LACMA & The Getty Museum

We recently took a trip to Los Angeles to visit our youngest daughter for her commencement, or graduation to those of us from Blighty.  Whilst we were there, amongst being incredibly proud parents, we visited several museums or galleries.

Getty felt very clean and sanitised and focused on European works of art.  The whole site is amazing and is free to all.  Whilst it was very interesting, we quickly reached saturation point looking at painting after painting after painting.  I cannot say, on reflection, that I can remember anything standing out other than the wee train ride up the hill with the stunning views over Brentwood.

LACMA is Los Angeles County Museum of Art and it was my favourite.  It had an eclectic mix of art in a variety of media, meaning there was something for everyone.  I felt inspired and creative, and ideas were jumping all over my head.  This was most unexpected on a sunny day in LA having a lazy wander around a gallery with my family.

Having worked myself through my research on teapots and feeling I had drawn a conclusion that they weren’t hitting the spot, my visit to LACMA proved timely in generating a way forward with my own work.  Notably, Picasso gave me much inspiration.  His work, The Jester, took me back to my last body of work that was based on court jesters, and I found the piece to be captivating.  I didn’t know Picasso worked in 3D, only knowing him for his paintings.  This led into the Cubist section with other artists such as Metzinger and Giacometti (the latter featuring at The Getty too).  My brain made a connection between some of the paintings and the appearance of origami with their angles and almost fold-like depictions.  This was particularly evident in Feininger’s Sleeping Woman.

I took lots of pictures and made myself notes so that I could follow up on this train of thought when back home in the UK.  I have now embarked on research on origami and Cubism, taking to my sketchbook to work through ideas.  Coupled with a new line in narratives, we shall see what transpires…

Unfortunately I didn't snap the maker of this piece, but I've included it as it's so great!

Giacometti

Giacometti