The Nasher Museum ~ Our Study of Matisse

We made the trek to Durham this week to see the exhibit of post-impressionism art collected by the Baltimore ladies, the Cone sisters. It is visiting the Nasher Museum, part of Duke University. This is an excellent exhibit, and I encourage anyone who is near the Nasher Museum to go see it before the exhibit leaves in mid-February. We were able to see works by Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin. It is not every day that you are able to find so many famous artists in one place. The works were not the most famous representations of the artists, but they were recognizable in each artist's style.

I was particularly pleased with my children's knowledge when we entered one room that had three works of art on the wall. I asked the children to pick the Picasso (his Blue Period), the Van Gogh and the Gauguin. They got them all with a simple glance around the room. It is always nice to see lessons learned and absorbed! I was also pleased to see my children showing interest in the works of art. There were three other children at the exhibit while we were there. One child sat the entire time on a bench playing with his hand-held computer game; another was walking along after his parents looking at the floor; and the third was trying not to fall asleep on a bench (since the guard said he could lie down). I thought it was very sad to see their lack of interest.

However, children are only going to learn to appreciate art if it is made fun and interesting for them. My kids still love the game I taught them when they were toddlers. Yes, they have been going to art galleries for that long. As we enter each room, I ask the kids to tell me their favorite work of art in that room. It motivates them to slow down and look at each work of art. Children love to share their opinions, and this is a great way to open a dialogue with them. Children also love gift shops. Art museum gifts shops are often great places to pick up art activities and lovely children's books.

Goldilocks was with us, too ... but missed being in this photo.

After four hours in the car and two hours in the museum, the kids were in need of an activity to burn off energy. We went to the Duke gardens and had a lovely walk through the Japanese gardens there. I look forward to going back and exploring the rest of the gardens another time.

We took Boomer with us. He did great hanging out in the car while we were in the museum.

We then caught a bite to eat and headed home. It was a great trip. We hope to do more long day trips this coming year.

Blessings, Dawn