Art Potpourri at Princeton University

While visiting my cousins in New Jersey, we spent a very enjoyable hour at the Princeton University Art Museum ogling the variety of their collection. For grownups visiting alone, it could easily take 2 hours or more, but we had two eleven-year-old girls in tow, and their attention spans were just not that long--especially with the prospect of ice cream on the schedule. I was really impressed by the quality and diversity of pieces on display, which the chatty docent who met us at the door told us represented only 10% of their holdings.

On the left is a gorgeous old stained-glass window in the Arts & Crafts style of William Morris, and on the right a contemporary mobile sculpture that undulates sinuously on a timer. Below is "After Vespers," a charming portrait by Lord Leighton Frederic (1871). My poor little cell phone doesn't do the rich oil colors justice. Below that is a delightful sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz of an acrobat on a circus horse (1914). It reminded me of the Ringling Circus Museum that Dear Husband and I saw in Sarasota earlier this year. (Click to see yours truly doing "acrobatics" on horseback!)

The ancient Chinese grave guardian on the left was one of a group of figures that captivated my interest. I had never seen anything like these composite clay statues with horns, scales, fur, claws, wings, and snouts. Next to it is a photo of one of several ancient Greek mosaics with a stunning variety of colors and inventive geometric and nature-inspired shapes. Below is one of several pieces of Native American artwork included in a temporary exhibit on nature in American art. This is wampum made out of quahog clam-shell beads recognizing that the museum is located on lands that used to belong to the Lenape. The symbols are a broken peace pipe, a turtle, a tomahawk, and a cross.

This provocative piece is part painting, part sculpture. Created by Valerie Hegarty, "Fallen Bierstadt" (2007) reimagines Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite Park as a classic, pristine landscape destroyed by fire and human intrusion. I would love to see so many natural wonders like Yosemite  or Yellowstone, but I worry that I will be one more human trampling on nature, and getting there via fossil-fueled airplane and car, thereby contributing to global warming and nature's destruction. 

Above are images from the Princeton Art Museum's medieval religious collection. Some of the art was hung in a standard, relatively minimalist gallery, while the rest occupied a room with gorgeous stained-glass windows and carved stone columns and "sheep gates" from a cathedral (right). On the left, Andrea Rico de Candia painted "Virgin of the Passion" on the island of Crete in the second half of the 15th century. It combines traditional Byzantine motifs like Mary's facial features and her "showing the way" by pointing to the Christ child with newer ideas like both Greek and Latin inscriptions and what the placard described as a frightened Jesus, losing a sandal as he hurriedly turns to look over his shoulder.

Said ice cream turned out to be delicious at The Bent Spoon, a neat little shop that has dairy-free options. Palmer Square was decorated for Small-Business Saturday, and these three ladies were singing Christmas carols in Victorian outfits. God bless them for their exertions in the cold. After stimulating the local economy, we went home for Rutgers football, take-out from an Asian fusion restaurant, and a rousing game of Forbidden Island. (If you've never played cooperative team games like Forbidden Island or Flash Point, I really recommend them!) Sunday morning we worshipped at a sleepy rural clapboard church before heading off for the next thing (my aunt and uncle's house).