Whatever Wednesday - Art Adventure

Sunday June 22, I awoke and decided  on a Fort  Worth  art adventure.  Ray was off  to his family reunion (it's tradition - I don't go).  Anyway, I drove to  the Kimbell Art Museum  first.  The current exhibition - Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910-1945 was  a WOW and very timely for our current fraught American situation.  And it was the last day - so  a must see, and the Kimbell had quite  a queue. I was glad to see so many people open to this exhibit. 

above - Christian Schad's Sonja depicted the so-called "new woman" of 1928.  In the aftermath of 1918's  wartime, women won  the right  to vote.  Lots of change afoot. 

Numerous works of this time period  were declared as "degenerate"  art - denounced and confiscated.   The artists were the earliest to express displeasure with what they saw brewing in Germany.  Emile Nolde, Kurt Gunther, Curt Querner, Otto Dix, Paul Klee, Max Beckman, and George Grosz pushed the envelope and many had to flee. 

Let's think about  today - art bans, book  bans, television and movies and more....hmmm

 Horst Strempel's Night Over Germany (oil  on burlap) is a stunning, shattering work.  Jewish families hiding in fear.  

There  was hushed admiration in the Kimbell.  I'm sure many people left thinking...
 

After a light lunch in the Kimbell cafe, I walked down the  block  to the Amon Carter.  Forty photos for forty years since Richard  Avedon's American  West exhibit.  I remember that one - I  was fairly new to  Texas.  The black  and white photos of  just regular folks are stunning.  Crisp, clear, and the people staring back at you - their eyes say so  much. 

Here's a compilation  of  photos  from  the opening  day.  Avedon  was THE photographer  for  famous people and Vogue.   Then he explored the West - oil workers, ranchers - a tough life in  the summer heat.  One of  the  coordinators for  the  project was a photographer in her own right  (Laura  Wilson - mother to actors Owen, Luke).  Her keen eye helped Avedon  on the shoots.  

I truly enjoyed my art afternoon.  Then home for a dip in the pool.  And Ray  arrived home after a fine  time  with family and full from BBQ. 

That's how  we  roll. 

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I wonder if Gutenberg had as much trouble with his press as I've had with my format issues for my book. Self publishing is an adventure, a challenge, and yes I do appreciate the big NY brickhouses more. However, I soldier on and (shameless plug here), I am on Amazon Kindle - My Zoo World is available for download. Print edition coming soon (fingers crossed).

Back to Gutenberg. An article caught my eye (Dallas Morning News 10/15/11 p. 14A) about Germans in Cologne who have set up free-for-all libraries. Street corners, city squares, and super markets - shelves are available and books are donated and shared. Very cool concept. No questions asked. Take a book, leave a book, read and enjoy.

The project is open and financed by donations. Volunteer groups care for the shelves. The branch manager of Cologne's Mayersche Buchhandlung book store, Elmar Muether, said, "If books are present everywhere, it helps our business, too.". It's promotion versus competition. If someone gets hooked on an author, he or she is more likely to seek out and buy other books.

Anything to promote reading has to be a positive for society as a whole. Das ist gut!