Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

It was a perfect winter day to visit the Weisman Art Museum.  I have wanted to visit this museum for quite some time and today my husband and I finally went and it was more than I expected.  My only regret is that it was much too cold to get photos of the outside of the museum.  It was designed by Frank O. Gehry and is reminiscent of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.  I snapped this photo from the car so it’s not the best quality but it will suffice for my tale here.

It’s a small museum with all the artworks contained on one floor, but both hubby and I commented that it was just big enough.  Our eyes were “full” by the time we were done.  Most of what’s on display are paintings by American modern artists.  There are some sculptures as well and the museum is full of light and has rich wooden floors.  It was very warm and welcoming.

Buttercups:

A view of those beautiful floors:

I loved this colorful painting by Kenny Scharf call Moda de Mangue.  The mangrove tree grows in Brazil:

In the same room were a handful of paintings by Orval Dillingham.  This one particularly caught my eye and reminded me of some Picasso paintings I have seen:

Just opposite this painting was a piece of art that took up an entire wall.  The artist, James Rosenquist, made his living as a billboard artist and I believe the art pictured here used to be billboards or parts of billboards:

In another room there was a public artwork space with installations by Diane Willow.  There was a sign on the wall that invited studio visitors to participate.  So, we took a stroll through this interesting installation that was hanging from the ceiling:

Another colorful painting by Jacob Lawrence entitled Dancing Doll:

Another room had many pieces of art by Charles Biederman.  Hubby really enjoyed the very colorful one with bits of squares and rectangles stuck together and jutting out from a canvas.

The Pedicord Apts. was an interesting exhibit.  Edward and Nancy Kienholz recreated a hallway of a run-down residence hotel in Spokane Washington.  The visitor stands close to each door and hears something different going on in each apartment. I remember hearing a child crying in one, a man talking with his wife in another and either a radio or television playing in yet another apartment.  The plaque on the outside of the exhibit mentioned that the hallway gets smaller the further you go in and suggested that one might feel claustrophobic. I didn’t feel that way but it certainly was an interesting exhibit.

And now the painting that piqued my interest in this museum.  I’m a huge fan of Georgia O’Keefe so when I read years ago that there was one of her paintings here, I knew I had to come see it.  And it did not disappoint. An interesting tidbit on the plaque next to this one was that it was originally hung vertically. But after some research it was discovered that it was painted horizontally so it was rehung.  I love the colors in Georgia’s poppies:

This impressionist view of the excavation for Penn Station in New York caught my eye.  The name of the painting is Excavation but I didn’t note the artist:

Another view of a room with Georgia O’Keefe’s painting in the background and another look at those beautiful wood floors:

There was a small collection of Korean furniture:

And this curious sculpture whose name I forgot to document. The view is different from each angle:

“Executive in red chair” is Mr. Weisman’s father.  I thought he was a real person!

Hubby was entranced by this one and at first glance it reminded me of a Bosch painting.  It’s called Protection of White Womanhood by Walter Quirt.  It depicts the trial of nine black men, known as the Scottsboro Boys, who allegedly raped two white women in Alabama in 1931.

I wish I had had more energy to watch some of the videos in this exhibit but this was the end of our tour and as I mentioned above, our eyes and minds were full.  I will definitely be coming back so perhaps next time I’ll visit this exhibit more fully. Here is the plaque on the wall that describes the exhibit and some of the portraits:

Frederick Weisman portrait by Andy Warhol:

The last thing we saw was the great view out the window of downtown Minneapolis and the Washington Avenue bridge:

I highly recommend this museum.  It’s free and there is a parking garage underneath which is very convenient but there is a fee to park there.  I imagine on warmer days one could find cheaper parking on the street.

Weisman Art Museum
333 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 625-9494

I’m also participating in my friend Marianne’s “one trip a month” challenge.  I have many places I’ve been meaning to visit and the Weisman museum had been on my mind lately so it was the perfect opportunity to participate.  Check out other trips at the link or participate yourself.  Enjoy!