Today was another gray rainy day in Seattle. Not particularly conducive to spending time outside. There has been a lot of rain, even for Washington - coastal flooding has been reported.
It was a good day to visit a museum. The
Seattle Art Museum is hosting a special exhibit featuring the work of Japanese artist
Hokusai . The collection is on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. My friends L & F again picked me up and we drove into downtown Seattle. This was one of the more expensive museums I have visited this year, $24.95 for senior admission, and another $20.00 for a couple of hours of parking.
Like many of these special exhibits, it is presented both vertically and horizontally. Teachers and influencers of Hokusai are featured, and works of his students (including his children) are compared and contrasted. As well, the greater topic of cross-fertilization of Japanese and European art is explored, particularly with regard to the developing use of vanishing point perspective in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Of course we were looking for “The Wave” the print for which Hokusai is most famous. Like many of these pieces, it is physically smaller than you might expect. But no less impressive. There is a reason why it has become so iconic and influential. Interestingly, this conveniently sets me up to photograph the King Tide next week in Oregon. Hopefully I’ll have some image-worthy waves.
We agreed that the one exhibit was more than sufficient and we did not want to confuse our brains with other kinds of art, so we called it an afternoon and headed back.
Tomorrow is my last day in Seattle, which will be capped off with Art Wolfe’s presentation about his new Wild Lives book.