#museum
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and we’re so happy to welcome the first day of spring!
“Landscape (Spring at Bougival),” around 1873, by Alfred Sisley
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In honor of National Quilting Day, we’re highlighting Faith Ringgold’s “Tar Beach 2” quilt. Ringgold’s combination of image and imagination, text and texture puts a unique, contemporary spin on the traditions of both quilting and storytelling. This work communicates the dreams and hopes of a young girl, Cassie Louise Lightfoot. Flying among the stars on a hot summer night, Cassie becomes a heroic explorer overcoming obstacles.
“‘Tar Beach 2’ Quilt,” 1990, by Faith Ringgold © Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York - Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York
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William Henry Johnson was born on this day in 1901. After studying painting at the National Academy of Design in New York in the early 1920s, Johnson left the US for France where he began to explore contemporary modes of depicting landscapes. In this representation of the countryside around Cagnes-sur-Mer, the region’s dramatic topography of steep hills and lush vegetation dominate the picture to the point that the horizon allows only a sliver of sky to peek through at the top of the canvas. See this work on view in our modern galleries.
“Cagnes-sur-Mer,” around 1928, by William Henry Johnson
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Holi is the festival of colors, where celebrants throw brightly colored powders (gulal) at one another while singing and dancing to celebrate the arrival of spring. Here the artist has thrown pigment on the surface of the drawing in a similar spirited manner. Powders were traditionally made from finely ground plants, flowers, fruits, and medicinal herbs such as neem, hibiscus, indigo, beetroot, and turmeric.
“Noblemen on Elephant during Holi Festival,” late 1700s, India
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We’re green with envy over these Saint Patrick’s Day ready looks. ☘️
“Woman’s Dress (Robe à la française) with Attached Stomacher and Matching Petticoat,” around 1770–80, France. "Woman’s Dress,“ around 1987, designed by Pierre Cardin. ”Woman’s Dress,“ Fall/Winter 1989, by Patrick Kelly. ”Woman’s Dress and Belt,“ around 1935, by Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo.
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Chag Purim Sameach! The holiday of Purim is one of the most lively and festive holidays on the Jewish calendar, celebrating the salvation of the Jewish People from Haman, the prime minister of the ancient Persian Empire, who sought to annihilate them. Purim traditions include the exchange of food and sweets, as seen in Marc Chagall’s mural study, in which two adults prepare to exchange gifts.
“Purim,” around 1916–17, by Marc Chagall © Marc Chagall / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
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French artist Rosa Bonheur was born on this day in 1822. One of the most famous female painters of her day, she was known primarily for her realistic depictions of animals. She would regularly exhibit and win numerous awards at the Paris Salon from 1841 to 1855, and her work quickly gained popularity around the world. Bonheur’s success provided her not only with economic independence but the freedom to act as she wanted, which included dressing like a man during a time that women would be arrested for indecency if they wore pants. At the time, women were often only reluctantly educated as artists, and her success helped to open doors to the women artists that followed her.
“Barbaro after the Hunt,” around 1858, by Rosa Bonheur
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Barbara Morgan described the performance “Lamentation” by Martha Graham as a “dance of sorrow … the personification of grief itself.” Working to portray the melancholy essence of the dance and to capture its “visual peak,” Morgan produced a dramatically diagonal image of the American modern dance pioneer. Though Graham leans on a bench, her arms and legs extend expressively to stretch the dark fabric that envelops her—a material that, according to the dancer, “indicate[s] the tragedy that obsesses the body, the ability to stretch inside your own skin, to witness and test the perimeters and boundaries of grief.”
See this photograph on view in our newest installation “Elegy: Lament in the 20th Century.”
“Martha Graham - Lamentation,” 1935 (negative); c. 1981 (print), by Barbara Morgan © Barbara Morgan, the Barbara Morgan Archive
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Réalisation d’une série d’affiches pour le CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers)
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Discovered the free library in a gallery the other day. The journals contained a Cioran essay, an article about Berlin in cinematography, some modern poetry. Headed to an exhibition opening right after.
days of the best and days gone by
Working at a place like @rsabg, I’m lucky enough to meet (and be a small part of preserving) endangered plants like Ornithostaphylos oppositifolia (Baja birdbrush). The Flora of North America has this to say about these stately native shrubs: “Ornithostaphylos oppositifolia is known in the United States from a single mesa and adjacent slopes in the Tijuana Hills just north of the international border with Mexico in San Diego County. Only 103 individuals have been located on the United States side of the border, and the species is listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act. The population has been declining due to habitat fragmentation by roads and trails and disturbance caused by illegal border crossings and Border Patrol activities, including ‘brush’ clearing. Recently, the extensive disturbance caused by the building of a double border fence has dramatically affected the population, and its long-term survival is uncertain.” Plants don’t recognize our borders, but our activities along them have a huge impact on plants and their habitat. O. oppositifolia were here long before we drew those lines across the land. Is keeping specific groups of people on specific sides of arbitrary boundaries worth the harm we do in the process?
#Ericaceae #Ornithostaphylos #OrnithostaphylosOppositifolia #BajaBirdbush #Birdbush #california #botanicgarden #botanicalgarden #plants #southerncalifornia #SoCal #botany #botanize #livingmuseum #garden #gardening #museum #ranchosantaanabotanicgarden #science #conservation #rareplants #endangeredspecies #wildflowers (at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8E4Z7PAzf4/?igshid=1ob1u500nqews
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Fun at work this week: filing Brassicaceae into the collection and sowing Lupine seeds! I love it when I get to work in both the “dead” collection and the living collection. The herbarium collection is approaching 1.3 million dried and pressed specimens. I don’t know how many perennials are accessioned into the living collection. Many hundreds, I imagine! I’m hoping to learn more about how the living collection is managed in the coming months.
#california #botanicgarden #botanicalgarden #plants #southerncalifornia #botany #botanize #livingmuseum #garden #gardening #museum #herbarium #ranchosantaanabotanicgarden #science #lupine #seeds (at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7bgMFrAZUw/?igshid=1i2126xwedbhb
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2 seconds after this pic was taken, I saw Luke Skywalker’s hands and I had some emotions. #notusedtoit
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#roadtrip #roadtrippers #hittheroad #exploremore #homeonwheels #wander #wanderlust #america #usa #travelgram #travelbloggerlife #travellife #museumofpopculture #seattle #museum (at Museum of Pop Culture)
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