Art Here and There

We've been in Southern California for the holidays, reconnecting with family and friends and enjoying the warm, sunny weather. It will certainly be an eye-opener when we return to Nantucket later today where there's snow on the ground but we look forward to a great year of opportunities and adventures as 2008 unfolds.

Yesterday it was 75 degrees here and I took the opportunity to not only spend a little time at the beach but also see the Wayne Thiebaud restrospective at the Laguna Museum of Art in Laguna Beach. I've always liked his pop images of cows and cakes but especially enjoyed this particular exhibition, which included charcoal and pastel drawings from his early days as an art student.

Fortunately there were some other great exhibitions at area museums during our visit and, as usual, I had a list of "must see" shows to keep me busy over the past two weeks. About Face: Portraiture Now, co-curated by Ron Nelson, my friend and colleague at the Long Beach Museum of Art, was outstanding and was a highlight of our visit, along with a long lunch at Claire's at the museum. Other shows we enjoyed were the mind-stretching Murakami exhibition at the MOCA Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles, Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, and Julius Shulman's Los Angeles photographic retrospective at the Los Angeles Central Library's Getty Gallery. We also spent a day at the Getty itself in Brentwood, appreciating some favorite works like Van Gogh's Irises and wandering around the lush and varied gardens. The Restaurant at the Getty is a great place to enjoy outstanding food, service and views if you're visiting LA. It's never disappointed us.