Landscape paintings at the Milwaukee Art Museum
There's nothing like waiting until the last minute. The Milwaukee Art Museum's special exhibit, Nature and the American Vision, has its final weekend coming up. I finally got around to seeing it with seven days to spare. If you're able to squeeze in a visit too, I highly recommend doing so. The museum is free the first Friday of every month and open til 8pm — and this Friday will be the first in May. It's kismet! You have no excuse.
But what if your excuse is that realistic landscape art from 1800s America isn't really your thing? I'll tell you: It's not really my thing either, in the grand scheme of Art. But for a mere $5 you can enjoy an audio guide of the exhibit and it's pretty fascinating. The stories, the passion behind these artists' work, the rugged terrain they endured to capture these landscapes — it's epic, as is the size of many of the paintings. The museum lets you get up close and personal with the pieces so that you can spy the miniature details, like sailboats on the Hudson River no bigger than a dot of paint.
This exhibit was an affirmation to me that, if you have an appreciation for any sort of fine art, odds are you can find something that moves you in whatever form art takes. Am I going to hang 1800s landscapes all over my apartment? Probably not. But I loved the pastoral scenes, the depictions of simpler times, and how these works are their own sort of historical snapshot.
If you go, get the audio guide. Stick your nose right up in these paintings' business and play I Spy with the insane amount of detail. Marvel at these artists' skill and our country's awe-inspiring scenery. It's certainly worthwhile — and you've got one week left (and a free Friday night!) to enjoy it.
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