SLAM Grand Opening

Way back in late June, when K was in town for our big trip to Wisconsin, the two of us were joined by T at the grand opening of the new wing of the St. Louis Art Museum.

The day started out with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the East Building, where SLAM Director Brent Benjamin was joined by Governor Nixon, Mayor Slay, architect David Chipperfield, execs from HOK, and other bigwigs.

 

The East Building almost exclusively houses the contemporary art collection, save for one gallery of ancient art.  Generally I'm not a huge fan of modern art, but there are some interesting pieces there, and there's lots of quality, in the traditional sense: Rothko, Pollock, Warhol, etc.  I found the Post-War German collection to be interesting.  I found this piece to be rather amusing:

Homage to the Square: Wondering by Josef Albers

I really loved this series of photos of blast furnaces, taken by Bernd and Hilla Becher:

They also had random deep thoughts posted on plaques all throughout the East Building. Loved them!

I could see how this piece, Townscape Sa 2 by Gerhard Richter, would look neat on a brightly-painted wall:

As for the building itself, I like the simple lines of its exterior design.  Unfortunately, that's coupled with white paint on the interior walls, which I find a little dull.  On the other hand, I love the paint job they gave the old building a few years ago (see below).  I think the art looks so much better backed by color.  The new building does, though, have fabulous light.  It has floor-to-ceiling windows in many of the galleries, and skylights dot the ceiling.  Well done.

We briefly wandered into the lovely old building, built in 1904 and designed by Cass Gilbert.  There I saw a few of my old favorites and discovered a few new ones:

Vinyards at Auvers by Vincent van Gogh

Lake with Castle on a Hill by Joseph Wright of Derby

Love the round frame!

The Three Trees by Rembrandt van Rijn

Once we were satisfied with our intake of art, we wandered back outside to enjoy the view. Not bad for little ole St. Lou.