I've finally followed through with my desire to join the Philadelphia Art Museum (philamuseum.org). For students it's only $35 for a year, and the benefits far outweigh the meager price. Every member gets not only total access to the permanent galleries, but also free tickets to the temporary exhibits. I was able to catch the tail end of the Renior exhibit, and although it's too late for the rest of you to visit (unless you really hurry over there today), I thought it was still worth mentioning.The Renoir Landscapes exhibit takes a look, not at the figure paintings for which he's famous, but at his work with natural and street scenes. I had heard negative things about the execution of the exhibit, but I found them to be unfounded. Although it wasn't groundbreaking, the simplicity of the presentation was refreshing. I'm no art afficianado, but I could easily follow the development of Renoir's early technique into full-blown impressionism. That was part of what I liked about it - the exhibit was accessible. Particularly interesting was the focus on the connection between Renoir and Monet, who often painted the same scenes side by side, but with very different results. Monet even appears in one of the paintings on exhibit. There was also a great deal of interesting information about the social change in France during Renoir's life - the rise of the middle class and increase in leisure time - that assisted the viewer in understanding the scenes depicted. I had planned to skip the Renoir exhibit entirely, but I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased that I was able to attend.
In addition, I visited the Museum on Friday evening, so after I finished wandering the Renoir exhibit I participated in Art After 5. It's the combination of live music, good drinks, and galleries open late that happens every friday night at the Art Museum. Usually jazz musicians play, but the first Friday of the month is reserved for world music. My Mom and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Bakithi Kumalo (http://www.bakithikumalo.com/), a South African bassist. He and his band had great energy and even got people to dance. The drinks are a little pricey ($8 for a glass of Chardonnay), but it's worth it to hear a free concert and wander the galleries into the evening. Next Friday Maria Schneider's big band will play, and I'm definitely going to check it out again.Finally, an alert to an event this week. Tuesday night at 8 pm author Dave Eggers will be reading from his latest work, What is the What, at the Free Library of Philadelphia (www.library.phila.gov). What is the What was chosen as the One Book, One Philadelphia book of 2008. It's the story of a Sudanese refugee, and it's gotten great reviews. The event is free, and sure to be interesting. I'll definitely follow up after Tuesday.
