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The image above is taken from the Centre Pompidou in central Paris.

We usually don't like post modernist buildings, but the Renzo Piano-Richard Rogers is a winner because its guts are on the outside -- showing people all the mechanicals that make up a huge building.

The Centre is popular with children and families, so they all learn from the architectural and engineering elements outside the 1977 edifice.

Contextually, in the neighborhood, it is a bit of a monster.

The view below, of course, is of the Eiffel Tower and typically Parisian rooftops.

The new header photo for our blog is Montmartre, dominated by the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur, and home over the years to Picasso, Pissarro, Monet, Degas, Toulouose-Lautrec and other Belle Epoque artists.

We hope our 180,000 unique visitors enjoy our blend of advocacy, photography and whimsy.

NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART -- Part 3

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG: FIVE FROM LOUSIANA

I share a birth date with Robert Rauschenberg and I was observing my 50th when we saw an exhibit on him at NOMA in City Park in New Orleans. 

According to a press release on the exhibit of the late Rauschenberg:

In 1977 Rauschenberg participated in the NOMA exhibition Five from Louisiana as one of five Louisiana artists who had gained international prominence. 

The artists included Lynda Benglis, Tina Girouard, Richard Landry, and Keith Sonnier. 

At the time arts advocate Luba Glade praised Five from Louisiana saying, “It answers a loud ‘Yes’ to the ever present question of whether creative people from the land of magnolias, red beans, and gumbo can make it to center stage in the great big art world…”

In Five from Louisiana Rauschenberg exhibited examples from his Hoarfrost series, and debuted a large artwork from his Spread series. 

This is the first time since 1977 that these two series have been shown together at NOMA, along with artworks by the other Louisiana artists from that seminal exhibition.

The image displayed in this blog is especially appealing to me because of the image of the Siamese cat in the center.

For a year now, we have been co-parents to Honey Bear (also known as Miuku) the beautiful and gentle Siamese cat/princess of Little Havana. 

To reach NOMA, phone:

(504) 658-4100

NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART -- Part 2

EDGAR DEGAS' LITTLE DANCER AGED 14

When we visited NOMA, it was the debut day for Edgar Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.

The only three-dimensional work exhibited during his lifetime, it will be the highlight of a focus exhibition that runs at the museum till March 1, 2015.

A selection of related works of art by Degas from NOMA's permanent collection will be displayed alongside the Little Dancer, including a pastel, a smaller bronze sculpture, and drawings and prints of one of Degas' favored subjects-the dancer. 

The exhibit was very easy for a wheelchair user to view.  

All displays feature views that are unobstructed for wheelers.

According to a NOMA press release:

Degas modeled Little Dancer Aged Fourteen out of colored wax in 1880, but it wasn't until 1922 when the Little Dancer and the other sculptures found in the artist's studio were cast posthumously by the Hébrard foundry at the request of the artist's nieces and nephew. 

The bronze on view is one of 23 known bronze versions of the Little Dancer, and is in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). 

Now considered one of Degas' most important works, his sculpture of Marie van Goethem, a young novice at the Paris Opera Ballet, caused a sensation at the 1881 impressionist exhibition in Paris. 

Originally exhibited like an anthropological specimen under a vitrine, and embellished with a muslin tutu, linen bodice, ballet slippers, and a real hair wig tied with a satin ribbon, this wax sculpture of a novice ballerina or "rat" standing in relaxed fourth position was described by critics as "ugly" and "a threat to society."

The bronze version also feature a fabric tutu and satin ribbon. 

The realistic treatment of her face and the use of unorthodox materials highlighted his desire for naturalism as an artistic standard rather than idealization.

NOMA is at One Collins Diboll Circle, City Park.   Admission is $10.

NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART

THE GEM OF CITY PARK

New Orleans Museum of Art, founded in 1910 by Isaac Delgado, houses nearly 40,000 art objects encompassing 4,000 years of world art. 

The entrance for wheelchair users is on the right hand side (you can see the rails for the ramp on in the above image.)

Elevators provide access to each floor of art on display.

The wheelchair-accessible street cars on the Canal Street Line marked City Park stop at the grand boulevard leading up to NOMA -- it's the last stop on the line.

It's about a 10 minute walk from the street car stop to the museum.

It's also about a 10 minute walk the other direction -- into Bayou St. John -- to visit the large and historic St. Louis #1 Cemetery.

City Park, with 1,300 acres, is the 6th-largest and 7th-most-visited urban public park in the United States. City Park is approximately 50% larger than New York's Central Park.

Works from the permanent collection, along with continuously changing temporary exhibitions, are on view in the museum’s 46 galleries Fridays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The adjacent Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden features work by over 60 artists, including several of the 20th century’s master sculptors. 

 www.noma.org