Art Appreciation, or Beach Day? Why not both.

The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne is full of exciting and exotic pieces. Wait, did Emily Key just use the word exciting in the same sentence as "Art Gallery"? Yes!!! I fell in love with Rembrandt's "Two Old Men Disputing" that he painted when he was 22 years old. As I said to a professor discussing the painting with me, "He was only 22? What am I doing with my life?!??!"

 There was a large amount of glassware, and items crafted out of silver, from Europe. Many of these pieces were absolutely exquisite!

"Most exquisite chips and dip tray EVER"

 

A piece I was fascinated by is "Tender are the Stairs to Heaven" by Yayoi Kusama. You might want to google that to find some more, and most likely better quality, photos of this, but I will do my best to describe it. It's basically a floor to ceiling neon ladder in a very dark room. The artist suspended the neon ladder between two mirrors, and "as one peers into the mirror, the ladder is seen to be never-ending, pushing the limits of ideas about infinity."

 

This photograph struck a chord within me, and I just stood and looked at it, studying each detail. The photographer captured an aspect of war that we just don't see on TV.

After leaving the gallery, we headed to St Kilda beach for another afternoon of baking in the sun. It was extremely windy, so we stayed out of the water, but enjoyed an hour or two of laying in the sand, just laughing at people walking by, and cutting up. Hopefully, I can get enough of a tan to hold me until the summer in Auburn. Two summers in one year? Score!