Beaux-Arts Bouquets

Docents-in-training were invited to help with this year's Art Blooms event, Beaux Arts Bouquets, a wonderful event sponsored by the Women's Committee of the Walters as a fundraiser for the Museum.  I would observe that it was also a friend raiser.

Each of us was assigned a station, with three or four works of art in that station that had been selected for floral interpretation.  It was our first chance to interact with "the public" and practice our interpretive explanations.

I was assigned to one station which included this portrait of Anton Barye, the great animal sculptor.  The children loved the peony buds which were used to evoke his Legion of Honor rosettes:

In this interpretation of The Arbor, some flowers actually seem to "hide" behind the twig trellis, just as two people hide in the painting:

And this lovely interpretation of The Woman of Samaria used soft orchids and hard metal to illustrate the line of her drapery and evoke the contrast between hard stone carved to look like soft and fluid fabric.  Tucked into the flowers is a black-painted jug of the same shape she carries in her hands.

On Sunday morning, I was in The Salon with this princess - the flowers had some black tulle and lace tucked in to the arrangement.

And I loved this literal flower sculpture of Frederick the Great on horseback:

I found a very good blog entry about the exhibit, so rather than repeat everything about it I'll just link:  http://pechluck.com/art-blooms-waltersmuseum/

There were some really beautiful interpretations, and some rather puzzling ones.  I loved spending this time in the galleries and looking at the pictures through new lenses, which you certainly do when you are contemplating the floral reproductions.   I also liked seeing how different people react, and watching people watch.  Amazing how many people really never looked at the paintings at all.  Sigh.