European tapestries

I saw the European Tapestries exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, and I highly recommend going there (if you're in Chicago, of course).

When I first saw the info about the exhibition, I thought it was no big deal, but when I walked into the gallery, I was really impressed because the tapestries are huge and beautiful. I seriously wanted to cheer and yell "All right!" because they were so striking. But I think people around me would've been weirded out, and security would've hauled me away :D

I'm definitely going back--they're there for just a couple of months, and I just have to see their magnificence again. They come from the 15th through 18th centuries, and you can see the detail and hard, meticulous work the weavers and dyers did to create such beauty. The Art Institute catalog calls them "masterpieces," and they really are.

Misogynist Weekly

Nunavuter (who reads this blog) created these lovely magazine covers. The "article" names include "10 Tips to Shut Her Up During Football" and "Finding the British War Bride for You." It is, after all, "the magazine for men who love hating women."



It's satire, in case you're wondering...

Damaged art

Language Hat (aka the Great One, another person I'd like to meet someday) mentioned an article from the New Yorker about the follies of rich people and art:

He began to tell the story of the Picasso’s provenance. As he talked, he had his back to the picture. He was wearing jeans and a golf shirt...without realizing it, he backed up a step or two as he talked. “So then I made a gesture with my right hand,” Wynn said, “and my right elbow hit the picture. It punctured the picture.” There was a distinct ripping sound.

Another rich guy was going to pay "a hundred and thirty-nine million dollars for it, the highest known price ever paid for a work of art" but the deal was off. Then, "Later that week, Wynn’s wife, Elaine, took the painting to New York in Wynn’s jet, where she and 'Le Rêve' were met by an armored truck."

That's quite an expensive mistake.