Birkenwald at the Seattle Art Museum

Last weekend, we had a rare opportunity to spend all day together as a family, and since it was rainy outside, I picked a trip to a museum. I wanted to catch the last chance to see the Jacobs Lawrence: Migration Series exhibit offered by the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), and it was absolutely worth it - if you're interested, you can check out my Russian article about this exhibit HERE and see the whole series which contains 60 panels telling the powerful story of the Great Migration in the album I shared on my FB page HERE (the album is public). But it wasn't all we wanted to see in the museum, and while we loved the Lawrence exhibit, it is closed by now, but the other unique temporary exhibit we visited, called Seeing Nature, is open till May 23, so if you're in town, get your tickets now, I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy it!

First of all, we were absolutely delighted to see the new art installation that greets visitors at the main lobby. The previous one (cars "exploding"), called Innopportune: Stage One, was created by the contemporary Chinese artist and pyrotechnic Cai Guo-Qiang who was involved in designing the fireworks display for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It only was meant to be on display for a couple of years, but stayed there for 8 years - ever since we moved here from the Midwest! (More on the installation HERE.) I have to say, it was the most unusual, but really it was time for a new installation, and we finally got it! The Middle Fork sculpture by John Grade, made of nearly a million individually trimmed and sanded pieces of Western red cedar, and was previously displayed in Switzerland and Washington DC (more HERE). We loved it - not only does it make a big impact, but is uplifting and feels relevant to the local culture.

As we got to the Seeing Nature exhibit, I did not know that this wonderful painting by my beloved Gustav Klimt would be one of the Paul Allen's collection pieces, so I almost squeaked when I saw it! A little unexpected bonus: my outfit matched the painting as if it was planned, as if the designers were actually trying to recreate the Klimt masterpiece in this brown tapestry coat and rust orange set! Birkenwald, or Birch Forest, was created by the artist in 1903. It is hard to find an adequate copy of this masterpiece online - most of them don't show the colors correctly. The colors are actually quite subtle! As a website dedicated to Klimt states, "during his summer retreat in Litzlberg on Lake Attersee, Klimt started his days at 6 o'clock with vast strolls in the woods. Locals called him a "Waldschrat" meaning somebody who lives in the woods on his own. From 1901 to 1904 Klimt accomplished several paintings of different woods, such as Fir forest I, Fir forest II, Beech forest, Beech tree, and Birch forest." 

Birkenwald is one of 50 landscapes that the artist created, even though it wasn't his typical genre, and he only started painting landscapes when he was in his 30s. Interestingly, most of his landscapes are square shaped, which is very unusual for this genre, and their style have nothing in common with other impressionistic landscapes - faithful to his own manner, Klimt painted very ornate, busy landscapes, that absolutely lack people. On the Christi's website, it is said that Birkenwald was sold for over 40 mln US dollars (while the highest estimate was 30 mln).

We loved our visit so much that we immediately purchased a SAM family membership - it really is affordable, if you think of it, much more so than buying the art at Christi's! For only $99 per year, you  and your family will be able to enjoy this amazing collection, and many more (and you can apply your ticket price towards the price of membership). Have you considered getting a membership to your local museums? To tell the truth, we used to practice it all the time when our daughter was little - children's museums, science museums, zoos and aquariums in every city where we lived, and nearby towns too. But she got so busy with middle school homework and projects, that we simply lost track of things. But now we are back on board, and I'm sure we'll find time to visit SAM, especially given that Anna got into art school (it's what's called a magnet school in the US, specialist school in the UK, or specialized school in Russia), just as she dreamed! 

Linking with Visible Monday

Tina's Pink Friday

Tapestry coat, pleated top and pants - Elvi

Sandals - old, via Nordstrom Rack

Location: Seattle Art Museum

Photos by Justin, the last three photos by Anna and me (via my phone :)

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