Bouquets to Art , De Young Museum, SF

Wednesday,  I went to the Bouquets to Art show at the De Young Museum SF. Florists are chosen to
create floral arrangements for a piece of art. They list 5 different pieces they would like to create and a committee assigns them one. The show lasts from Tuesday-Friday and has been an annual event for 33 years!

I went first thing in the morning, arriving before the doors opened to an already waiting crowd. Unbeknownst to me they had instated a new policy of no photos allowed before noon.So I (in good company with other people) had to surreptitiously sneak photos with my iphone. Some of the arrangements were not possible to shoot due to guards or too many people.
My favorite arrangement is by Waterlily Pond Floral and the painting for inspiration is "Singing Beach, Manchester Ma." by Martin Johnson Heads

One of my favorite painters - Richard Diebenkorn,  Ocean Park 116. I was trying to avoid a guard so didn't get a chance to see who the florist was. I really like the arrangement they made for this painting.

I love the simplicity of this black and white painting with the accompanying floral arrangement.

Unfortunately I don't know the names of the artist or florist. If you do

know please post in the comments below.

Some unusual pieces

This still life was mostly made from wax!

Close up of a large piece created with cardboard, dripping wax

and plants.

Cute Bear

Don't know artist or florist:

Close up of a  floral dress to mimic dress in painting:

Artist -Edmond C. Tarbell, "The Blue Veil"

Florist Three Sisters Custom Flowers

Artist - George Hitchcock, "Tulip Culture,"
Florist - Poppy's Petalworks 

                                                                waterfall

Artist Willard L. Metfalf,  "Winter Festival,"

Florist - Takako Ikebana Studio

There is a Frank Stella's prints exhibit going on till April 30th so some of the florists

chose to create some very clever arrangements for some of his pieces.

New York Impressions Four -Museums - James Rosenquist

Wow! I had a rare treat yesterday. While I was at the MOMA,  I walked into a small room filled with wall to wall paintings by  pop artist James Rosenquest. He was there being interviewed for an art magazine.  The article is suppose to be posted online next week.  I will post a link to it once I find it.  I had a wonderful opportunity to ask him some questions and he was very gracious.

"F-111" is 86 feet long and wraps around four walls and is extremely powerful to be immersed in these images.

 Some details:

The interviewer asked Mr. Rosenquest about the spaghetti, and his response was that he found "spaghetti to be very sexy."

Studies for F-111:

 To learn more about this artist,  you can visit his web-site http://www.jimrosenquist-artist.com/

New York - Impressions Four - Museums part two

 Yesterday I visited the MOMA, my favorite modern art museum.  Over the years it has gone through many expansions and changes.  It has a wonderful restaurant but I like the cafe even better!  Museum restaurants are the my favorite places to eat lunch.

Presently there is a small drawing show where I found this treasure by Mark Rothko:

Some other works that caught my eye:
Yummy brushes!

 Notice how the leather comes out of the cement.  This is a detail of a sculpture made of all natural materials:

These loose canvases by Daniel Buren are  pinned to the wall:

New York Impressions Four - Museums part one

I finally made it out this week to see some art.

This lovely drawing is in the stairwell of the Morgan Library.  I wasn't able to see who the artist was.  The Morgan library is a lovely museum in JP Morgan's home.  http://www.themorgan.org/home.asp

They have different exhibits through out the year.  He had at least three libraries in the house which you can see.  In one of them is a vault where he kept his most valuable books.   

The present exhibits include "Rembrandt's World," which consists of lovely dutch drawings done during the 17th century.  Some of them are very small with intricate detail and I spent a long time looking at the lines and marks they used.  A very enjoyable show.

My second most favorite place in New York is the Metropolitan Museum of  Art (the first being of course - 

Central Park.

I have photographed the Temple of Dendur many times as it is one of my favorite exhibits in the museum.  Jacqueline Kennedy was responsible for it coming to the met.

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These statues always put a smile on my face:

An abstract reflection in the reflecting pool in front of the temple:

                                       

On the wall to the right there are some lovely fragments from Armana:

                                      

And a headless man in the Egyptian Hall:

Every time I visit the Met I find more amazing things to look at it.
I moved on to the rooms of  the 19th-20th century European Art where I saw some paintings that I had not seen here before:

Of course I was drawn to this painting "The Horse Fair;" Ms. Bonheur did a superb job of rendering many kinds of horses in different positions.  This photo is just a detail from the paining.

 There is a whole room filled with paintings by Camille Corot.  What a treat to see the originals!

The Islamic wing at the Met opened last Fall.  I found the architectural elements in the rooms stunning, especially this window: 

This ceiling was in one of the rooms - because the room was so dark, the image is slightly out of focus:

 The following images are some artifacts:

 I really like this one - almost like an abstract painting:

Only one of the elements is shown here:

Tombstone in the Form of an Archtectural Niche