit of native american art from the collection of eugene and clare thaw from the fenimore art museum in cooperstown, new york. this basket was woven by scees bryant possock, from the washoe nation, lake tahoe, nevada, 1904. the materials used were willow, western redbud and bracken fern root. the thaws began collecting indigenous american art in santa fe in 1987, choosing to approach the artifacts (they used the term material culture) as fine art with the same standards they used for their other collections.

sketching in the asian wing . . 

 this is one of two six panel folding screens, ink, color, and gold on paper, titled flowers and birds of the four seasons.

 it was made by kano sanboku, late 17th century (edo period, 1615-1868). this kingfisher is from the screen which depicts autumn and winter. the plain style of the screens, with very little color, reflects the style of kano sansetsu (1590-1651), a master of the kano school's kyoto branch, who was one of sanboku's teachers.

also from the edo period: a hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, done by the artist meiso, who they think was a japanese monk. in east asian art, a tiger depicted in a bamboo grove symbolizes a peaceful and harmonious society, with strong leadership and a just government.

having tea on the balcony before heading home . .

adding to the museum sketch in the book which i finished just before our trip to cape cod. actually, it still needs two stiff pages to keep it from bending, along with a clasp.