Everyone has a camera on them. There is a saying that the best camera is the one you have with you, but whether you have the cheapest pinhole or the most costly Hasselblad. the thing that matters is what you can do with it. I enjoy taking pictures of people taking pictures in art museums. I've done it in the Louvre, the Met, the Uffizi. and the
We think of floral arrangements as bursts of color. Sometimes, though, monochrome works better, particularly if the blossoms are mostly white. I think about Robert Mapplethorpe's lilies. This piece was mostly white, with tinges of dusty yellow I didn't find attractive. Would you rather see this in color?
The German Expressionist Max Beckmann was a star of his nation's art world a century ago. Along with that of many others, his work was condemned as degenerate by the Nazis. He went first to Amsterdam and then, in 1947, accepted a position at Washington University here. He developed a relationship with the retail magnate, art collector and philanthropist Morton May. One large room of our art museum is devoted to his work. This floral arrangement represents the painting on the left. The one on the right is a self portrait.
I assume that our art museum assigns specific works to the floral arrangers so that the displays are well-distributed throughout the galleries. It has a growing collection of contemporary African and African American art. The portrait on the wall is the Yoruba/Nigerian king, Irawo II, by Wole Lagunju. You can learn more about the painting at https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/71750/ . I think the flowers reflect it well.
It's the time of year when the Saint Louis Art Museum draws its biggest crowds. For three days in late winter, the most talented floral arrangers in the region are invited to construct a piece that reflects the feeling on something in the museum's collection, if much more perishable.
I've been shooting it for years, and it's a challenge. The Friday to Sunday run can be just packed. The museum sets up remote parking a ten minute drive away. Early Friday morning is reserved for members (we are) but it is still hard to get a clear shot. I stood for a few minutes before one arrangement, camera held high, waiting impatiently for the spectators to clear. Someone beside me asked, "Would you like me to ask that lady to move to the side?" I told her that the person was my wife and, if necessary, I would use telepathy.
