Some people may not have seen the January 20, 2019 Super Blood Wolf Moon; so, I am including a picture that was taken from my front lawn using a telephoto lens on my camera. If I had known it was going to be so spectacular, I would have driven out away from the City where there would have been less ambient light.
The event is called a Super Blood Wolf Moon because the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter (Super). As the moon approaches an eclipse, it takes on a reddish hue (Blood). And, the early Colonists referred to a full moon in January as a "Wolf Moon;" thus, the name "Super Blood Wolf Moon."
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the largest art museum in western United States, with a collection that includes more than 130,000 artworks. A number of buildings, or parts of buildings, are currently closed for the first full inventory of the collection in 40 years; but there are enough buildings open that the museum is worth a visit. Some exhibits are being packed for storage because four of the current ten buildings are scheduled to be demolished to make room for construction of the new Zumthor building that is scheduled to open in 2023. However, even with the closed buildings, it still required an afternoon to just get an overview of the exhibits.
There is no charge to walk around the campus and view the outdoor exhibits, which includes Urban Light, Balloon Monkey, and the Rodin Sculpture Garden.
In addition to the Rodin Sculpture Garden, located on the patio were two famous sculptures by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle: Herakles-The Archer and Bust of Rodin.
A limited part of the Korean exhibit was open and contained some interesting displays.
A sign by the Wooden Prayer Tablet stated "The prayer on this tablet has been written in gold leaf." When I asked the docent if someone has stolen the gold leaf prayer, she freaked out and said she did not know it was missing. When she left to find her supervisor, I decided that I had better leave before they thought that I borrowed it.
Art from Sri Lanka included a large balloon Buddha, which reminded me that I needed a nap!
A collection of Roman art from about 1500 made one wonder how they could have done such elaborate detailed work using the crude tools available at that time.
There was a hands-on gallery that explained the principles of stereoscopic images, with stereoscopes and 3-D glasses provided for viewing the images.
A variety of historic Pacific Textiles, know as tapa, or kapa in Hawaii, were on display along with other Pacific Islander's works of art.
A number of artworks by Henri Matisse were on display, including the five heads of Jeannette that are considered to be one of his greatest achievements as a sculptor.
There were a number of works by Pablo Picasso, but photography was limited to only a few objects.
Although photography was prohibited in various parts of the museum, shown below are works of art on display that could be photographed.
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| Cows in the Lowland, 1909, Emil Nolde, Denmark |
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| Still Life with Closed Shutters, 1906, Raoul Dufy, France |
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| The Path to Les Pouilleux, 1881, Camille Pissarro, Danish West Indies |
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| Abstraction: Triangle with Clouds, 1929, Fernand Leger, France |
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| Sailor with Guitar, 1917, Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuania |
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| Disk, 1926, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Italy |
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| The Disks, 1918-19, Fernand Leger, France |
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| Spam, Ed Ruscha, 1962, United States |
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| The Jewel, 1959, Jay DeFeo, United States |
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| Untitled, 1954, Ruth Asawa, United States |
Metropolis II was created by Chris Burden in 2006, which "includes eleven hundred custom-designed cars, eighteen highways, and a variety of architectural structures made of wood, glass, natural stone tiles, and other materials. The artist estimated that every hour, one hundred thousand cars circulate through Metropolis II, making it very much like a miniature Los Angeles."
If you do not know what to do with your old clothes, here is an idea - soak them in starch, hang them on the wall, and sell them as artwork for $495 each!
Also, for old books, just glue them together in a stack to make decorative posts.
The 1/4 Mile display is a series of 190 panels by Robert Rauschenberg that total 1/4 mile in length.
And, much to my surprise, there was a quilt display!
Interesting -- I'll have to come back in 2023 when the new Zumthor building is open.
