Busy, Busy, Busy

Carel Fabritius. The Goldfinch. 1634. Oil on panel. Mauritshuis, the Hague, Netherlands

Art saves lives and it certainly continues to enrich mine. The Double Dutch show at the de Young is the most spectacular exhibit now in the Bay Area. Don't get me wrong. I don't mean that the works are bold, loud or gaudy.

No, this kind of work is work that you need to be able to stop and look at, take in, think about. A couple of friends of mine have gone and so far, the crowds haven't been impossible. I hope they remain so for the opportunity to see so many old masters in our city won't come again. If you have money to travel to Holland and see them in the museum once their restorations are finished, good for you. But most of us don't have that kind of money so this is a once in a life time event.

http://www.examiner.com/article/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-paintings-from-the-mauritshuis-at-the-de-young

René Magritte. The Listening Room (La Chambre d'Écoute, 1952

Weekend Recommendations: I haven't been able to get over to Berkeley to see the show on 'Silence" but it's high on my list of "must do things." All of the shows at the BAM have been intellectually challenging. I may not always like them but I appreciate what the museum does with limited resources but unlimited creative imagination.

Dorothea Tanning has long been a favorite of mine and even more so since she was both a painter and a poet, something that I aspire to.

http://www.examiner.com/article/late-nights-at-the-bam-pfa-silence-studio-glass-and-dorothea-tanning

Pieces from Matisse's "Jazz" come to Monterey. Now here is an artist that I find continually inspiring. At the age of 71, he recovers from cancer surgery and proceeds to invent a new art form.

http://www.examiner.com/article/henri-matisse-improvisation-at-the-monterey-museum-of-art