Our first adventure in Oklahoma City (first time visit for both of us), was to visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. We had heard of the fabulous Dale Chihuly exhibit there, so this art museum has been on my list for quite some time.
From where we parked, we walked by the lovely Museum Café and entered at the Box Office Entrance. Also shown, is the Tower Entrance to the museum.
First, we went to the Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibit (June 22-September 2, 2019). The Mellon’s love of horses is reflected in the first gallery of the exhibit. Below are several horse sculptures by Edgar Degas (c 1870). Also shown is one of his paintings, At the Races: Before the Start(1885-1892).
I loved these bronze sculptures. The Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen(1880), by Edgar Degas, and Nymph (1953), by Aristide Maillol.
Here are more personal favorites of the 70 works by French and European masters in the exhibit starting with two by Pierre-Auguste Renior.
Pensive (1875) Young Girls Looking at an Album (1892)
Below are two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh painted the year before his death. Following are several more from the Mellon Collection.
Daisies, Arles (1889)
The Wheat Field behind St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Remy (1889)
Landscape, St. Thomas (1856), Irises by a Pond (1914-17)
Camille Pissaro Claude Monet
Still Life with Oysters (1876), Paul Gauguin
Tropical Landscape (1910), Henri-Julien-Felix Rousseau
And, I guess, every collection of European masterpieces has to include a painting by Pablo Picasso.
Chinese Chest of Drawers (1953)
Continuing to the Museum collection, we walked through the lobby where we saw this incredible Dale Chihuly blown-glass piece, the Eleanor Grant Kirkpatrick Memorial Tower. It is a steel structure that holds 1,200 hand-blown glass pieces, weighs 12,000 pounds, and is 55’ tall. Wow!
Meandering through the galleries on the second floor of the museum, we saw lots of interesting pieces. In random order, below are some of our favorites.
Parrot Tulip (1973), Apple, Classic Delicious 56, (1974),
Lowell Nesbitt Donn Moulton
Grand Canal, Venice (1898), Thomas Moran
Karen LaMonte Mahogany Chest-on-Chest (~1790)
These two paintings reminded us of our visits to Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon National Parks…both memorable experiences.
From the Trail Ridge (1936), Oscar Brousse Jacobsson
The Canyon (1958), Doel Reed
The central red piece in this Postwar Abstraction exhibit is entitled, Jasper (1979), by John Raymond Henry. I liked it, for some reason…
On the third floor is the Dale Chihuly: Magic & Light exhibit. And it is amazing. We have visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle, WA; the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg, FL; and seen his work in various museums and casinos (Bellagio lobby ceiling in Vegas, Turning Stone Casino in NY).
The overall view of these pieces is stunning, but close up is amazing!
I never tire of seeing these beautiful glass creations. Our final stop was at the gift shop. As with most museum stores, this one had many unique gifts.
It’s always such a treat to visit a world class art museum! Art feeds the soul just as nature does. I always feel happy after an afternoon viewing fine art.
Admission to the museum was $15/adults which included the Van Gogh, Monet, Degas exhibit. For additional information about the museum, www.okcmoa.com.
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