Art Trekker

Catalog cover My interpretation: Aliens landing in cornfield, little girl exclaims in wonder. I doubt museums make much off their exhibition catalogs. Catalogs are likely expensive to research and produce. The Speed provided an excellent catalog to go along with the Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism exhibit. Acquiring a catalog was an extra treat. Not every exhibit gets a catalog. Years from now I can pop it open and remember the amazing works of art that were on display by Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and others. My purchase of the catalog had an unexpected good effect. My wife is a pre-school teacher, and she took our copy to work and used it as a teaching tool for her class. She educated the young students about Cassatt, and was able to show them Cassatt paintings of children their own age. Children Playing on the Beach by Mary Cassatt. My wife pointed out they're too young to play together! It's funny how the goodwill of the Museum in providing ...

"Go Fish!" (Courtesy Wikiarts.org) Netflix isn't just about Orange is the New Black  and Stranger Things . Viewers can binge watch art shows, too. One of the best is Raiders of the Lost Art . Each episode is either a half hour or an hour and features art experts discussing some of the all-time masters of art, including Rembrandt, da Vinci and Van Gogh. Last night my wife picked the Cezanne episode. Neither of us are big Cezanne fans. I've never seen a Cezanne in person that I really liked. But then again, I've never visited Europe. It's like saying you can't get into Rembrandt when you haven't been to Europe (or the Taft Museum). "Okay Rembrandt you can paint me, just don't make me look goofy." After watching this episode, my appreciation for Cezanne has grown. I saw several breathtaking paintings, including a selfie, and the stolen painting, "The Boy in the Red Vest". We learned that Cezanne paintings now sell for ...

Image by Sothby's Sotheby’s recently auctioned off a David Hockney landscape for $28 million: Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica  (pictured above). Hockney is kind of a big deal. How big? In my 50 Artists You Should Know book, he’s Number 50. That’s like being Agent 99 on Get Smart . "Whazzat doodad on the wall to her left? Some kinda space cyclops alien?!" Speaking of the 50 Artists book, Hockney has one more feature that makes him distinct from the rest of the club in that tome: David Hockney is still alive. He’s not like the Boy Who Lived. More like the aging British superstar artist who lived on. He’s still alive, and one of his paintings sold for almost $30 million. I can’t imagine how that must feel. In the age of Internet Trolls, now that the painting is safely sold, my suggestion to David is to announce that you're making 100 exact copies of it. To put it another way, David, ask yourself: WWADD? (What Would Albrecht Dürer Do)...