Anish Kapoor

'The Bean'

Until recently, I had never heard of Anish Kapoor until a friend who visited an exhibition of his at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao mentioned him to me.  When I googled him I was really taken by 'Cloud Gate' in Chicago. What a beautiful piece of public sculpture, in a city with some great architecture.  The sculpture, nicknamed 'the bean' by locals, has a 3.6 metre hollow underneath that visitors can walk under.  It is made up of many stainless steel plates that were welded together and then the welds were smoothed and polished down.  Amazing, and beautiful, inspired by the look of mercury.  I'm sure the citizens and visitors to Chicago get a great kick out of it.  And if all that is not enough to make you 'wow' nearby you also have the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

Cloud Gate, Millenium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate with the Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Cloud Gate, Millenium Park, Chicago

Promenade de l'oiseau by Victor Brauner

I saw this painting in the Musée de Grenoble a few months back. It was one of many fine paintings in that beautiful art museum. It was so spacious; purpose designed to hold large and small pieces. A modern building with wood floors, white walls, a very easy way through the building, a sculpture garden outside. Trés jolie. The photo is from here.

In 1934 Victor Brauner had his first solo exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Pierre.

Maxfield Parrish

I like to hear of other people with 'field' in their names (like Matthew Elderfield the new financial regulator in Ireland).

I was watching a Gorillaz video. Noodle was set against clouds, standing and looking out over a high prominence and it reminded me of Maxfield. The clouds.

The subjects of Maxfield's paintings look like statues from antiquity. Yet they have a modern flourish and there is an excitement in the natural and classical settings. The painting above is named 'Ecstasy'. The world is being born again. Perhaps that's how the beginning of the American 20th century looked to Maxfield ?

Do you like his paintings? He was an illustrator too who made many advertisements in his day. If you're ever in San Francisco you can pop into Maxfield's bar at the Palace Hotel to admire his Pied Piper of Hamlin painting.