Art I'm Seeing #50, VMFA 02

The art collection of the VMFA is the other good reason to visit the museum.

And here are some of my favorite works from today's visit.

I have long loved the works of Rockwell Kent, and this image from his visits to Greenland is really a powerful example of his paintings from and about a seminal artistic and personal time in his life.

Charles Burchfield, a regional watercolorist and long time favorite of mine has this excellent mid-career work on display. In an accompanying quote, Burchfield journals about his fascination with houses and the way they seem to always be watching you as you walk through a neighborhood.

From here enter the 21st Century galleries and WOW.

This Kehinde Wiley portrait is simply stunning. The regal, yet playful bearing of the subject cast against faux velvet background creates an act of resilient joy. From the first time I saw one of Wiley's portraits, I was a fan. And this work marks only my second encounter with one in the flesh and it's an experience. The canvas is monumental in its proportions accentuating the idea that you are standing before royalty.

My first introduction to the meticulous paintings of Julie Mehretu was at an exhibit dedicated to her at the Berkeley Museum of Art in California back in the summer of 2003. Her works are intricate "maps" of floating geometric and iconic shapes and images. In some ways they remind of Al Held only gone 3D!

A final delightful find is this painting by Heidi Trepanier. The beauty is not in the confusion, but in the way her use of detail creates organic meaning in the face of random or chaotic circumstances. It's a fascinating and beautiful abstract painting.