Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life"

Last weekend we made one of our 24-hour trips to St. Louis.  While we were there, we visited the St. Louis Art Museum, which is really great.  It's housed in one of the permanent buildings from the 1904 World's Fair and is free to visit.  Right now they have a special exhibit featuring all four original paintings from Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life" series.  (A second set hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and we saw them last spring.)  The paintings are visually typical of the Hudson River School, and I like the allegory of man traveling the river of life.  This is the first, titled Childhood.  The Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Instituted in Utica, New York, owns all four pieces.

Friday Featured Art: Stairway at Auvers

I mentioned the St. Louis Art Museum last week. They have a couple of great Van Goghs, including this one: Stairway at Auvers. It's fun to see his lesser-known works.

Friday Featured Art: Interior with Young Woman Tracing a Flower

Earlier this week we spent some time in St. Louis and revisited the St. Louis Art Museum. I thought that this painting was fun. The artist has a pet squirrel keeping her company!