Lampposts, Hearst and VanityI ended up, through a curious set of circumstances, at San Simeon in February of last year. It was my first visit to Hearst Castle in over twenty years. Aside from the buildings and artwork I enjoyed the film we were shown about Hearst's life. What I didn't realize before was what an enormous influence his mother had on his love of collecting art as she herself was an art collector and connoisseur who took her son on European travels.
On Saturday I visited LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) with eight members of the Culver City Art Group. Although I visit LACMA throughout the year with different friends or by myself, going with a group lends another dynamic. We headed straight for the "Hearst the Collector" exhibit. I was impressed with the eclecticism of the collection. From the suits of armor to the fabulous tapestries to the paintings and ceramic dishes... it was interesting to see all the pieces out of context in the museum setting. Of course, Hearst had several grand homes to furnish and show off his collecting prowess. It seems this alone would fully occupy most people's lives, certainly it would mine, with or without assistants, let alone running a business empire! The Hearst exhibit ends February 1st so you need to hurry over there.
The other exhibit I enjoyed was "Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008." This runs through March 1. I'm not that intrigued or interested in the whole celebrity culture. But I have to admit, many of these photographs caught my attention... they were works of art, capturing people at a place and time that told a story. One of my favorites: White-haired Tony Curtis, Madonna and Mick Jagger are sitting at the same table at an awards ceremony. Curtis is all over Madonna, couldn't be any closer if he was sitting on her lap. At the other end of the table is Mick Jagger. The expression on his face is palpable: What the HELL (probably a different word with the same number of syllables) am I DOING here?
Don't leave yet, the best is yet to come! My brain can only take in so much at the museum, so after that I was done with exhibits. I went outside to my favorite part of LACMA, the new entrance with the installation by Chris Burden which incorporates more than two hundred restored cast-iron lampposts from Los Angeles County. As I roam around LA I am always fascinated by the many different types of lampposts, not the modern, boring posts, but the lamps from decades ago that still adorn the streets of our fair city.
I wandered through this forest of lampposts taking some snapshots. You can see them all here should you be interested. (Click on the "go" icon at the bottom right of the page, it may take a while to get started.)
Another satisfying afternoon at LACMA (not to mention another great Cabo San Lucas salad at Marie Callendars afterwards)!
(Photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)
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