Indoor Getaway

Pouring rain sending us indoors, we took the opportunity to get a look at Mt. Holyoke College's art museum recently...



There's an exhibit of famed photographer Lisette Model and her disciples (going on until Dec. 13th), that I'd been wanting to check out. Model was famous for her dead-honest, 'warts and all' style of photography of otherwise un-noteworthy folk. Her work and teaching spawned a whole culture of like-minded photographers in the early and mid 20th century.

I made sure that photos could be taken before I went in, and the girl at the desk said sure. There's no real charge, but a suggested donation of 4 bucks is, well, suggested...

The museum surprised me with all the stuff it has; way more than I was expecting.



There's plenty of fantastic artwork and artifacts from across the globe and across the ages, set up in a multitude of differently themed and colored halls.







Classical jewelry and adornments...



Wall murals, direct from ancient Roman villas...



...and a room over, a huge glittery piece from Andy Warhol...



Away from the artifacts, the museum opens up into the painting halls. Again, items from all places, eras and religions...





There's some gorgeous landscape painting to be found here, making me already miss the passing of the season...



And some of the landscape work is from the local area.



Like these cool paintings of the beloved Mount Holyoke range, rendered in simpler times...



Beautifully captured long before the dawn of the mega pixel, or even colored film. A couple of them very faithfully represented...



...or leaning to the abstract, if you prefer.



In another room, the second main exhibit is going on; themed Dance & Dancers. There's some stunning photography of said subjects in action...



...as well as a deliciously macabre collection of dance-themed pieces, timely and in keeping with the coming Hallows' Eve...







...also some carvings, very old and not so old, but no less bizarre.





Next up, I spied the Model exhibit in an adjacent room. As I lined up to take this photo below, the curator-guy, (who I had a feeling was watching me the whole time and waiting for the opportunity), immediately chirped that the Model exhibit was off limits to photography...



Ok, got it... (hmm, that's kind of ironic....)

So I had to holster the camera and keep those viewings to myself leaving you Oh, faithful readers, to go there and check it out for yourselves.

You won't be disappointed...