Museums

Seattle: Whirlwind Weekend in the Emerald City

Art, food and fun highlighted our three-day weekend in the Emerald City. We started off our Saturday morning with a monorail ride from the central shopping area to the Center City area, home of the iconic Space Needle. The monorail, which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair, costs just $3.00 and is only $1.50 for seniors, children under 12, disabled, and active duty military.

It’s a quick but fun ride on Seattle’s monorail.

The trip takes only minutes between Westlake Center Station at 5^th and Pine Streets and The Seattle Center Station. Purchase your ticket at the kiosk or from the cashier as you enter the train. The monorail runs every seven minutes or so from 8:30 a.m. on weekends (7:30 a.m. during the week) until 11 p.m.

Sonic Bloom greets visitors walking to EMP or Chihuly Garden and Glass. The “sunflowers” move and emit sound.

The monorail drops you off steps from at the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass and MoPOP Museum (formerly called Experience Music Project).

Seattle’s iconic Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

We’d been to the Space Needle on previous visits so headed right to the Chihuly Garden and Glass.

There’s a reason Chihuly Garden and Glass is on everyone’s Top 10 list. Don’t miss it!

We should have bought our tickets online—the lines were long for the cashiers inside and at the outdoor kiosks, and cost more than the online price. Plan ahead! Once you have your ticket and have reached the admission area, ask to have your arm stamped so that you can return in the evening (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) to view these magnificent glass works illuminated. The sun sets quite late in Seattle during the summer months so keep that in mind when planning your return visit.

Prepare to be amazed. Detail of Chihuly’s Sealife Tower.

The Chihuly Garden and Glass is included in Seattle’s City Pass so if you plan to visit more than one of the included attractions—yes, the Space Needle is one of them—you may want to opt for the City Pass. You’ll save money and time since you won’t wait on line.

Tabac Basket in the Northwest Room.

Once inside, be prepared to be awed. There is a reason Chihuly Garden and Glass is on everyone’s “must see” list. We heard more than a few “wows” as soon as we stepped into the first gallery. Dale Chihuly’s glass art works are artistic, whimsical and beyond stunning.

Mille Fiori-– A thousand flowers- delight the senses.

These photos cannot capture the splendid forms, movement, intricacy and vibrant colors in Chihuly’s work but they do give an hint of what you’ll experience at Chihuly Garden and Glass. It is a magical place.

Persian Ceiling floods the room with color from above.

It seems as you move from gallery to gallery the works get progressively more beautiful and intricate. The lighting, staging and even the music in the galleries combine to create a magnificent experience.

Ikebana and Float Boats capture the viewer’s imagination.

A stroll through the gorgeous gardens is another delight. The art is so beautifully integrated in the various plantings that you’ll want to linger.

A view in the garden.

Northwest timber is integrated in the glass garden.

We had the added benefit of a spectacular day—clear, blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s. The soothing background music being performed by a gentleman playing the Eyhu on the street just outside the garden added to our enjoyment.

Soothing music further enhanced our enjoyment of the gardens.

The works on display are included in a fairly comprehensive catalog titled, Chihuly Garden and Glass, available in the gift shop in the lobby. It is one of many available volumes featuring Mr. Chihuly’s art. In addition to the usual museum gift shop items like books and calendars featuring the artist’s work, original pieces of Chihuly’s glass art are also on offer and priced from $5,000.

This is no ordinary gift shop.

A spectacular souvenir.

If you’ve worked up an appetite after your stroll through the garden, head over to the Seattle Center Armory a few steps away. Originally built in 1939 to house the 146^th artillery and its half-ton tanks, it was repurposed for the 1962 World’s Fair and became the city’s first vertical shopping mall, called the Food Circus.

Once home to an artillery unit and half-ton tanks, the Armory now features food and family fun.

Today, in addition to a public space that hosts more than 3,000 free family entertainment and cultural events each year, you’ll find a food court that’s got something for everyone. Though Starbuck’s and Subway do have a presence here, they share the main floor with more interesting offerings from the likes of Eltana’s Wood- Fired Bagel Café, Seattle Fudge, MOD Pizza, Kabab, Cool Guys Fry Bar, Ceres Roasting Company, Bigfood BBQ, Quincy’s (burgers and seafood) , Blue Water Taco, Plum Pantry (vegan and organic selections), The Confectional and Skillet Counter.

The Seattle Center Armory is a busy place at lunchtime.

Mediterranean street food, beef baracoa, fish tacos, Belgian style fries, individual cheesecakes, pizza, vegan fare, and a terrific fried chicken sandwich are among the tantalizing possibilities we deliberated for lunch.

So many choices…

We chose Skillet Counter where the Fried Chicken Sammy with a fennel seed crust, kale, and jalapeno aioli on a potato roll called out to my traveling companions. I had a delicious curried carrot soup and a salad. We met Chef Mike “Mookie” who kindly shared his recipe for the soup and the aioli. Looking forward to whipping up some of that at home!

Skillet Counter’s Chef Mike aka “Mookie”

If you’ve got little ones in tow—you’re in luck—Seattle’s Children’s Museum is just downstairs. Here you’ll find interactive exhibitions, hands on, and age appropriate activities for children ages 10 months to 10 years.

Seattle Children’s Museum is lots of fun for the little ones.

After our satisfying lunch at Skillet Counter, we headed down towards Elliott Bay to the Olympic Sculpture Park, part of the Seattle Art Museum. So much to see and do in the Emerald City!

The Museum of Flight: An Aviation Adventure

Air Force One, the Concorde, the Space Shuttle Trainer, the first fighter plane, and many more remarkable aircraft are just a short drive south of Seattle in Tukwila, WA, home of the largest private non-profit aviation museum in the West.

Seaplanes to space craft are all on display at the Museum of Flight.

The Museum of Flight http://www.museumofflight.org is located at the King County International Airport on Boeing Field and has more than 150 aircraft plus interactive exhibitions, rare photographs, films, newsreels, memorabilia and much more. Exhibits take visitors on a fascinating journey from the earliest days of aviation, to the moon, and back to the present.

Military aircraft make up a significant part of the Museum’s collection.

After purchasing tickets inside the Museum of Flight, come back outside and climb aboard some of the most iconic aircraft to ever take flight. The outdoor exhibits close before the museum does.

The very first Air Force One jet.

Just outside on the Boeing Field, the first jet used as Air Force One, a specially constructed Boeing 707-120 called SAM (Special Air Missions) 970, is open for touring. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon and numerous dignitaries traveled the world aboard this particular aircraft. Kennedy’s pipe rack, Johnson’s hat rack, the safe where the president’s secret nuclear codes were kept, “Press Section” seating and the president’s private quarters are all on view.

This area was the president’s private sitting area and popular for naps, we were told.

Personal memorabilia from several presidents are still onboard.

The world’s fastest commercial jet, one of only 20 Concordes ever built, is on display outside the Museum, too. Courtesy of British Airways, guests can tour this compact aircraft. We were surprised at just how narrow the cabin was.

One of only 20 Concordes manufactured.

Speed was more important than spaciousness on the Concorde.

At the other end of the spectrum, guests can visit Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, one of the most fuel efficient commercial airliners to take to the skies, according to the company.

A wide array of aircraft are on display and open for touring. Helpful docents are on hand at most.

There’s plenty of room to relax on this Boeing 787, at least in the forward cabins.

Also on the field is a US Air 737, which now serves as a theater for those interested in viewing Time Flies: Century of Flight.

Back inside the Museum, guests can trace the history of aviation from its earliest days right up to the present. The Red Barn, where the Boeing Company began, is part of the Museum today and gives guests an excellent historical perspective on the development of commercial aviation.

Inside the Red Barn.

Visitors can learn about the men and women at the forefront of aviation in America.

Rare photographs, news stories, film clips and more tell the story of flight.

Memorabilia from Boeing’s beginning.

The Museum has displays of every imaginable aircraft from the Taylor Aerocar III—AKA the “car plane”, which actually did take flight as a film clearly shows; to all manor of military aircraft, including the first fighter plane, the Italian built Caproni Ca.20; to planes used to deliver mail in Alaska and newspapers in the Midwest and much more.

The Aerocar was one of my favorite aircraft. The wings folded into a handy trailer for driving after landing.

There is a hole in the floor of the plane for the pilot to drop newspapers through.

There are even miniature planes. The Holtgrewe WWII Model Collection has more than 400 1/72 scale models of military aircraft used by most of the countries who became combatants in the second world war. Another marvelous miniature is the 1/10 scale model of the Montgolfier Brothers’ Balloon on display in the Museum’s lobby.

A model of a Montgolfier Brothers Balloon greets visitors in the lobby.

Military craft from many nations attract visitors’ attention.

A Vietnam War era helicopter.

The U.S. Space Program is well represented, too. Visitors can track America’s race to space from its earliest days to the present. There are photographs, magazine and newspaper articles, films and news reels, exhibits on the animals used in space program, space suits worn by U.S. Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts, and a vast assortment of memorabilia from moon rocks to the cowboy boots worn by a famous test pilot. Apollo 17 Mission Models and the only Mars Viking lander still here on Earth are also at the Museum.

Here’s how the cosmonauts suited up for space.

Primates and pups launched before our first astronauts.

Guests can also walk through the Space Shuttle Trainer Crew Compartment where U.S. astronauts trained for every Shuttle mission. A separate 30- minute tour of the Trainer is available for an additional fee for visitors 10 years and older. Tours of the Boeing Field are also offered for an additional fee.

Apollo 17 models are just some of the fascinating exhibits on space exploration.

There are numerous flight simulators, exhibits on every aspect of aviation including rocketry and “spacebots”, a research library, aviation advertising, and so much more for visitors to see.

Aviation advertising from the days when flying was fun.

An American Airlines advertisement.

There is so much to see and experience at the Museum that many visitors will not be able to enjoy all that is on offer in one day. Happily, discounted return tickets are available so take your time and come back again.

Art, Yoga and More at Seattle’s Frye Museum

Welcome to the Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum.

Charles and Emma Frye began collecting art in 1893 focusing primarily on French and German artists from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The couple built an impressive Founding Collection of 230 paintings, now on permanent display at their namesake museum in Seattle’s Capitol Hill area. The museum is open to the public at no charge, as the Fryes intended when they established the Charles and Emma Frye Free Public Art Museum in 1952.

The museum has expanded and been updated since it opened at its current location in 1952.

The Fryes had a particular interest in German painters of the mid-19^th Century Munich School including Wilhelm Leibl, Franz von Lenbach and Max Slevogt whose works, along with other prominent painters of the period, are part of the Founding Collection.

Henry Raschen’s 1913 portraits of Emma and Charles Frye hang in the Frye Salon.

The Frye’s Permanent Collection includes not only those works collected by Charles and Emma, but also later acquisitions made by the Frye Foundation. These later aquisitions expanded the collection to include American artists as well as European painters other than the French and German artists the couple built their original collection upon.

Acquisitions by the Frye Foundation expanded the collection to include American artists.

Gilbert Stuart and John Singleton Copley’s Colonial Period paintings hang alongside the American Realism works of Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Mary Cassatt, James McNeil Whistler, and John Singer Sargent are among the ex-pat painters whose Impressionist works are displayed.

Paintings are hung as they once were in the Frye home gallery.

Portrait of Chief Seattle by Henry Raschen, 1916.

The vast collection of paintings covers every wall in the Frye Salon with the works hung as they once were in the Frye’s home gallery. The Frye Salon is reminiscent of Boston’s Isabella Gardener Stewart Museum. In other words, there is not much space between the works and they are not hung in any apparent order— historical, religious and allegorical paintings hang beside portraits, landscapes and seascapes. There are several copies of a hardcover guide available to visitors in the gallery that identifies and describes each work and artist.

Visitors reference gallery guide to identify paintings and artists.

The helpful guide is available only in the gallery. There are several other books about the museum and its collection for sale in the shop, but not the gallery guide.

In addition to the Permanent Collection, there are several changing contemporary exhibitions.

The Frye features contemporary art as well as European and American paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries.

We enjoyed the two Andy Warhol exhibitions currently on view. During the 1970s, Warhol recorded a reported 40,000 Polaroids documenting his personal and professional endeavors. Warhol’s Little Red Book #178 is a collection of 19 Polaroid pictures of his friends and other celebrities taken in 1970 while he made his film L’Amour.

Little Red Book #178 has 19 of the reported 40,000 Polaroid photos Warhol took in the 1970s.

From 1964-1966, Warhol recorded hundreds of visitors to his studio, called The Factory, using a Bolex camera. Warhol’s 12 Screen Tests features artists and celebrities who were instructed to sit still for the length of a 16 mm film—about three minutes. Subjects featured in 12 Screen Tests include Dennis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, Susan Sontag, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Marcel Duchamp and Brooke Hayward. Not everyone was capable of the task assigned. Bob Dylan’s Screen Test shows him smoking a cigarette and fidgeting throughout.

Hundreds of Warhol’s Factory visitors were filmed for his series of “Screen Tests.”

Subjects were meant to be still for the three minute films, but Bob Dylan fidgeted and smoked throughout his “Screen Test.”

Also on view is Structure and Ornament, a multi media exhibition of Leo Saul Berk’s work based on the iconic Chicago-area Ford House, his childhood home.

Berk’s dream about sleeping on the floor at Ford House was the inspiration for “Heat Signature.”

The artist refers to his work as “a riff on the house,” which has historical significance and was designed by architect Bruce Goff. The exhibition includes the history of the home, photographs and films, along with Berk’s sculptures and other works, based upon the unique structure and the artist’s memories of living there.

Leo Saul Berk’s childhood residence, the iconic Ford House, was the basis for the “Structure and Ornament” exhibition now on view.

“Cone Twelve,” Berk’s aluminum composite and stainless steel sculpture.

“Mortar and Marbles” is a to-scale representation of a section of the Ford House’s curved coal walls.

Also currently on view is: American Portraits: 1880-1915– a selection of portraiture by artists whose works are included in the Founding Collection.

Museum visitors relax and enjoy the “American Portraits: 1880-1915” exhibition.

The Museum has a nice little café with an outdoor garden. Sandwiches, soups, sweets and other simple but satisfying offerings are available at very reasonable prices.

The Frye’s cafe has a lovely garden area and is a nice option for lunch or coffee.

When we arrived at the Frye Museum, we were told that one of the galleries was closed for yoga, but would soon reopen. Every Sunday morning, a yoga class takes place there, accompanied by local experimental musicians—just one of the creative classes the Museum hosts along with art classes for everyone from pre-schoolers to life-long learners, meditation, film presentations, lectures, performances and creative aging programs for adults suffering dementia. A complete program listing is available at www.fryemuseum.org.

Charles and Emma Frye would no doubt be pleased to see their wish– that the public enjoy free access to art, that ‘perfection of good-nature,’ continues to be a reality today, thanks to their free art museum.

Outdoor Art at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park

After a beautiful morning at Chihuly Garden and Glass and lunch at Seattle Central Armory’s Skillet Counter, we headed down to the Olympic Sculpture Park, part of the Seattle Art Museum. On the way we passed a Duckload of friendly tourists.

Seattle’s Duck Tour is one way to see the sights in the Emerald City.

We enjoyed the view of snowcapped Mt. Ranier in the distance and the cruise ships docked nearby.

Seattle is a popular jumping off point for Alaskan cruises.

And finally reached our destination– the Olympic Sculpture Park.

All are welcome at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Admission is free.

Jaume Plensa’s 46- foot Echo, towers over visitors with her eyes closed to the sea beyond.

This beautiful urban art park was once an industrial site. Now, less than 10 years later, the nine acres on Elliott Bay is Seattle’s largest downtown green space and home to spectacular sculpture by some of the most influential and respected artists in the world including Richard Serra, Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander Calder, and Louise Nevelson.

A view of Richard Serra’s Wake.

It’s an entirely different visual experience to wander among the panels of Wake.

Alexander Calder’s The Eagle provides a brilliant pop of color and a shady place to rest.

Typewriter Eraser by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen must add a touch of whimsy to the daily commute.

With views toward the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound, thought provoking and attention getting art, and its beautiful waterfront location, the award-winning Olympic Sculpture Park ought to be on your list of “must sees” in Seattle.

Cargo ships glide by Bunyon’s Chess by Mark di Suvero.

Puget Sound makes a beautiful backdrop for these sculptures.

di Suvero’s Schubert Sonata has a prime location.

The nine-acre sculpture park has lovely wooded paths to explore.

The Olympic Sculpture Park is pedestrian and bicycle friendly, handicapped accessible, and admission is free.

Roy McMakin’s Love and Loss was commissioned for the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Beverly Pepper’s Perre’s Ventaglio III is right at home among the vegetation.

What a fantastic place to spend a beautiful day in Seattle! Next, dinner decisions, The Frye and we take flight to Boeing Field–a visit to the Museum of Flight.

Note: Banner image is Louise Bourgeois’s Father and Son. Each figure is in turn concealed and revealed by the water in which they stand, separated, arms outstretched.

Art Oasis- Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden

Art and nature lovers share a common destination– the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden in Palm Desert. The stunning sculpture garden is located within the Eric Johnson Memorial Gardens and is part of the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert. Contemporary sculptures are installed among the four beautifully landscaped acres that surround The Galen, the museum’s LEED-certified building.

Felipe Casteneda’s Seated Thinking Woman

Walks Among Stars by Dave McGary

This welcoming garden, which is open to visitors all year long, includes soothing water features, winding walkways, beautiful native plants and plenty of quiet nooks for contemplation. As you stroll along the pathways it’s easy to forget that this lovely oasis of art and nature is located off a busy street between sprawling shopping malls.

Blue glass in the pavement paths through the garden replicate a winding river. The pavilion is used for concerts and events.

The contemporary sculptures on display include works by international artists such as Felipe Casteneda, Gio Pomodoro, Betty Gold, Dan Namingha, Donald Judd, Yehiel Shemi and Dave McGary. Downloadable self-guided tour information is available on the museum’s website. Admission to the garden is free.

Barry Flanagan’s Acrobats

Peter Reginato’s Midnight and Morning Rain…Waiting for Miro

The Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden is also used for concerts and events. For complete and updated event information contact the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Hats Off to Degas–Lucas Shakes Things Up at SF’s Legion of Honor

San Francisco’s venerable Palace of Legion of Honor, part of the city’s Fine Arts Museums, is currently hosting the very popular Degas, Impressionism and the Paris Millinery Trade.

The extensive exhibition focuses on the impact of the millinery trade in Paris during the Belle Epoch era on the work of Degas and his contemporaries. Paintings and pastels by Degas, Renoir, Edouard Manet, Mary Cassatt, Toulouse- Lautrec and others, some never before shown in the U.S., are featured. In addition to the splendid impressionist paintings, included in the exhibition are 40 marvelous examples of millinery from that time period—in other words—hats!

Hats featuring flowers were popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. Silk, cotton, velvet and paper were all used to construct artificial flowers like those shown here.

Some patrons were definitely in the spirit of things.

These hats range in size and complexity from the sublime to over the top. One chapeau is topped with an entire owl, which had been preserved specifically for that purpose. There are plumes, beads, metallic wire, ribbons and flowers adorning these mostly enchanting toppers.

Plumage from domestic and exotic birds, including ostrich and owls, often were used to embellish luxury ladies’ hats.

These hats all sport fashionable feathers. The hat on the left features a complete owl while the one on the right has an African starling above its brim.

A visitor admires Manet’s “At the Milliner’s”–one of about 40 paintings and pastels in the exhibition.

Men’s hats are included in the exhibit too. There are fine examples including boater and bowler hats, along with a sketch of Degas himself in a top hat.

Bowlers and top hats, along with carrying cases, are part of the exhibit.

The 42 year-old Edgar Degas is shown here wearing a top hat.

The exhibition was quite crowded, mostly with ladies of a certain age, oohing and ahhing over the millinery creations. There were a few patrons sporting hats and we spotted several of the museum’s docents in the spirit of things– wearing lovely fascinators.

Feathered finery got a lot of attention from visitors.

We didn’t take a docent-guided tour but shared our table at lunch with a group of ladies from the San Jose area who had and raved about it. It is necessary to reserve a spot for a guided tour in connection with this exhibit.

This docent wears a fine fascinator for her presentation. Reservations for the free tours are essential for this exhibition.

Some of the Impressionist paintings in this exhibition have not been shown in the U.S. before.

Special exhibition tickets are required for the Degas exhibit, in addition to the general admission fee for the museum. This doesn’t seem to be keeping the crowds away at all downstairs. There were numerous tour groups vying to get close to the works during our midweek trip to the Legion of Honor.

Special exhibition tickets are required, in addition to general admission. The galleries became quite crowded at times.

Upstairs in the galleries featuring Rodin’s classic sculpture, visitors can enjoy near solitude—at least during our visit. Displayed with the August Rodin: The Centenary Installation, which honors the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death, you’ll find the provocative work of Sarah Lucas. Sarah Lucas:Good Muse is the first major exhibition of the UK artist’s work in the U.S.

The museum is best known for its ancient and classical European collections which includes paintings, sculpture, furnishings and porcelain.

Sarah Lucas’ work brings contemporary art and controversy to the Legion of Honor.

Sarah Lucas:Good Muse would probably be much more comfortable at the SFMOMA (SF Museum of Modern Art) than at the classically- focused Legion of Honor. The docent who provided a tour of the exhibition shared that many patrons and members of the museum were more than a little unhappy with Lucas’ work.

Giant plaster cast boots, soft sculptures and a series of Lucas’ yellow urinal sculptures are on display among the 50 bronze, plaster and marble works by Rodin.

Lucas’ sculptures, made from plaster, panty hose, florescent lights, a bedspring and mattress, cigarettes and other materials, allude to sexual interactions, availability, empowerment, and domestic responsibilities, according to the docent. She also pointed out examples where Rodin’s work related to the themes of Lucas’ pieces.

“Washing Machine Fried Eggs” invites discussion of women’s sexual and domestic roles.

Apparently the artist wanted to “bring color” to the galleries and chose to include a series of yellow urinal sculptures displayed atop small refrigerators, placed among Rodin’s classic sculpture. We found the juxtaposition interesting but could easily understand the contretemps. At the entrance to the galleries where Lucas’ work is displayed, there are signs warning that the art may not be appropriate for all viewers. We have chosen not to include photos of the most controversial work for that reason.

Electricity in this piece “keeps the energy up” according to the artist.

Degas, Impressionism and the Paris Millinery Trade closes September 24 and Sarah Lucas: Good Muse closes September 17. Go see these very different exhibitions for yourself and let us know what you think. A day at the Palace of Legion of Honor is always a day well spent.

MoMA’s Must See Picasso Sculpture Closes Soon

In just over a month’s time, one of the most extensive and engaging exhibitions of Pablo Picasso’s sculpture ever presented in the United States will close. If you haven’t already visited the Museum of Modern Art’s marvelous retrospective of the painter’s rarely seen works, get your tickets and go see it before it closes on Feb. 7, 2016. http://www.moma.org

A visitor examines Picasso’s Man With A Lamb (1943).

For the first time since 1967, New York’s MoMA presents one of the largest exhibitions of the painter’s three-dimensional work. The exhibit includes more than 100 sculptures plus photographs and works on paper, many never before displayed in North America. I was fortunate to see the exhibition during the Member Preview before it opened to the public in September.

Left foreground, Woman with Child (1961), center rear, Head of a Woman (1957), right, Chair (1961). All three of these sculptures are painted sheet metal.

While Picasso was a formally trained painter, he was a self-taught sculptor and his work reflects the exuberance and personal relationship he had with the art form. He kept most of his sculptures in his personal possession rarely allowing these works to be displayed. One of the first and only times some of these pieces were presented publicly was in 1966 at a major retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris when the artist was 85 years old. The following year, the MoMA staged Sculpture of Picasso in New York featuring many of the same works. Picasso’s sculptures have not been on public view on such a grand scale since.

Insect (1951) was created from fired white clay and painted.

Picasso was fond of unconventional techniques and materials and frequently used found objects and materials including scrap wood, wire, metal and cardboard in his sculpture. Wicker baskets, pie tins, palm fronds, toy cars and many other scavenged items found their way into Picasso’s work. He used a bicycle seat and handlebars to create Bull’s Head, which was on loan from a private collection, for example.

Bull’s Head, (Spring 1942) is a repurposed bicycle seat and handlebars.

Left, bronze Pregnant Woman (1949). Right, Flowery Watering Can (1951-52) incorporates a watering can, plaster, nails and wood.

Museumgoers will learn that Picasso’s forays into sculpture were influenced by many sources including ceramics and woodcarvings by Paul Gaugin and Edgar Degas as well as by Oceanic and African sculpture. His themes run the gamut from political expression to family life. Just as in his paintings, women are frequent subjects in Picasso’s sculpture.

Left, Bather (1931) bronze. Right, Head of a Woman (1932) plaster.

Left, Woman with Vase (1933) bronze. Center, Head of a Warrior (1933) plaster, metal and wood.

He enjoyed reinventing and reimagining many of the same themes as the exhibition demonstrates. His Glass of Absinthe – six different polychromed bronze pieces each including an actual absinthe spoon, is a good example of this.

Seated Woman (1947), Standing Woman (1945), Seated Musician (1950), and Seated Faun (1950) are among the small earthenware, terracotta and clay pieces in this display case.

Visitors to Museum of Modern Art http://www.moma.org will need timed tickets to see the Picasso Sculpture exhibition. Only members, corporate members and guests accompanied by members are exempt from this. Each day a limited number of tickets will be available for same day viewing but we strongly suggest that you get your tickets in advance to ensure you don’t miss this wonderful exhibition.

Woman with Outstretched Arms (1961) painted iron and sheet metal.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition and available in the MoMA’s book and gift shops, the Picasso Sculpture catalog makes a beautiful souvenir that will allow you to revisit your favorite works again and again.

Go to The Galen-The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert

UPDATE: THE GALEN IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED!

Go ahead. Put down your golf clubs, get up from that poolside chaise and go to The Galen. Open since 2012, The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert is housed in an 8,400 sq. ft., LEED- certified building called The Galen and features photography, sculpture, painting and new media exhibitions, at no charge.

Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Gerald Ford may have streets named after them in this affluent desert community, but it’s Lucille Ball who’ll welcome you to the marvelous Personalities: Fantasy and Identity in Photography and New Media exhibition now on display through May 3, 2015 at The Galen.

Morning by Yehiel Shemi is part of the museum’s Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden.

A gorgeous, nearly life- sized photograph of America’s favorite red head, “Lucille Ball, Lover Come Back” by Ray Jones, leads the way into a fascinating exploration of the photographic portrait from early daguerreotypes, circa 1851 and 1860, to a 2013 video portrait by Brian Bress created during the artist’s residency at the MACRO in Rome. Bress’s work, titled “The White and the Yellow Hunter,” is revealed, and then just as quickly, hidden, from the viewer.

Unfortunately, no photography was permitted in the galleries so I will have to tell, instead of show, what I saw.

In addition to Lucille Ball, notables whose images grace the galleries include: Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Steve McQueen, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dali. Works by Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Harry Callahan, Weegee (Arthur Fellig), Robert Mapplethorpe and other photographers, some better known than others, are included in the exhibition.

LWS-105-2, LWS 95-4 and LWS 237-7 are part of a series of photos taken over a 30-year time period by Milton Rogovin, a retired optometrist. Dr. Rogovin began photographing people and places, some year after year, in Buffalo’s down and out Lower West Side, when he was 62 years old. He completed the project when he was 92.

Among the images I found most striking was one of a hyena handler (that there were such people was a bit of a revelation) called, “Abudullah Mohammed with Mainasara.” The photo was taken in Ogre Remo, Nigeria by Pieter Hugo and is part of his series The Hyena and Other Men. Ike Ude’s “Sartorial Anarchy #5,” Andrew Bush’s “Deerheadman,” and Jono Rotman’s image of the tattooed countenance, “Denimz Rogue,” from his Mongrel Mob series, were other standouts.

Several videos are also on display, including one by Marina Abramovic titled “The Kitchen V- Carrying the Milk.” It’s a 12 minute and 43 second video of the performance artist holding a bowl of said beverage. Tony Oursler’s doll in a suitcase featuring a video- recorded face, with sound, called “Passage,” also drew quite a bit of attention.

The exhibition also provides the opportunity to walk on water, or at least walk on five underwater images of the artist, Wang Wei, in “1/30^th of a Second.” I enjoyed watching a school group gingerly step on the images, one by one, as the docent explained what they were seeing.

After you’ve enjoyed The Galen, step outside. The stunning four-acre Faye Sarkowsky Scupture Garden, also at no admittance charge, surrounds the museum. More on that later—with photos!

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