netclectic,

I want to thank you, and the citizens of Glasgow, for the loan of the french paintings in the traveling exhibit, "Millet to Matisse: 19th and 20th Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow."

I'm a docent at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and we got a private tour this morning before tomorrow's opening. It's a spectacular collection, and we're thrilled to be on the tour.

Since you're the only person I've ever known of who lives in Glasgow, I wanted you to know I appreciated the chance to visit some works I'd only read about. In addition to the sixty-four paintings, the exhibit features photographs of the Kelvingrove, both interior and exterior, and some shots of Glasgow from the turn of the last century. Funny, I looked for your picture, the one you use on this board, but couldn't find you...

If you've not seem these paintings yourself, I hope you'll avail yourself of them when they arrive back home. Great stuff!

http://www.okcmoa.com/exhibits_current.htm

Scott Wallace Oklahoma City

Nice one!

I've not visited Kelvingrove in many years and i can't say i know these paintings. Maybe it's about time i visit againa, at least once it re-opens in summer 2006. The refurbishment hit a bit of a snag recently when protesters stopped the work. Apparently the flooring being used was coming from non-replenishable supplies, e.g. the amazon rain forest.

If i happen to bump into any museum officials i'll pass your comments on.

Are there any other exhibits from Kelvingrove there or just those paintings?

netclectic wrote:

The refurbishment hit a bit of a snag recently when protesters stopped the work. Apparently the flooring being used was coming from non-replenishable supplies, e.g. the amazon rain forest.

Seems if there's something to protest, someone will. If not, something will be made up! They want to preserve a non-replentishable resource, but they want to do it killing another non-replentishable resource - Me!

netclectic wrote:

Are there any other exhibits from Kelvingrove there or just those paintings?

Just these, but that's enough for us. My understanding is that the exhibit was booked pre-9/11, and that many exhibits are now refusing to cross the Atlantic (to come to the big, bad, unsafe U.S.). This may be it for us for a while. But it's great!

The photographs of the building are great as well. Great architecture is what's lacking in the (very young) plains states of the U.S. Everything feels like it was built yesterday by the lowest bidder. And it was.

Here's a picture of the first US Post Office in Oklahoma City. Note this was 1889, not long ago, and it was one of the first structures(?) in town. Check out the kid with the gun standing guard! Them were the days...

There is some great architecture in Glasgow. Sadly they knocked a lot of it down in the 60s & 70s and replaced it with concrete prefabs but they seem to have realised it's worth saving recently. Any new developments are generally being done "inside" existing buildings, maintaining the facia and other architectural gems.

Have a look at http://www.hiddenglasgow.com - some great photos and links

We had a similar experience here in the early 1970s. We had a mayor determined to dynamite our older buildings and replace them with a plan created by I.M Pei, who also did some work in Paris. They brought down a number of buildings, ran out of money, and left us with empty city blocks downtown.

There's an inside and rather crude joke, referring to that mayor, that says that Tim McVeigh wasn't Oklahoma City's first mad bomber... Over the past ten years we've been rebuilding and have filled the divots. The place is looking good lately, like it's got a fresh coat of paint.

BTW, on the link you sent was a 360 degree virtual tour of the Kelvingrove. I found many of the paintings in our current exhibit on display in their natural home. Facinating!

I cant' find a site similar to hiddenglascow for Oklahoma City. Perhaps I need to drag out the digital camera and get busy.