Hurricane Irene is threatening to ruin our day/weekend, but she’s not going to ruin our Inspirational Lunch! Order in from your favorite neighborhood spot (and make sure to tip your delivery guy generously), and, while you're waiting, enjoy celebrated landscapes at museums around the world via Google Art Project. In case you’re not familiar with the website, it’s an extraordinary tool for exploring the museums around the world. Each venue has floor plans and virtual gallery tours. Each artwork has viewing notes, history and artist information. Plus, you can zoom in close enough to see every brush stroke! Start in NYC at the MoMA with van Gogh’s La nuit étoilée (The Starry Night). You can get closer online than you can standing there in person at the museum (no kidding!). When you do, you'll see the thickly-layered oil paint and feel the artists hand almost moving across the canvas conducting the sky as it swells and swirls. It's awesome.
Hop the pond to the National Gallery in London for Landscape with a Goatherd and Goats by Claude. The delicately textured leaves are so lovely. Zoom in to see the diverse shapes and varieties. Claude was clearly a nature lover. Yet, according to the viewing notes, "It has been claimed that Claude painted this picture out of doors, but this seems unlikely." I wonder why...
Next, travel to Russia for Landscape with Apollo and Diana by Lucas Cranach the Elder at Gemäldegalerie. Zoom in on the tiny buildings in the distance and the faint ships in the water. From the intricate brushstrokes in Diana's hair, to the feather bristles at the ends of Apollo's arrows, the detail throughout this masterwork is mind-blowing.
Of course, there is so much to see on the Art Project site, you could spend the rest of the afternoon browsing around. Ease yourself back into this gloomy, rainy day with a stop at Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie for Carl Blechen’s Schlucht bei Amalfi (Gorge near Amalfi). The juxtaposition of the clear blue sky above and the violent waterfall below will help usher you in.
Very fun! Something I can do from anywhere!
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