St. Louis Art Institute, Part 2

The museum did not have a special exhibit up when we were there as they were getting ready for the next one. But they have a very large permanent collection and that is always free admission. There was still plenty to see even though a few of the galleries were empty in preparation for the start of their expansion.

Below, my dad stands next to a piece that is by Jeff Koons. It is silkscreen on stainless steel and looks so much like a real balloon, but it is flat. I had my dad stand next to it so you could get a sense of the scale. If I had just taken a picture of the piece, you would have wondered why I was taking a picture of a balloon bunny.


Also while we were there, they had a conservator working on repairing some antiquity paintings. He was stanchioned off in one of the galleries. You were not allowed to talk to him or ask him questions except for during certain Q&A times they had scheduled. I wondered if he felt like he was in the zoo, with people coming by to watch him. The painting was quite big as it goes down below the platform he is standing on. There were three paintings all together that were to be repaired.

I liked the stare of this guy in the Oceanic section.


This was a very interesting piece near the back entrance in which we came. The artist is African and it is made with metal caps from bottles and liquor. The label explained some things that he included these because slaves were traded for liquor and other items. It is wavy and reminds me of a quilt. It is also very big.