TAKE THE CHILDREN TO ART

Recently, we had the pleasure of a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which never fails to impress. The museum’s collection, particularly of French impressionists, Modern, Post-Modern, and Contemporary visual artists is first class. The staff is in all departments friendly and helpful. The press support is excellent. Each visit, provides opportunity upon opportunity for learning and delight. Here is a video by artist/art critic Ron Schira of Frau Kolb and Mr. Brian Goings, deep into what Schira called, “Active Looking,” of Paul Cezanne’s “Woods and the Mill Stone,” one year ago at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This time was particularly special because the two youngest members of the Talkinggrid Creative Circle, the Llittle Kolbs, came along and experienced the fabulous collection of visual art masterpieces, ranging from the glorious Edouard Manet (1832-1883), “Le Bon Bock, / “The GOOD Beer,”one of my favorite paintings, because the pleasure the character takes in his beer is timeless, eternal to the sumptuous bath of geometry, landscape painting, and elegant figure study, “The Bathers,” by Paul Cezanne, and Andy Warhol’s iconic “Brillo Boxes.”

The children were vociferously critical of Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain,” the famous urinal signed R. Mutt and sent in as a game-changing lark to the Society of Independent Artist’s first exhibition in April 1917. “That’s not ART!” They shouted in unison. I had a good laugh. Then they took another look and noticed that the urinal was signed… hum… perhaps…. the children got to thinking. This moment before the replica of Duchamp ready-made, was a great moment in our family history.

The experience of sharing with one’s children the jewels of contemporary culture, the thought-provoking objects of Dadaist Man Ray (1890 – 1976), whose work becomes more and more mysterious as time renders the “ordinary objects,” of his day into rare and evocative treasures to behold with some awe. Another highlight of the collection are the tender intimate paintings of Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926). Seeing the mother and child caress, a moment of pure love and caring, my children were delighted. In the same vein, my daughter’s drawings of dancers have a sudden depth, which I attribute to her recent experience of Edgar Degas’ Ballerinas.)

We also saw spent a long lingering moment with Mommy going on and on about the the abstract expressionist masters, Barnet Newman, Clifford Styll, and Robert Motherwell.