J.Diva: More Art! But a very different kind

Speaking of art, I had the chance to see the Philadelphia Museum of Art (of Rockie Fame) and I had a blast! I always love a solo stroll through a good museum in a finely-architectured building. And I didn't even cry this time like I did in the National Portrait Gallery several months ago!

There were several...interesting...pieces. So leave it to me to bring out the worst of one of the finest art museums in the country, all in good fun of course.

First the good stuff.

I really like this one, you can see Westminster Abbey in the back illuminated by the blaze. It's called "The Burning of the House of Parliament" by Turner.

If you're in Philadelphia, I guess you have to pay respect to Ben Franklin. However, Cokie Roberts did not have nice things to say about him and now I really don't like him at all.

I know, I'm good. Medieval coat of arms stained glass panels, the museum front, and downtown.

If you think these two little birdies aren't adorable, there's something wrong with you. Painted in 1638 (!) in Japan.

I literally said "Oh, wow!" out loud when I saw this. It is so cool because the paint is used as much for texture as it is for color. It's basically a 3D painting; very cool. Sunflowers by Van Gogh.

I saw this and was impressed right away. It's like you're looking out your peephole at the end of the world.

Here's a close up; you can see the raiding planes. Inspired by the Spanish Civil War, its called "Bombardment" by Philip Guston.

This one is by Jackson Pollock and its called "Male and Female" and I love it. I went back and had to look at it again before I left :)

And this is Ganesha. He is dancing! And he is from India c. 750- cool. Ganesa is the "remover of obstacles and lord of auspicious beginnings." Given that I am beginning to study for the Bar Exam, I have decided to incorporate Ganesha worship into my regular routine. More on my blasphemies to follow...

And now, the fun stuff.

Speaking of heresy and blasphemy, I am SO glad this hairdo is no longer stylish. Honestly, I can't believe that it ever actually was stylish... It's like a soul patch...on your forehead.

A far cry from the cutesie fat little cherubs normally seen in paintings, this is, well, awful. I can imagine that the painter must have had a bratty, teething infant at the time he painted this.

No, you're not seeing things. That's really a knife slicing into his head. I audibly said "What the..?!? Bleh!" when I saw this odd painting. And, lucky me, it was part of a set of 2. Trickles of blood included. For some reason it conjures the phrase, "Why so serious?"

These are pretty great too:

One of us doesn't belong... Yeah, I believe in aliens now. haha

These are called "pickle stands" and were totally worth preserving across the ages.

Going through her mind: "I don't want to be sitting here and so I'm going to look as utterly bored and annoyed as possible!" Honestly, this probably cost a lot of money to have painted, so it wouldn't hurt to smile, or at least to not smirk.