Family Trip To The Museum

Yesterday my whole family took an excursion to the Detroit Institure of Arts to see the exhibit "Fakes, Forgeries, and Mysteries." I expected this to be a little game thing like a mystery on a train. The T.V. adds made it seem so. Actually, I liked it better the way it was. We could use our cell phones to access information on some of the stations of pieces of art in the group of rooms or we could read from a transcript. Besides these stations, there was lots more art displayed. One of the first puzzles was whether a painting was done by the Dutch artisst Jacob von Ruisdael. It was a windmill scene. There was a genuine Ruuisdael of another scene beside it. The museum showed how the windmill had differences that made them think it was another artist.

Another picture had a white area, rather sketcy looking, on an otherwise colorful piece. The museum said the artist might not have been finished and someone else painted it in. And then later, to keep, it authentic, the paint was removed. Whatever the answer, it made an unusual painting. The paper explained the difference between forgeries, and copies which were not made to deceive. Also some paintings were done "in the style of" another artist. All in all, I thought the whole thing very infomative. Most of the "mistakes" were thought to be genuine when purchased. The museum treasures them still because they may be by a new artist or just the story of the "mistakes" makes them unique and valuable.

We visited other parts of the museum. There was a picture of The Judgement of Paris. My son knows about myths and I asked him to tell me the story of the painting. It turned out to be a sort of beauty contest. (By the way, when I looked up the term "Judgement of Paris", I found that it can also be spelled "Judgment of Paris." I find this very interesting.)

We also had to hunt up a fish hat that was about 8 feet long with spikes on the body. It was one of this same son's favorite things at the museum.

My daughter wanted to see the cafe area where there are four walls decorated in various castle motifs. One wall had those windows with the diamond panes in them and crests on the knubby bricks. It made me feel like a princess to stand back and view something so romantic looking.

What fun it was for me to visit with my family and enjoy some culture at the same time. I enjoyed it so much, I may have to visit again real soon.