A LACMA Sunday

Twentieth Century Art

Henri Matisse, 1869-1954 France, "Tea", 1919.  "The garden scene depicts Matisse's model Henriette (on the left) relaxing with his daughter, Marguerite, and his dog at the artist's residence outside Paris.  Marguerite's mask like face reflects Matisse's long-standing interest in African art....displays his interest in ordinary subject matter that allowed him to focus on the interaction of pattern and color."

Pablo Picasso, Spain 1881-1973,"Portrait of Sebastian Juner Vidal", 1903.  This "Blue Period" (1901-04) painting displays an "eerie loneliness on display in his portraits of this time".

Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuania, 1891-1973, "The Guitar Player", 1918



Sculptures by Alberto Giacometti, Swiss 1901-1966.  He was born in the Italian section of Switzerland and his father was a painter.  Much of his post WWII work was in response to the horrors of the war.  "The Cage" on the left depicts a hollowed-out space that contains an encounter between the male head and the female statuette.  "The frequent isolation of his subjects forces the viewer to confront them head-on.  For example, "The Leg(1958) features a severed body part, yet, the artist memorializes rather than devalues it."  Giacometti  is highly revered in his home country. His picture is on the 100 Swiss Franc note.



George Braque, France 1882-1963 "Boats on the Beach, 1906.  "In the beginning of the twentieth century, Paris thrived as a center to avant-garde artistic experimentation.  From 1905 to 1907, the fauves (literally "wild beasts" in French) - Matisse, Braque, de Vlaminck, among them - rejected the conventional use of color.  Instead, they used color to express emotions and to establish a sense of degree through the tension between warm (advancing) and cool (receding) colors."

Wendy Fraser, Jazz Singer at Vitello's

Wendy performed with John Chiodini, guitar, Rob Lockhart, sax/winds, Chris Colangela, upright bass, and Kendall Kay, drums. Vitello's restaurant has an upstairs jazz and supper club. It is located on Tujunga Ave. in Studio City. Colleen and enjoyed the music, some written by Wendy. We have followed her talents for years. Congratulations Wendy!

"Sleepwalk with Me"

Mike Birbiglia created the one man play and now the movie in partnership with Ira Glass and others. He starred in the movie and was on hand for a Q & A after last night's viewing at the Nuart Theater. Yes he has a dangerous sleep walking problem. The movie is very funny and poignant.

Terranea Resort Palos Verdes

Finishing my Friday afternoon roamings with a cold one at Nelson's restaurant on the cliff above the Pacific...Catalina Island in view 26 miles away and a beautiful cool sea breeze to end a warm and adventuresome day.

The USS Battleship Iowa at the port of L.A.

Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA

On Friday after lunch with friend Bonnie at Tomayo's Restaurant with good food, service and amazing art, I roamed to Long Beach to MOLAA...a beautiful modern building between 6th and 7th on Alamitos Ave.  The friendly staff greeted me and gave me a map to follow through the museum.  I first entered the permanent collection which was presented in a creative manner.  The curator had created a story connecting the works of art that was written in cursive on the walls between the pieces of art.  Below are two examples of their collection:

Judith Gutierrez (Equador, b. 1934) painted "Harvesting".  The description refers to the artist's spiritual beliefs....and the desire to return to an "Edenic" state of grace.

Raffel Coronel (Mexico, b. 1923) painted "The Family in 1965 and represents a hidden secret and an inward tension..  He broke from the mural painters with others to depict a Nuevo Presencia (New Presence) focusing on the newly arising professional class rather than on the popular masses. 

I continued my exploration to the visiting exhibit entitled "Play With Me" with several pieces that invited people to play with the exhibit.  This ranged from a pile of wrapped candy in a corner...where I was encouraged to take a piece and enjoy, to a four sided ping pong table with water in the center with water lilies.

I then roamed outside to enjoy the large sculpture garden and performance area.



Alberto Cavalieri (Venezuela b. 1969) "Fragmented Knot III" 2006 and Williams Barbosa (Venezqela b. 1955) "Dance No. 1" 2003

Max Leiva (Guatemala, b.1966) "Incognito" 2005

EleonoraTugues (Venequela, b. 1960) "The Runner 2006"

Leonardo Nierman (Mexico b. 1937) "Ilusion" 2005 stainless steel.

Carlos Luna (Cuba b. 1969) "War-Giro"

Guillermo Trujillo (Panama b. 1927) "molaa's Baton" 2005

The Cafe is to the Right

Herbie Hancock and Friends Celebrating Peace

Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl with Colleen, Nancy and Jim groovin' with Herbie, Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller, Cindy Blackman Santana, Zakir Hussain, Carlos Santa, and others.