St. Louis Art Museum opens eyes on art

The St. Louis Art Museum gives visitors an opportunity to view art from ancient Egypt to modern times.

The museum, on the grounds of Forest Park, was built to serve as a palace during the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. It became the museum’s home in 1909.

A trip to an art museum is not usually high on my list (yes, I am a bit uncultured). However, we had heard great things about this museum, and planned to check it out. The visit became more interesting when one of our nieces joined us.

Kaelin, 13, was in town for the weekend with her mom and siblings to visit. So, Lisa and I asked her to join us for the museum visit. Kaelin is a budding artist. She has quite the talent.

It was fun watching a young person enjoy art that in some cases was centuries old. She is probably considered a contemporary artist, but she showed a lot of interest in Renaissance period art, as well as modern art.

She seemed to study the art. I found that pretty interesting.

The art we viewed went back to ancient Egypt. It’s pretty amazing that pieces of work have lasted several centuries.

We looked at statues, paintings, vases and clothing.

Statues from long ago were impressive. Some were of great historic figures.

The museum is divided into easily navigable wings.

The first level contains exhibits on armor, African art, ancient art, as well as Asian Pacific, Ancient America, and Islamic art.

Unfortunately, we started on the second level and didn’t get to the first level. That will be explained later.

The second level of the museum houses the majority of the artwork in the museum. From European and Asian art pieces to ancient and contemporary work, we saw hundreds of pieces of fascinating art.

European art included Renaissance displays.

We saw sculptures of historic figures, such as Louis XIV.

Lisa loved checking out “little dancer” by Edgar Degas. It’s one of her favorite art pieces.

Paintings were abundant and were breathtaking to admire.

Ancient art included sculptures and carvings.

We checked out some of the ancient art work. It is amazing to think that mankind has always had a flare for art since the beginning. I realize petroglyphs told stories for communication, but they also served as art.

The modern art was truly impressive.

I am a fan of reflections. The museum had a piece that I fell in love with. It was a basic design. But, the shiny black panels reflected those in front of it. I loved it.

Body parts lay on the floor for one piece.

Lisa caught Kaelin checking out a modern piece with a man sitting on a chair. Next to him was a bathroom medicine cabinet.

Nearby, a “most wanted” mug shot hung on the wall. This was an Andy Warhol work. We visited the Warhol museum in Pittsburgh about 8 years ago. That was an interesting place.

In a corner, stood an interesting piece. Titan is by Markus Lupertz

The museum even has a Playboy bunny display.

We moved along.

We checked out more European art pieces.

After we were done with the European and contemporary art areas, we moved upstairs to the Native American art and the early American pieces. The third floor doesn’t have an abundance of display space.

A Dakota (Sioux to non-Indians) shirt and moccasins were on display.

In addition, we checked out a display of pipe bags and knife sheaths.

The early American works included an old card table.

We moved back to the second level to continue our art viewing.

Religious art was abundant.

Moving along, we checked out Asian art.

Several pieces of pottery were on display from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The pieces were immaculate for their age. The colors were beautiful.

A sculpture sat on display.

It was a great experience.

As you may recall, earlier in this post, I mentioned we didn’t make it to the first level to check out the art there.

Here’s why:

You can only keep a teen’s interest for so long.

Lisa walked up to me and said, “And Kaelin’s done.”

Indeed, she was. You know what though? Lisa and I had a great time with our niece. We appreciated her wanting to join us on our art museum visit. We had a great time.

I think we’ll have to come back though, as I learned about a sculpture garden on site. I think that would best be viewed with green grass afoot.

Outside the museum, heart sculptures stood at the bottom of Art Hill. They were supposed to be lit up on Valentine’s Day as part of St. Louis’ 250th birthday celebration. However, inclement weather postponed the event for a few days. The party took place after we left. Lisa and I had planned to attend on the 14th. It’s our wedding anniversary.

So, any time you can get to a museum, as I am learning at my age, is a good thing. Visiting a world class museum like the St. Louis Art Museum is an amazing experience.

For more information on the City Art Museum, please visit www.slam.org.