Gauguin and Polynesia

From Seattle Art Museum link

Today Judy and I went to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) with the Bellingham Senior Activities Center to see a special exhibit of Paul Gauguin's art and some excellent Polynesian culture. It's only here until the end of April. I had never been to SAM before, but I will definitely be returning. Here's the information about this particular exhibit:

Seattle Art Museum presents the only United States stop for Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise, a landmark show highlighting the complex relationship between Paul Gauguin's work and the art and culture of Polynesia. The exhibition, on view at SAM Downtown February 9 through April 29, 2012, includes about 60 of Gauguin's brilliantly hued paintings, sculptures and works on paper, which are displayed alongside 60 major examples of Polynesian sculpture that fueled his search for the exotic. Organized by the Art Centre Basel, the show is comprised of works on loan from some of the world's most prestigious museums and private collections.

I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside this exhibit, because (as was explained to me) SAM does not own any of this art. They were taken from many different places from around the globe, and it is a stunning and truly amazing show. I was, however, given permission to take pictures of much of the permanent exhibit at SAM, as long as I didn't use a flash. Judy took this picture of me in front of a piece called Some/One by Korean artist Do-Ho Suh, constructed from 100,000 military dog tags as a memorial to fallen soldiers. It is art that takes one's breath away.

So much of the permanent exhibit was enlightening and amazing, but we knew that we needed to keep an eye on the clock, as we were required to enter the Gauguin/Polynesia exhibit within a short time frame, so it ended that we were hurrying from room to room. If you have ever been to a museum such as SAM, you know that a few hours only gives you a chance to see and absorb a small portion of the art. I was taken by this sculpture:

Something about the posture of this warrior on the back of the magnificent horse spoke to me of bravery and bygone times. I studied it and felt fortunate to be able to capture it with my camera. While we were waiting for the hour to pass, I asked a museum guide if there was anything that we should be sure not to miss in the permanent collection, and she told us to be sure and visit the porcelain room. There are more than a thousand pieces of porcelain collected from all over the world here.

Prior to the eighteenth century, porcelain was a rarity, a treasured material produced exclusively in Asia. European palaces in 17th–18th-century had walls from floor to ceiling made from porcelain. This room contains astonishing pieces from that era. I was so impressed. I could spend an entire day in this one room.

When you first enter the Seattle Art Museum, however, you are assaulted with a piece of artistic vision that one has to see to believe: it is called Inopportune: Stage One, where Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang took nine white Ford Taurus cars and suspended them from the ceiling with pulsing light rods coming out of them. It's worth the price of admission just to see these.

This was my first visit to the Seattle Art Museum. It will not be the last. I was privileged to see the Gauguin/Polynesia exhibit, which I cannot represent here, but I was also more than a little impressed with the art they have gathered in the permanent exhibit. I cannot praise it with enough enthusiasm to express how happy I am that I got to spend the day seeing more than 60 original pictures from Paul Gauguin's last decade of life, as well as to visit SAM for the day. If you get a chance to see it, please do. You will not be sorry.
:-)