No, this isn't a football post. Nor is it -- obviously -- a religious one. Well, sort of. The act of creation is sacred. And it certainly isn't about Carl offering his support to the 'Captain on the Titanic.' Because if we don't polish those shiny medals (this one's for typing!) then just imagine how bad Iraq and the rest of the Middle East could be.
Anyway, the subject of today's birthday celebration is a woman who was (and still is) unjustly lost amidst the Impressionist shuffle of Monets, Renoirs and Pissarros, American (take that, you cheese-eating surrender monkeys!) Mary Cassatt. You know the drill: get to your local library and start reading.
But first, here's some of her stuff that currently resides at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Hey, I have to pimp my hometown now and then in a non-sporting context. Since the place is currently being nuked, the internets is the only place to be, mes amis.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hail Mary
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23 comments:
Damn, you are good.
From godfuckingdamnit or whatever that was to this, in so few and in such elegant moves.
At least you can get into your art museum for free. The Art Institute of Chicago charges $12 for adults (I think it's $6 or $7 for kids). They do have free general admissions on weekends, but to get into see any kind of special exhibition, they charge you a hefty fee. That's my pet peeve about Chicago, they are charging big bucks to get into all the museums and I think they should be open to children up to 17 for free and only charge adults a reasonable price. They used to have a free day once a week, but now they don't even do that. I know the upkeep is high in those places, but it's the inner city kids who are hurt the most by not being exposed to art and science at a young age.
If we don't allow our kids to have free access to art museums in order to generate an interest, we will lose out on a treasure trove of budding AMERICAN artists.
When I hear people talk about gender and the arts, one of my favorite games to play is to ask the person who is asserting that women have an equal place at the arts table is to ask the idiot, I mean person, to list 20 famous women artists. They usually start off great. Frida, Georgia, and then maybe they will add Grandma Moses. Rarely does anyone make it to 20.
I am always shocked that Mary does not make it to the short list. Mary, who had the nerve to play with the big boys on their own turf. I love Mary. Happy BDay to her. :-)
When I studied art history, I asked my professor during our lengthy studies of impressionism, why Cassatt wasn't afforded more ink, more attention. He claimed it was because there just weren't that many people interested in studying her.
Uh huh. I could that perhaps be because in the way we were taught, she received short shrift? Just maybe?
And, WTF, ME? No more free Tuesdays? That totally blows. It was the only way I'd take the kids to the Art Institute because weekends would have been a zoo.
Hey,Hey... the CMA sounds like a neat-o spot. I have always like museums. They are a great place to take a date. Old art and stuffed animals and rotting bones and Native American artifacts kinda turns me on.
Or local is doing an Impressionist thing.....
www.thepaine.org..... gees, now I just gotta get a date. hhhmmmmm
fran, merci. I like to balance out my vulgar Dude® side with some arty shit, that way I can pretend to be sophistimacated.
ME, that is fucked up. The solution? Spend more of our tax dollars to subsidize the stuff.
"Socialism!"
You're right, it is. Just like your health care, Senator Coburn. Now let's stop subsidizing in our best socialist commie pinko way your fucking wars.
Art, motherfuckers, art.
LBR, hell, I like art and even I would be hard-pressed to get a long list of female artists. Creation is about a universal an act as there is, along with the usual suspects of eating, shitting, fucking and sleeping.
dcup, heh, exactly. I never had a prof say as much as that, but I certainly got that impression. Look, beret-wearing dude, for most that aren't automatically inclined to be autodidacts, YOU are the gatekeeper. Spread the word about the groovy chicks. Picasso is great, we get it, we don't need to spend three weeks on the guy.
okjimm, one of the jewels in the Cleveland crown. We have one or two more, but most of the slots are empty.
Remind me to never be in the same art museum as you. ;-)
And why do you always talk about food, man? You're going to make the rest of us hungry and I'm trying to subsist on this vending machine crap!
Sorry, but you lost me after your first sentence, when you said this wouldn't be a religious post. I'm very disappointed. Don't you understand, this is what's wrong with America today. We need to bring Jesus back into our lives.
dcup- They don't have free Tuesday at Brookfield Zoo anymore, either! They are charging $11 for adults and $7 for kids and seniors, and $8 for parking. If two parents bring their two kids, it's almost 50 bucks right off the bat. And remember those wagons and strollers they would rent for $2? They're $8 now with a $10 deposit. I have a membership because I take my granddaughter to the zoo a lot when she's on summer vacation. Membership costs $101 for a year which pays parking and admission, but you still have to pay for a lot of stuff like the children's zoo, butterfly house and stuff like that. It's a discounted price, but by the time I leave I end up paying out a good $25 on all that stuff.
Again, it's the inner city kids who lose out. If their parents can't afford this, they miss the opportunity to have a nice day and learn a little something along the way. I do see large groups of summer camp type groups there, so I assume they must get some kind of discount.
Happy Birthday to Mary. Thanks for sharing her with us.
The act of creation is sacred. I think about how I ridiculously attempt to protect my creative work, afraid to reveal it entirely for fear that it will be rejected, misunderstood. It's what we do best as creative souls, I suppose!
Hey, what happened to Anitaxanaxnow?
tom, you are completely correct. This must be rectified immediately! Deus vult!
ME, EIGHT bucks to rent a fucking stroller? That's pathway robbery!
b, I understand completely, believe me. That's why I cringe when certain people ask that I post more of my stuff. I don't really like to THAT much, but I see it as unspoken bribery for others to post THEIR stuff.
dean, I've seen her commenting here and there and I think she said something vaguely concrete over at suzi's place, but other than that, I don't know.
La Belette Rouge, I will take that bet:
Frida Kahlo
Louise Nevelson
Mary Cassatt
Louise Bourgeois
Helen Frankenthaler
Eva Hesse
Maya Lin
Michiko Itatani
Joan Mitchell
Georgia O'Keefe
Gladys Nilsson
Nancy Spero
I'm not done, I could go on for hours!
Besides, as an Alumna of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I get into the museum for free. Yay, free.
I love that period of art and music. There's an overlooked American composer of roughly the same period named Amy Beech. You can listen to some of her music here
Bless you my son. You have performed your miracle for us today, bringing mary back to us in all her loveliness and talent. She was just a woman after all.
But the Diva? That broad rocks.
and you, Randal, is tomorrow sports day?
I love Mary Cassat's work. I just finsihed reading a book about her and her work to my kids. Homeschool moments at their finest. ;)
She is an elitist. If she is voting for Obama, then she is also sexist.
Utah, I took a lot of 'art in the dark' classes at the Tute.
divajood, um, given your background, don't you think that's cheating? I'm shocked and appalled!
UC, I remember reading a review of a disc of hers (I think a piano concerto) at classicstoday.com and have wanted to check her stuff out. Now I can, thanks for the link!
utah, all praise be to [insert deity of your choice] - dammit! I'll still possessed by some unholy demon from the pit!
Why no, but since you asked so kindly, without the slightest tint of sarcasm, I will pass along inside information that tomorrow is sports day.
dr. zaius, it is elitist of you to point out her elitism, and sexist to point out her sex because each of us must be judged on - dammit, my head hurts.
Oops! That'd be Cassatt. Sorry, I lost spell check in my glass of wine last night. I'm such a fine upstanding example of homeschooling... To be clear the wine drinking is not part of our curriculum.
It is for the parents, we can't function without it!
mary mary quite contrary
i like her stuff......
if mary was myron cassat -- a lot more people would have studied her/him
I love her focus on women and children. I guess those subjects haven't been deemed interesting, either. She was wonderful, though.
dcap, you are, sadly, correct.
SWB, I think that's a main reason why her stuff is so interesting, it's not the same run of subjects as so many other painters.
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