Thanksgiving 2005: Morning at the Frist Center

We went to the Frist Center today and attended two exhibits. One was "The Splendid Palette" which featured 14 privately held (!!!) pieces of art by some of the best known and well-renowned French artists including Bonnard, Cezanne, Fantin-Latour, Monet, Pissarro, Redon, Renoir, Sisley, van Gogh, de Vlaminck and Vuillard. Note the words "privately held" ... The owners of these pieces were kind enough to loan these pieces so the public can enjoy them. It's amazing to think that each one of these actually sit over someone's fireplace or desk.

Also, Thomas Cole and The Hudson River School were featured prominently in the other wing. To me, it was just stepping back and viewing landscapes the way nature intended before machines and the Industrial Age. There were several paintings of Niagara Falls in the 1830's with farmhouses in the backgrounds and dirt roads around the rim looking towards the Horseshoe Falls.

Another interesting exhibit was an installation entitled "Neural Architecture." The kids enjoyed stepping past the motion sensors to turn on the lights. We did not have a chance to check out the Murano exhibit unfortunately .... Maybe we will come again this week!

One place we did make it to was the ArtQuest room. The kids loved this area where families can paint, draw, sketch and participate in many activities. One area we really enjoyed was the area for printmaking. Anita and Dad designed and scratched out own unique prints. The volunteers admired Yummers piece and said it was one of the best ones they had seen from someone her age. Minnie etched out a Monet one from the exhibit, and I etched the one of the Sisley pieces. All of our prints came out wonderfully. We are going to have the kids' framed!

Also, The incredible Rau Collection is in Nashville at the Tennessee State Museum at its final appearance before it travels to Europe. We saw this impressive collection last year in Cincinnati. Michael wants to go see it again... we'll see. :O)

Finally --- Admission to the Frist is free through December 31, 2005 if you donate a can of food. This is the second time we have been to The Frist, and we are still very impressed that Nashville has such a fine art venue. There are beautiful and well-done brochures for all of the exhibits, and the staff are very friendly and eager to answer questions. It's a definite "must-do" if you're there!


The kids and I standing outside of the Frist against "The Splendid Palette" backdrop.