Miro, Goya and Picasso at SJ Museum of Art

I will admit it...I feel a little snobbish about the Bay Area fine art museums. Legion of honor, SF MOMA and the San Jose Museum of Art are in my mind NOT some of the better fine art museums on the West Coast, let alone the US.

Then, I received an email invitation through work about a reception and a chance to see the work of 3 Spanish master: Joan Miro, Francisco Goya and Picasso. Plus, they promised sangria and tapas too...I don't think I need any more arm twisting:)

Work was actually somewhat busy, so I did not reach the museum until 7:15pm. Feeling a little hungry, I hit the buffet table for some tapas. Got myself a few pieces of cheese, some ham and a meat ball. Satisfied, I start browsing the exhibits.

I had read online the Miro exhibit will be closing soon and decided to look at his work first. Personally, I felt Miro's works are too abstract for me to interpert, but always enjoy the vibrant colors and whimsical lines/shapes. There was a painting with a drawing of I thought looked like a dog that I enjoyed. On another painting, I swore the top right figure was Miro's representation of a rat. Finally, there was a figure that reminded me of Cobi, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics mascot, waving its arms welcoming guest.

There was a series of Miro's works which were almost Zen like. Painted with wide brush strokes on beige-colored paper, it was very different from the Miro's that I am familiar with. Interesting in its own right, but, unfortunately, that series did not resonate with me at all:(

Next, I went to check out the Goya's exhibits. I remembered vividly studying about "The Third of May 1808" during my art history lessons in undergrad and always had the impression that Goya's works are mystic, dark and painful. These exhibits did nothing to change that impression. There were several etching depicting evil torturing ordinary people. Bodies were twisted in pain. There was something strange about the setup of this exhibition: the explanation posted next to the etchings read like comments of 3 art critics, where usually the titles given by the artist were posted. I still don't know what to make of that.

Finally, I checked out Picasso's etching. I was immediately drawn by the intricate lines Picasso used to drawn horses and facecs. Those detailed lines reminded me of African masks. I was quite excited since I recalled in my art history class, Professor Geiger had mentioned Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" was inspired by African tribal masks and Picasso had an extensive collection of African art. It seems to fit pretty well with what I was seeing.

The title of Picasso's exhibition is "Etchings of Love and Desire". Call me conservative, but I was uncomfortable with the obvious drawing of male sexual organ in some of the etching. There was a series of etchings showing the Pope, Raphael (the Renaissance artist) and his model Margherita where Raphael was CLEARLY excited. The etchings were too explicit for me to enjoy the art. It was unfortunate, since the some of the etchings had beautiful line art work which I did not associate with Picasso.

My friend H came by after work and we viewed the rest of the exhibit together. We managed to quickly glance through most of the art work before the museum closed at 9pm.

I was feeling a little hungry, so we had a quick dinner/night snack at Asqew Grill. I had eaten at their Steiner Street location in San Francisco and really enjoyed their skewers, but was frankly disappointed with the San Jose store. I ordered the Portobello mushroom skewers, which was served with citrus couscous . The grilled vegetables did not have any seasoning to it, and the soy berrre blanc sauce described on the menu tasted like soy sauce and did not bring alot of flavor to the dish. The portions seemed to have changed a little as well. I recalled the skewers were served with a starch and a creative side salad, but salad was not part of my meal.

I was happy San Jose Museum of Art was able to put together exhibitions by 3 world renowed artist. While their most representative works were not shown, one could still sense and appreciate the style of their work. I was also glad the reception successfully drew a large crowd of younger patrons. Maybe San Jose will be more cultured from now on!