As this was my last day in Denver, it had to be the day for the Art Gallery. I set off for the somewhat laborious trip into the city - made even more laborious because the free shuttle to the airport was nearly 15 minutes late and I missed the bus into the city - I watched it leaving as the shuttle pulled up nearby. So I had a whole hour to wait for the next one.
I got out at Market Street Station again, but this time I took the free bus down to the end of the 16th Street Mall so that I wouldn't be totally exhausted by the time I reached the Art Gallery.
You can see the distinctive Art Gallery building from some distance away,
so you are not in any doubt as to whether you are in the right place.
It was extremely hot inside and I was much too warmly dressed, but fortunately there are lockers so I was able to leave my heavy ski anorak and everything else I didn't need to carry. A very helpful volunteer suggested a route round the gallery, so I started at the top floor, with Western American art. There were some wonderful sculptures, akin to those on the way to the area which I posted in the previous blog.
This one shows a pioneer family, and is difficult to photograph adequately because it is so different from every side.
I enjoyed the western paintings, many of which were landscapes, and others of which attempted to capture images of the 'old west' through wonderfully evocative portraits or through scenes, real or imagined, like the one below.
This one, called 'The Stagecoach', is by Norman Rockwell. It was an illustration for the 'Saturday Evening Post', advertising the remake of the classic western film 'Stagecoach'.
The next floor down was European painting, starting from the Renaissance. Actually, I would have called several of them pre-Renaissance, being dated from 1360. There were none of my favourite artists though.
Somewhat later, I noticed this not very well known portrait of Henry Vlll, painted in the year of his coronation,1509.
Although I have seen illustrations of this portrait before, it seems not to be very well known in England. We are more familiar with portraits of a much older Henry, grossly fat and bearded and very unattractive. I suppose this is because we are more familiar with the portraits of him we have in England - particularly the Holbein one.
There were a few old masters - a lovely Renoir, an exquisite Sisley, and this beautiful Chagall.
There were plenty of examples from other well-known artists too - I failed to photograph a Picasso collage, but you can't photograph everything.
On the same floor there were some wonderful examples of textiles, which I photographed avidly, and which all turned out to be out of focus! I was using the camera phone, having left my camera in my anorak pocket in the locker, and I imagine it couldn't cope with the light levels in the textiles room.
The next floor was Asian art, with some examples from all over Asia. There was some particularly beautiful Japanese lacquer, but it didn't photograph well, being behind glass.
Other items were more successful.
I particularly enjoyed this Thai lion from the Ayutthaya period, some time between around 1350 to around 1760. There was no indication of a more exact date.
Some of the pieces were very large indeed.
This is a section of a palace facade, from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, dating from 1836. Sadly, we often associate the Swat valley today only with the Taliban, but it has thousands of years of history; it was already inhabited with well-planned towns which were stormed by Alexander the Great in 327BC. It would be interesting to see more art from this ancient area.
The next floor down was pre-Columbian art, and I was interested to compare this with the recent exhibition I saw in the British Museum.
There were many pieces similar to those in the exhibition, though these came from all over South America, not just ancient Colombia, like the ones in the British Museum exhibition.
The same floor also had Spanish Colonial Art, but I only walked through that very quickly, as my back was starting to hurt.
The final floor I tackled was American Indian art, and I was sorry not to have more time to spend on it. I failed to photograph the wonderful bead work, and my photographs of the pottery, rivalling Ancient Greek pottery, are out of focus. I did manage some of the textiles though.
These are all relatively modern.
There was plenty more to see, but my energy had run out, and I took myself back to Barnes and Noble for a reviving coffee before catching the bus back up to Market Street Station for the bus back to the airport. I was very fortunate in that the bus arrived at the airport at the same time as the shuttle to the hotel, so there was no waiting around. I was glad not to arrive back too exhausted, as I had to pack for my departure to Salt Lake City the following day.
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