MMMMMM… MUSEUMS: It’s National Go to an Art Museum Day!
MORRISON MONDAYS! By BILL MORRISON We live in a timeline in which there are lots of made-up holidays and observances for every day of the year, and though many of them are ridiculous and contrived, I really like one of the observances for today, November 9. It’s National Go to an Art Museum Day! I think as a society we tend to take art museums for granted. So, a day that reminds us that they exist, and urges us to visit and support them because they contain incredible artworks that we can see in person? That’s a worthwhile thing. I once drew a cover for a Simpsons poster book, pretentiously titled The Simpsons Masterpiece Gallery, that I think serves nicely as an image to promote this special day. It’s also an homage to Norman Rockwell’s painting for the January 13, 1962, edition of The Saturday Evening Post, titled “The Connoisseur.”) The oversize book is out of print, but for Simpsons fans in need of wall décor, it’s well worth the hunt. It’s full of Bongo Comics covers and other splashy art, presented without logos or any kind of trade dress, and suitable for framing. To further inspire a visit to your local art museum, I’ll share a story from my art school days. I attended college at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, which is now the College for Creative Studies, where I’m currently an adjunct professor. The Detroit Institute of Arts, a world-class museum that contains important works, such as “Self Portrait With Straw Hat” by Vincent Van Gogh, “The Wedding Dance” by Pieter Bruegel, and several Diego Rivera murals, is located very conveniently right across the street from the school. As a young art student, the close proximity of the museum to the school made it possible for me to visit the DIA at will. One day, while roaming the museum galleries on my lunch hour, I saw a large group of people circled around a very tall man who was speaking and gesturing toward a painting. The man was obviously conducting a guided tour, but he didn’t seem like a typical tour guide. I had the sense that he was an art historian of some sort who had brought a group to the museum to show them around and talk about some of the notable...
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