We got back out for our regularly scheduled date day, after missing the last one because of the family plague. Once again, we decided to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art. I'm not a cheap date, but it is free. Our last visit was in May 2009, about a month after we got married. Those were interesting times, as I was looking for work, and we were trying to make Simon. Good times.
That last visit was fun, but suboptimal because of the construction at the museum. They were just putting the finishing touches on the new east wing, and the lower level of the original 1916 building was being refurbished. That was unfortunate because my favorite gallery, containing the ancient Egyptian stuff, was closed. Since that time, all of the construction has been completed, including the west wing and a massive atrium between the old and new buildings. While that dust has settled, many of the galleries have yet to open, including those for Asian and Indian art.
I'm not much of an art history person, in part I think because while I was growing up, people really into art were either total elitist snobs or enthusiasts to a fault. Both extremes seemed largely full of shit. I vaguely know of the different periods, but couldn't tell you what sequence they occurred in. Heck, I didn't realize until today that Picasso died shortly before I was born. I always assumed he died earlier in the 20th Century, probably because that's when much of his famous work was finished.
That's one of the things that's so impressive about this particular museum, is that its collection is really amazing. The modern era collection is really impressive (including Picasso), and I like a lot of the impressionist stuff, too. I'm also a fan of the romantic era, because I like the realistic detail, but they don't have a lot of paintings that really stand out to me.
As I said, it's the ancient Egyptian hall that really fascinates me. There's something infinitely fascinating about stuff that was created as long as 4,000 years ago. When I see those pieces, I imagine what it was like to be the artists who worked on those objects. It's so easy to just observe objects as things that exist in front of us today, but the connection to long dead human beings is what I find amazing.
Their Roman and Greek collections are somewhat interesting, but I always thought they had more (childhood memories always appear bigger). The medieval Christian artifacts are surprisingly huge in number, as well as those from Italy. I don't find the American and English art all that interesting, maybe because it's too "new."
I was really impressed with the small Islamic collection. I think what draws me to it is what I can only describe as the math behind it. There is so much detailed order and pattern to it, which is interesting because I wouldn't generally think of faith as something so cleanly mathematical.
They had a Pompeii collection that was an upcharge, so we didn't see that. There was also an exhibit of two photographers who extensively documented the destruction around Mt. St. Helens in the years immediately following the eruption. I remember that vividly in my childhood, especially the issue of National Geographic that documented it. From a pure interest in photographic art, I found it interesting how the one photographer tended to underexpose the prints, causing the shadow detail to essentially disappear, while the other tended to make prints that really brought out the shadow detail. It's one of the things about photography and video that always brings up strong opinions, on how much dynamic range you wish to keep.
For all of the things I rag on Cleveland for, the museum is not one of them. It really is quite fascinating and very high end. We're fortunate to have it here, and free to the public, at that. We had a good time.
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