The wisdom of Rick Steves

I’m not a big fan of museums. I can’t think of anything more boring than wandering thru an endless maze of rooms looking at stuff that has absolutely no meaning to me. It took me way too long to figure out that you can just go see the pieces you want to see. The Rick Steves museum tours are perfect for this – they know you’re on a limited time budget and only have time to see the very best works. We used the same approach at MOMA NY and spent a very enjoyable hour chasing down the top 10 before hitting our sushi dinner!

Van Gogh is one of my favorites artists; his works have to be seen in person to be appreciated. The energy in the paint application, the dynamic range of lights and darks, can’t be discerned in a book.

Sadly, I thought Starry Night was poorly lit (isn’t oil paint impervious to uv?) The Van Gogh next to this was much better illuminated.

And I didn’t know that the Matisse was actually a study for the final artwork.

Better still, “kids” under 16 are free at the museum!

But come on, it’s just a splatter painting!