Thursday at The Getty Center plus the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall

After a scone and tea with the L.A. Times on the terrace of the Getty Center, I roamed slowly through the Turner exhibit one more time, enjoying the paintings of Joseph Mallord William Turner.  I appreciated his mastery and creativity.  I was first introduced to his works in 1964 while visiting the Tate Museum in London for the first time.  It was wonderful seeing some of these paintings once again 51 years later.

"Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1934," exhibited 1835

"Peace Burial at Sea," 1842z 

"Snow Storm Steam Boat of a Harbour's Mouth," 1842

I then strolled through the museum visiting old favorites and seeing some I hadn't noticed before. Here are photos of some of my Thursday favorites:

"Starry Night," 1893 by Edvard Munch, Norwegian, 1863-1944

"The Rue Mosnier with Flags," 1878, Edouard Manet. French, 1832-1883.  During a national holiday with patriotic decorations a disabled veteran struggles down the street.

"An Old Woman with a Cat," 1878 by Max Liebermann, German, 1847-1935

"Te Centennial of Independence,," 1892 by Henri Rousseau, French 1844-1910

"Russian Dancers," 1899 by Edgar Degas, French, 1834-1917, pastel on tracing paper.

These are pastels like the ones used by Degas.

"A Panoramic Landscape," 1665 by Philips Koninck, Dutch, 1619-1688.

"Saint John the Evangelist," 1625-28 by Frans Hals, Dutch, 1582-1666.

In the evening, I was off to the Disney Hall for a "LA Philharmonic concert conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.  The performance featured two works by Manuel De Falla born in 1876 in Spain and died in 1946 in Argentina.  They were "Suite NO. 2 from "The Three-Cornered Hat," and "El amor Brujo."  The other piece was "Concierto de Aranjuez," by Joaquin Rodrigo, born in 1901 and died in 1999 in Madrid Spain.

During the pre-concert program, Asadour Santourian interviewed Angel Romero, the guitarist who played the solo with the orchestra for the Rodrigo piece.  He talked about knowing Rodrigo, staying in his home and how the blind composer created his works on a piano.  He said that with a piano one uses all 10 fingers and with the guitar he uses just four and that he has to work hard to hit all the fast notes.  

 These photos by Laurence K. Ho of the L.A. Times show some of the action performance of the Falla, "El amor brujo."  The bottom photo shows dancers George Akram and Siudy Garrido (choreographer) on the stage above the orchestra.  The top photo shows the orchestra with more dancers from the Siudy Garrido Dance Company.   The performance also included the flamenco singer Argentina.  The audience was wowed and gave the performance a standing ovation. 

LACMA on Monday, plus David Brooks

I visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Monday to check out the newly installed exhibit by Chris Burden:  Ode to Santos Dumont, a performance sculpture.  The description states that plans to exhibit the sculpture began in April 2015, after Michael Govan, the museum director, saw a test run with Burden's machinist-collaborator, John Biggs, in a rented hangar at Camarillo Airport.  Sadly, although Burden completed his plans for the exhibit at LACMA, he passed away on May 10, 2015, before the installation opened to the public.  

Burden was inspired by Brazilian-born pioneer aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont who flew an airship around the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1901 which greatly advanced interest in aviation.  

Burdens other works at the museum include the Light Posts sculpture at the main entrance to the museum and Metropolis II, a fantasy composite city with 1,100 fast-moving toy cars and eleven model trains running on the weekends in the Broad building.  Here are some photos of the exhibit and of John Biggs who runs the exhibit.

Then on Monday evening, I went to see David Brooks at the Speaker Series in Pasadena.  I appreciate his wisdom on PBS and NPR even though our politics are not totally aliened.  He is now talking about his new book, "The Road to Character."  He talked about importance of integrity, forgiveness, and generosity of spirit. He said that people strive to improve their resume but people are remember and their life assessed at their funerals when eulogized about their quality of life.  He said that hes had spent "...too much time cultivating 'resume virtues' - racking up impressive accomplishments - and too little on 'the eulogy virtues,' the character strengths for which we'd like to be remembered."

David Brooks impressed me once again!

Art in Santa Barbara on Sunday

State Street, the main business street in Santa Barbara, was closed for a car show with music entertaining Sunday roamers like me.  Many of the restored cars are a work of art.  Here are photos of my favorites:

My first thought when looking down State Street was that this looks like Havana, Cuba.

Inside the Art Museum I enjoyed the "Degas to Chagall" exhibit from the Armand Hammer Foundation.  Here are a few samples of what I saw:

"Pont-Saint Michel," 1901 by Henri Matisse, 1869-1954, French.  This painting is owned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art 

"The Old Bridge," detail on the cover of the museum membership brochure, 1910 by Max Pechstein, 1881-1955, Germany

"Woman and Checkerboard," 1956 by Richard Diebenkorn, American 1922-1993

"View of a Farm in Osny," 1883 by Camille Pissarro, 1830-1903, Danish-French

"Palace Guards Warming Sake with Crimson Leaves," Kobayashi Kiyochika, Japanese, 1847-1915, ink and color on silk, hanging scroll.  I found this on the second floor in the Japanese art section.

Armor with Helmet and Face Mask, Japanese, 19th century.

"Nakamura Ganjiro I as Sakata Tojuro from the series 'Portraits of Actors,'" 1926 by Natori Shunsen, Japanese, 1886-1960, color woodblock print.

Siqueiros, "Portrait of Mexico Today," 1932, Santa Barbara Museum of Art

On Sunday I took a train to Santa Barbara and visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  I was particularly interested in seeing the David Alfara Siqueiros mural that was moved from Los Angeles to the museum.  The mural was done by fresco, a process of painting on cement applied to plaster on a wall.  The mural had been painted on a wall of a patio building at the home of a wealthy supporter of Siqueiros. It is one of the 3 murals completed by the artist in the U.S.  The other two were painted over. This one was in good condition as it was protected by the covered patio in a private home in the Pacific Palisades.  It was donated by the owner of the house to the museum and moved...the whole patio building...to the museum.

Here are my photos of the mural and building:

This is a panorama photo of the mural.  

This is the building that has housed the mural for 83 years that was moved to the front of the museum in Santa Barbara.

"America Tropical" mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros

In 1932, David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was exiled from Mexico and spent 8 months in Los Angeles before being escorted to the San Pedro port to continue his exile some place else.  During the time he was in L.A. he taught at he Chouinard Art School and created three murals.  One on the side of the school building in what is now the Korean community, one on the side of a building on Olvera Street, and one on a wall of a private residence in the Pacific Palisades. The final one was saved and later moved along with the building on which it was painted to the Santa Barbara Art Center.  The other two were white washed over because people saw them as anti American.

However, over the last 20 years, the mural, American Tropical on Olvera street has been partially restored with the help of the Getty Institute and the City of Los Angeles.  In 2012, on the 80th anniversary of it's original opening, the mural was once again revealed.  A protective cover shades the mural which is seen on the second floor on the side of a building facing Olvera street.  A viewing platform is on another building that houses a free museum and information center on the history of the mural.

The mural depicts an overgrown jungle. an Aztec temple, with a crucified Indian peasant surmounted by an American eagle, at which revolutionary soldiers aim their rifles.

Here are a few of my photos of the site that I visited on Wednesday:

In this photo taken just a few months after the mural was completed, the right side has already been white washed because it was observable from Olvera Street.  Later, the entire mural was painted over.  A photo of David Siqueiros is shown.

The faded original mural.  I was told that by painting it over, that actually protected the mural from sun and rain damage.

The Bach Camerata at the Huntington Library on Tuesday

I was a guest of Judith and Stanley on May 12th for a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's "The 6 Brandenburg Concertos by the Camerata Pacifica at the new theater at the Huntington Library in San Marino.  

The program stated that although they are often performed as a set, there was nothing inevitable about their grouping;  Bach simply put together six works he had produced over the ten prior years and sent them to the Margrave of Brandenburg, in hopes of securing a position at the Berlin court during the 1700's.

Many of the six are very familiar.  In fact, I was looking for Garrison Keillor to appear for an episode of "A Prairie Home Companion" when one of the concertos was played.  The Camerata musicians changed with the concertos but many reappeared.

Here are some of photos' of the musicians receiving applause after their performances:

The performers for the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major wit 3 oboes, 2 horns, bassoon (John Steinmetz who played this piece in the first Camerata concert 25 years ago), 3 violins, a viola, cello, double bass and a beautiful harpsichord played by Paola Bordignon.

The No. 6 in B-flat major was next with Richard O'Neill (black suit with racing stripes on the left) and Jonathan Moerschel, violas, Ani Aznavoorian, Raman Ramakrishnan and Andrew Janss, cellos.

The No. 2 in F major was next with Melanie Lancon, flute, Nick Daniel, oboe, Mark Owen horn, Priya Mitchell, Catherine Leonard, and Agnes Gottschewshi violins.

The group for the No. 3 in G major.

Adrian Spence (far right) the director of the Camerata Pacifica, joined the group and played the flute for the No. 5 in D major and the No. 4 in G major. 

 

These "Bicentennial Tapestries," 1975 designed by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and woven by Pinton Freres, Aubusson, France, hang in the lobby of the beautiful new auditorium at the Huntington.

L.A. Phil, Gustavo and Bronfman on piano Thursday night

Disney Hall was full of energy on May 7th as Gustavo Dudamel conducted Yefim Bronfman on the piano with the L.A. Philharmonic in playing Joannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op,15.  I especially enjoyed the second movement, Adagio, and Brahms melodic masterpiece.

The Hall

Gustavo

Yefim Bronfman

After the intermission we were treated by the orchestra's performance of works by J.S. Bach. The Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major was performed by  a small orchestra.   Bach who lived from 1685 to 1750 in Germany was the great organist and thus composed many of his works for organ.  Several of his works were later orchestrated.  The Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci from The Musical Offering had been orchestrated in 1934-35 by Anton von Webern and played with a small orchestra also.

The last Bach piece, Toccata and Fugue in D minor was orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski in 1927 for a huge orchestra.  We know it as the music for the film Fantasia, played by organ.  Stokowski's orchestration which we enjoyed last Thursday was full sound with great energy from 4 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, 2 harps, celesta, 9 basses, strings, and a partridge in a pear tree..  It was an uplifting evening!

Roaming through LACMA on Thursday

I returned to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Thursday to once again view the 50+ pieces of art donated to the museum on it's 50th birthday.  Here are a few additional works of art that I enjoyed:

"Russian II," 1914 by Emil Nolde, Denmark, 1867-1956, active in Germany, oil on canvas.  Promised gift of Terri and Michael Smooke.

"Dancer with Mecklace," 1910 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Germany, 1880-1938, painted wood.

"Studio Hollywood Hills House," 1982 by David Hockney, England, born 1937, active United States, gouache on paper.  Promised Gift of David C. Bohnett.

"Interior with Three Hanging Lamps," 1991 by Roy Lichtenstein, U.S. 1923-1997, oil on canvas.  Promised gift of Jane and Marc Nathanson.

"Black Lion Wharf," 1859 from the "Thames Set," 1871 by James McNeill Whistler, U.S. 1834-1903, etching.  Gift of  Anita and Julius L. Zelman. 

"From Spaniard and Morisca Albino Girl," 1763 by Miguel Cabrera, Mexico, 1705-1768, oil on canvas.
This long lost painting was recently discovered rolled up under an old couch by a family in the bay area

"Serpent Headdress," possibly late 18th century from the Republic of Guinea, Baga peoples, wood with pigments.  Promised gift of Bobby Kotick.

"Laundromat," 1966-67 by George Segal, U.S., 1924-2000, plaster, plastic and metal.  Promised gift of Jane and Marc Nathanson.

"Janus Reliquary Guardian Figure," mid-19th century by Gabonese Republic or Republic of the Congo, Kota peoples Ndassa group, wood, copper, brass, iron, and cowrie shell.  Promised gift of Terry and Lionel Bell.

Other side.

"Untitled (Circus No. 8 Face 44.26), 2013, by Mark Grotjahn, U.S., born 1968, oil on cardboard mounted on linen.
Promised gift of Steven F. Roth.

 These next photos are from the exhibit of the works of Ed Moses, born 1926 in Long Beach,k CA.  The description posted states that it was through drawing that Moses reconciled his admiration for abstract art of the early twentieth century with an appreciation for pattern, and an almost compulsive need to make marks.  The exhibit is entitled:  "Ed Moses:  Drawings from the 1960's and 70's."  It comprises over eighty works with more than forty of which have been promised as gifts by Moses to LACMA.

"Glady McBean," 1953, crayon, graphite, collage, and casein on watercolor paper.

"Color Rose," 1967, graphite on paper.

"Avilda," 1963, graphite with paper engineering on board.

"Untitled (Navajo Pattern)" 1972, graphite crayon and masking tape on vellum

"Untitled (Diagonal Grid)," 1977/2013 acrylic and masking tape on board.

Other Artists works next to the exhibit:

"Untitled," 1974 by Tom Wudl, Bolivia, born 1948 active in the U.S., acrylic paint, acrylic gel, and gold leaf on hole-punched hand-laminated tissue paper and japan paper.

"Cadmium Study with White Space #3," 1973 by Jack Barth, U.S., born 1946, acrylic, pastel and graphite with reflective paint and gloss medium on paper.

"Woman in Fur," 1972 by David Hockney, crayon and graphite on paper.

"Portrait of Charles White," 1977 by Kent Twitchell, U.S., born 1942, graphite on paper with wooden box and key.

"Goddesses in Los Angeles," 1977-79 by Judith F. Baca, U.S., born 1946, ink on paper with collage.

"Seed of Love," 1969 by Charles White, U.S. 1918-1979, ink and graphite on paper.

"Injustice Case," 1970 by David Hammons, U.S. born 1943, body print and screenprint on paper.  The description states that to make the body prints he covered himself with a thin layer of margarine, pressed his body against the paper or other matrix, then sifted poweder pigment over the greasy imprint to reveal the image.