Palm Springs Art Museum

This Tuesday, I took a trip to the Palm Springs Art Museum. I had never been there before and I love going to art museums so I was really excited about the trip. I didn’t know what types of exhibits would be on display, but I was pleasantly surprised about all the different works and exhibits they had.

                  The main exhibit was about high-heels. I love fashion and hope to break into the industry one day, so this exhibit was right up my alley. They had high-heels and all different types of shoes from all over the world and from all different time periods. At the museum, I learned that scholars believe that the heeled shoe originated in Persia, where men wore heeled boots to keep their feet in stirrups. In the 1500s aristocratic men embraced the shoe, but by 1700 they came to be seen as irrational. Men then gave the high heel shoes to women, who loved the style and that’s why they are still prevalent in our society and all over the world.

Although I found the exhibit on high-heels fascinating, I loved the exhibit on Western American art more. The first painting I saw completely struck me and I couldn’t stop starring at it. It’s a painting by Fritz Scholder and it’s entitled, Galloping Indian on Horse. The background is completely black, but the movement of the horse is so powerful you feel as if the horse is coming straight out of the painting. I love the bright blues and stark white against the black and the only clear thing in the picture is the horses’ face. I just love the piece so much I feel so fortunate I was able to see it.

 

Fritz Scholder. Galloping Indian on Horse. 1978. Acrylic on canvas.

                  My other favorite piece from the Western American Art exhibit is a sculpture by Deborah Butterfield and it is called RYUNJI. It is made out of wood that is then casted in bronze. It is said that the negative space in between the wood gives the horse its rhythm. While looking at the life-size sculpture I just felt at east and peaceful. I think that if this horse were real, it would be very gentle.

Deborah Butterfield. RYUANJI. 2006. Bronze.

I had so much fun walking through all the exhibits and learning about all different types of art. I would love to go back to the Palm Springs Art Museum whenever they get a new exhibition.

Tam Van Tran. Nonceptual Space. 2009. Acrylic, spirulina and staples on paper and museum board.

Jim Campbell. Exploded View (Birds). 2011. LEDs, Custom Electronics.