The Getty Center with Cousin Mary Kay and Jim

It was a June Gloom but still a nice day to be at the Getty Center.  We roamed through the "Overdrive, L.A. Constructs the Future 1940-1990" exhibit and visited some 19th Century paintings that we love.

The Overdrive exhibit showed architectural drawings and models that were proposed and/or built in L.A. during that period.  That included the space ship like restaurant in the middle of LAX, plans for Century City, the development of Bunker Hill, the Museum of Art, Music Center and Disney Hall.  My favorites were the plans and samples for the temporary buildings and facades for the 1984 Summer Olympics.  I enjoyed recalling the L.A. look at that time remembering that magical period when L.A. seemed so perfect.

Below are some of the paintings that I especially appreciated today:

Edgar Degas self-portrait about 1857 when he was 23 years old

"The Rue Mosnier with Flags," 1878 by Edouard Manet, French, 1832-1993 Oil on Canvas.
Manet painted this from his studio window on a day with patriotic decorations with a disabled veteran.  The bright colors and bold brushwork reflect the Impressionist style.  The subject shows the inequities in French Society.

"After the Bath," 1895 by Edgar Degas, French, 1834-1917
Degas painted women in movement, dancing, ironing, bathing, although he never married and lived alone much of his life.  Some say that Degas disliked women and showed them in unflattering poses. 

"Still Life with Flowers and Fruit," 1869 by Claude Monet, Friench, 1840-1926
Monet painted this outside along the Seine River near Paris.  This is his largest and most beautiful still lifes.

"The Road from Versailles to Saint-Germain," 1875 by Alfred Sisley, English, 1839-1899
Sisley was born in Paris of English parents and one of the founding members of the Impressionists group.  Thiis was painted outside with summer sunshine.

"Portrait of Louis-Antoinette Feuardent," 1841 by Jean-Francois Millet, French 1814-1875
He painted this portrait of a friend.  However, he is best know as a painter of peasant life.

"Italian Landscape," 1835 by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French, 1796-1875

Detail of the above painting showing peasants dancing happily in a field.

"Landscape with Lake and Boatman,"1839 by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.
A critic at the time this was displayed at the Paris Salon wrote that "he produces calm, sad paintings, full of thought and lofty character...this is a masterpiece for its quality of line and the gentle harmony of its light."

A detail of the above painting.  I like the figure of the man on the lake with the reflections of the country side.