Intimate Impressionism

We had a day trip down to Seattle today on the BoltBus, and amongst our destinations was the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), as we wanted to see the "Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art" exhibition, which will be at SAM through January 10, 2016.

There was quite a contrast between the erratically sparkling suspended cars in the museum's lobby and the small impressionist jewels upstairs! I've loved those cars from the first time I saw the work by Cai Guo-Qiang, titled "Inopportune: Stage One, 2004," composed of cars and sequenced multi-channel light tubes, and described as "one in a series by the artist where a sequence of objects is set in motion in space, often acted on by an invasive force." All I know is those cars make me smile!

The mood was much quieter in the Intimate Impressionists exhibition, which "features 68 intimately-scaled paintings by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masters," as noted on the SAM website. And not only could we get quite close to the paintings, there was a sign that said "Please Take Photos  #SAMImpressionism"! 

I was impressed that in addition to audio information available in a number of ways, including a Smartphone app, the museum also offered an audio tour for visitors who are blind or partly sighted, in which a number of the works are described.

Do have a look at the extra photo, one of a handful of the artworks that I photographed. Titled "The Artist's Sister at a Window," it was painted in 1869 by Berthe Morisot, an Impressionist artist I had not been aware of until today. You will see more of her work if you click on her name in the previous sentence, as well as a photo of her -- not in painting garb!

We also had a leisurely late lunch in the museum's outstanding restaurant, Taste, and walked more than 10,000 steps, adding to the pleasures of the day. And now, after 13 hours away from home, and the clock ticking toward 11 p.m. here, it's time for me to get some rest!

(You can see me dwarfed by SAM's "Hammering Man" in the extra on Phil's blip about the day, as well as an interesting view into some of Seattle's skyscrapers.)

(Added 30 Oct. -- Endless Weekend's blip for today shows another lovely painting from the exhibition, and there is a second one in her extras.)

Blip 1390