Returning to LACMA on a Tuesday

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a seemingly infinite collection of delights that I find a new each time I roam in the doors.  Today, I stumbled into the modern paintings from the 20th Century.  I went to visit my favorite George Braque's " Boats on the Beach," 1906.  It is from the Fauvism era meaning in the style of les Fauves (French for 'the wild beasts').  The movement was led by Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.  The paintings of the Fauves were characterized by wild brush work and strident colors.  I love the explosion of color of the Fauves and especially this painting by Braque.  He went on to work closely with Pablo Picasso in the development of Cubism.

Georges Braque, France, 1882-1963 "Boats on the Beach," 1906

I found this great Richard Diebenkorn painting "Freeway and Aqueduct," 1957.  He painted this while living in the Bay Area in the 1960's and a part of the Bay Area Figuration which was conceived as a reaction against abstract expressionism.  The painters used a representative style in order to experiment with shape, color and texture.  Diebenkorn later moved to the Ocean Park neighborhood of  Santa Monica where he painted shapes based on aerial landscapes as seen near his studio for 20 years.

John Baldessari, born in 1931, painted this "Double Bill (Part2):...and Grosz," 2012.

"Portrait of Sebastian Juner Vidal," 1903 by Pablo Picasso, Spain, 1881-1973
This painting was done during Picasso's Blue Period (1901-04) and shows his loneliness and sadness.

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Henri Matisse, France 1869-1954, "Tea" 1919
The garden scene depicts Matisse's model and his daughter and dog outside his home near Paris shows his interaction of  pattern and color.

I wanted to call this my portrait, but it was painted in 1631 by Jan Lievens from the Netherlands, 1607-1674 entitled
"A Philosopher"
Lievens uses a strong shaft of light to focus on the elder scholar seated at his desk behind a stack of books.  The style of painting suggests the influence of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio who had recently returned to Utrecht from Rome.

George Segal, 1924-2000 U.S. "Old Woman at the Window," 1965
In the background is John Mason's "Red X," 1966.  John was born in 1927 in the U.S.  It is made of clay with a bright red glaze.

 A wonderful docent talked about this painting and all the activity on the beach in the Netherlands in 1646.  The painting is entitled "View of the Beach" by Simon de Vlieger, Netherlands, 1600-1653

Claes Oldenbury, Sweden, born 1929, active in the U.S. "Giant Pool Balls," 1967
Robert Gober's "Single Basin Sink,"1985.  Robert was born in the U.S. in 1954.
John McLauglin's "#26," painting 1961 .  John lived in the U.S from 1898 to 1976