Sunday, April 13, 2008

American prints at the British Museum

Still jet-lagged, and shivering after leaving Uruguay's radiant sun, I went to London for a seminar this weekend. After spending two days in a conference room, down in a lightless, airless basement, I barely had time to rush to the nearby British Museum to soak up some art before hopping back to Paris via the Eurostar.
A major event at the British Museum, an exhibition of 20th century American prints had crowds packing the rooms of the usually empty Prints And Drawings department. The art is breathtaking. Here's a small sample, including a detail from George Bellows's iconic boxing scene, a beautiful Colored Girl, and Hopper's Night on the El train.

And here's a little quiz game... Can anyone guess what famous American artist, as a very young man, drew this bucolic scene with a faceless little girl sitting atop the hay? Enter your submissions in the Comments section...

17 comments:

marie said...

all so beautiful! im not sure who the artist is though?

Unknown said...

I was missing your posts!!
No idea about the young artist.

mansuetude said...

i love these so much, especially the top and the third. The moody depths.

pve design said...

Could the American artist be Jackson Pollack?

Kitt said...

Hmmm. Andrew Wyeth?

I thought of you earlier this evening when I read this:

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — One of South America's smallest countries proved on Sunday it can hold the biggest barbecue in the world.

Some 1,250 Uruguayan grillmeisters sizzled up 26,400 pounds (12,000 kilograms) of beef Sunday, beating a 2006 record set in Mexico.

I know you're a vegetarian, so maybe it's not so exciting for you, but you don't see much about Uruguay in the news ever.

/// said...

SOOO lovely.

Alya said...

No idea who the artist is.

Anonymous said...

You have true talent to take pictures! I LOVE all your posts from the Bristish Museum (a place I go to EVERY time I'm in London). And every single time, I walk along the Assyrian gallery with the same emotion. I would just love to see pictures taken by you from this place - your unusual angles transfrom the object.

Esti said...

Hopper?

Anonymous said...

really nice post,thx

mansuetude said...

i swear i have seen that image of the little girl in a children's book as a girl... its bugging me.

artycho said...

I just had to enlarge and read the signature of Jackson Pollock it seams!that is a surprise! Nice pictures the exhibition must be amazing I could may be go and have a stroll there!

Mary-Laure said...

Kitt, thanks for the news! I had read in the paper that Uruguay was going to hold this "asado" in the hope of breaking the word record, but I didn't know they had succeeded! It's really sweet of you to have shared this with me.

tangobaby said...

I would have never guessed Jackson Pollack at all. But I am so happy you had a chance to go to the British Museum and share some of your day with us. That is one of my favorite places in the whole world.

Mary-Laure said...

BRAVO to Patricia from PVE Design and to Artycho from Au Coeur d'Artycho, who guessed that the last print in the post was created by that master of abstraction, the great Jackson Pollock!
I was really stunned when I read his name under the print...

Chloé Van Paris said...

I would have never guess.
But i enlarged it....
When can i see you my dear punkie ?

Laura Neulat said...

Your picture and texts are always great. Thank you.