Archive
MUSEUMS CLOSE ACROSS THE MIDWEST DUE TO LOW TEMPERATURES!
This is the Anish Kapoor Cloud Gate at Millennium Park, Chicago.
Chicago’s museums are mostly closed due to severe weather conditions with some temperatures as low as -51 F (-46 C ).
The Art Institute, the Field Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art are closed today, Wednesday. So are the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art and the Dayton Art Institute.
Come to Texas and visit our museums!!!
Cheers,
Elisabeth
SIX TON SCHOLAR’S ROCK
(Photo /theartnewspaper.com)
A SIX TON SCHOLAR’S ROCK FROM LAKE TAIHU, CHINA TO BE INSTALLED AT THE SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART AT THE EDGE OF RIVER WALK.
It all started when Katherin Luber the museum director mentioned to a visiting delegation from Wuxi (the source of many famous scholar’s rocks) a desire for a Taihu Lake rock…..a thought planted in her mind by Dr. Emily Sano, senior advisor for Asian art, and Shawn Yuan, assistant curator for Asian art. And so it happened that a 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide rock of inverted triangle shape was picked and chosen by Katherine Luber, Emily Sano, and Shawn Yuan and a museum trustee along Lake Taihu in December 2018. The rock will be shipped from Shanghai to the port of Houston early 2019.
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China and collectors worldwide have appreciated such stones for centuries and used them for inspiration, especially by scholars, poets and painters. The rocks figure prominently in Chinese gardens, and in smaller size on a scholar’s desk.
The rock is expected to be installed in mid 2019.
ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
MOESGAARD MUSEUM, Denmark
Open until April 2019
ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
Some of us always had a soft spot for Genghis Khan, the 13th century Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and of the largest contiguous empire in history. The first thing I learned about Ghengis Kahan was that he listened to and respected his mother; that he was brutal and gentle at the same time; open to foreign religions; and instituted sophisticated government and taxing systems. The exhibit includes fantastic works from international loans and Danish museums showing the rich culture of these nomads of the steppes with their sheep, goats, horses and camels, often on the move, and in contact with merchants on ancient and present trade routes, bringing material wealth that can be seen in their ornaments, fabrics, costumes, tents and furniture. Reviews point out that the exhibit shows an intriguing alternative to our sedentary life.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
CAN GAZING AT BOTTICELLI’S VENUS CAUSE A HEART ATTACK ???
An Italian man fainted while gazing at the Venus painting (ca. 1485) at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, and suffered a heart attack two weekends ago and is said to now recover.
Variously known as Stendhal Syndrome, hyperkulturemia or Florence syndrome this disorder appears to be specific to Florence when admiring and focusing on such magnificent paintings like Venus ascending from the ocean.
Have you been to Florence and seen this painting?
Cheers and Happy New Year!!!
Elisabeth
GLIMPSE OF ANCIENT YEMEN
Exhibit at Freer Sackler until August 18, 2019<
https://www.freersackler.si.edu
We often associate frankincense and myrrh with Yemen – if you wish to learn more about what was there since ancient times and what is being destroyed now, go and see this exhibit and also read this blog about
ANCIENT WOMEN SPEAK OUT – TODAY!!!!
https://www.freersackler.si.edu/ancient-women-speak-out-today/
Fascinating and sad. Looting has gone on for centuries on this crossroad of international trade between the Mediterranean region, Asia and the Middle East, but the vicious multisided war has now been going on since 2015 with no end in sight.
No cheers,
Elisabeth
The Good Heart
A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Wisdom Publications 1996, 2016.
An Interfaith Dialogue with the Dalai Lama and Father Laurence Freeman exploring passages from the gospels during the 1994 John Main Seminar; with special sections on Christian (Laurence Freeman) and Buddhist perspectives (Dalai Lama and Geshe Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s interpreter). The seminar is sponsored on a yearly basis by the World Community for Christian Meditation in memory of John Main, the Irish Benedictine monk who founded Christian meditation centers throughout the world.
What I found exciting and uplifting was the acceptance of the religious and spiritual focus in both Buddhism and Christianity, and the acceptance of the differences. The Dalai Lama’s reflections on the gospels and the explanation of Buddhist teachings, always based on his own experience, and about Buddhist and Christian saints, increased my understanding of both religions. I make this sound simple but the writing of the books is sometimes quite scholarly and academic and other times very down to earth- especially when the Dalai Lama is giving examples from his life. I am reading this book slowly and repeatedly.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
FORM INTO SPIRIT: ELLSWORTH KELLY’S AUSTIN
https://blantonmuseum.org/exhibition/form-into-spirit-ellsworth-kellys-austin/
Through April 29th!
A free standing building with luminous windows -his final work was unveiled only this past weekend. It is also likely the most ambitious work the American artist ever made: a 2,700-square-foot building loosely modeled after a Romanesque church on the grounds of the Blanton Museum.
Go and see it soon.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Plant sale sponsored by Travis County Master Gardener Association
Spring is very labor intensive for me -busy with continuing education requirements for my appraisal business but also with my Mastergarden work; after investing in time (three months training by Texas A & M professors) and money; as Mastergardeners we are the volunteer service arm of Travis County Agrilife Extension Service. We have to accumulate educational credits plus many volunteer hours – I concentrate on working in our demonstration garden and working in our greenhouse to grow plants and vegetables to be sold and given away at garden fairs. I love my work!!!
March 10th is our big date when we have our plant sale and gardening seminars at Zilker Botanical Garden. There will be no Zilker Garden Fest this year and instead a plant sale will be sponsored by Travis County Master Gardener Association March 10th from 9:00AM to 2:30PM.
We will shares the space with Austin Herb Society, iris Society and Texas Bamboo Society.
Come and see us!!!
http://www.tcmastergardeners.org/event/travis-county-master-gardener-plant-sale/
Cheers
Elisabeth
Buddhist Art News
As a subscriber to Buddhist Art News I come across some interesting and unusual articles- thought you might enjoy a few!
https://buddhistartnews.wordpress.com/author/buddhistartnews/
GERMAN BATIK ARTIST (BRIGITTE WILLACH ) MEETS JAVANESE BATIK GROUP BIMASAKTI
Brigitte Willach: “Jean’s Garden”, 2006; on Indonesian cotton.
This caught my attention in the most recent Textiles Asia Journal….
An extraordinary batik artist from Germany who has worked successfully for over twenty years creating batik in naturalistic, impressionistic and recently in abstract fashion has a special love for a group of batik artists – women and men – in central Java who have created very high quality batik in traditional designs, including for the court. The TEXTILES ASIA JOURNAL published in their Many 2017, Volume 9, Issue 1 an article written by Brigitte Willach about the Bimasakti batik group comprising about thirty members in a collective with six leading women.
Too bad I cannot show any photos from this article or give you a link but you can go to textilesasia.com and order your copy of the magazine TEXTILES ASIA JOURNAL; the magazine is published three times a year by Bonnie Corwin, bonniemcorwin@gmail.com and always contains with articles about subject matters, books, exhibitions, reports about textiles from all over Asia you do not find any place else by experts in their respective field. You may be able to buy the magazine at the Textile Museum in Washington,D.C. (remember it is now located at George Washington University on 231st Street,N.W.), Asian Art Museum in SFO, Josh Graham Oriental Textiles in London, Carole Cassidy Lao Textiles in Vientiane.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Elisabeth Wien's Blog 