Day 14: Minneapolis Institute of the Arts

The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts

If you think touring a museum is a slow and plodding process, then you have never attended a museum with Dan. We literally raced through the European and American paintings. Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a major museum with collections from Asia, Africa, and the ancient world, but Dan breezed right by all that stuff as if it didn't exist. He knew what he wanted, and it quickly became apparent that the four or five hours we had to spend there would barely be enough to see and document it all. The more good stuff we saw, the more excited we got, until we were in a frenzy of taking pictures.

The collection at this museum is extensive enough and the quality is high enough that it gives a pretty fair survey of the history of art in the west.

16th Century

El Greco, 1541-1614
Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple, c. 1570

 17th Century

Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1588-1629
The Gamblers, 1623

18th Century

Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrun, 1755-1842
Portrait of Countess Maria Teresia Bucquoi, nee Parr, 1793

19th Century, American

Thomas Moran, 1837-1926
A Scene on the Tohickon Creek: Autumn, 1868

19th Century, European

Gustav Courbet, 1819-1877
Deer in the Forest, 1868

Maximilien Luce, 1858-1941
Notre Dame, 1899

Early 20th Century, European

Andre Derain, 1880-1954
London: St. Paul's Cathedral seen from the Thames, 1906

Robert Delaunay, 1885-1941
Saint-Severin, 1909

 Mid-20th Century, American

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1887-1986
Pedernal--From the Ranch #1, 1956

Mid-20th Century, European 

Leonora Carrington, 1917-2011
Dear Diary—Never Since We Left Prague, 1955

Last half of 20th Century, American

George Morrison, 1919-2000
Collage IX: Landscape, 1974

21st Century, American

Kehinde Wiley, b. 1977
Santos Dumont – The Father of Aviation II, 2009

21st Century, European

Damien Hirst, b. 1965
The Death of Saint John, 2003

Lunch was a pleasant break. The cafe on the mezzanine of the new wing has a pleasant environment, with views of art in the museum. I had a nice poached salmon salad; Dan had beet and spinach salad. Then we resumed tearing around with renewed vigor.

When they closed the museum, we came straight back to the motel. We ate dinner early in the motel's restaurant, the Normandy Kitchen. Dan had the walleye, a new fish for him; it comes from upper Red Lake in Minnesota, the local fish. I had a veggie salad.