Finding New Art

One of the joys of going to an art museum I haven't been to before, is seeing works by “old friends” that I haven’t seen before, and also meeting some new friends! This past weekend I went to the Memorial Art Gallery affiliated with the University of Rochester, NY. It was a wonderful smaller museum, very well curated, and with a stellar collection.

Here are a few of my finds:

Towing a Boat, Honfleur by Claude Monet, 1864
One of his earlier works that uses colors that are a bit darker than his later works, but yet, undeniably his eye!

Aurélien-Marie Lugné-Poë by Edouard Vuillard, 1891
After seeing much of his work while in Paris, I fell in love with both his composition and color usage. This is a great example of why I did.

Oxen on the Beach by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida,1910
The brush strokes and lighting on this piece just blew me away - and who doesn’t love a well painted bovine! I was not familiar with his work, but will be looking him up! 

The beginning of the Fields by Fairfield Porter, 1973
The sereneness of both the colors and the composition of this really spoke to me.

River Pond by Wayne Thiebaud, 1967-75 (Left:Full painting,  Right: detail)
His work and (again) color usage is always outstanding, but this was a unique subject matter!

Blowing Smoke Rings by Isabel Bishop, 1938
As a reformed smoker who still misses the rituals and pleasures of that nasty habit, I thoroughly enjoy this capture of those days!