Welcome to White Rooster Studios: Artist Date: Boston Museum of Fine Arts… 27.5.2014

Our annual Memorial Day visit to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was a mix of disappointment, frustration and an unexpected surprise.

Most of the disappointment stems from the "American Gestures: Abstract Expressionism" exhibit. The show was described on the BMFA's website as featuring: "Drawings, prints, paintings, and sculpture from the late 1940s to the '70's by Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, David Smith, Mark Tobey, Alfred Leslie, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and a number of others. Many of these works are relatively recent acquisitions, some shown here for the first time." What they didn't mention is that the majority of the exhibit consists of prints and that it only takes up one small room.

Still, if you are in the area and have some interest, the exhibit can be found in room 335 in the Art of the Americas wing until June 1, 2014.

The frustration is associated with the museum’s continued lack of information regarding where certain special exhibits can be found. Yes, the information is located on their website, but how many visitors remember to write this down before they head out? And once inside the museum, directions and information are scarce, even within the Sharf Visitor Center.

For example, yesterday was the last day for their “Boston Loves Impressionism” exhibit. Knowing the popularity of Impressionism, one would think that this should be relatively easy to find, correct? Nope. The exhibit was tucked away in the Torf Gallery, room 184 - we hunted down a guard to determine the location.

The exhibit was described as the first crowdsourcing exhibit at the BMFA by the Boston Globe staff. The general public was invited to vote for their favorite Impressionist paintings, the top three were:

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Houses at Auvers,”

Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies"

Edgar Degas’s “Little-Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer"

The BIG surprise was that the BMFA had four paintings by (or attributed to) Caravaggio! The exhibit "Visiting Masterpieces: Caravaggio and Connoisseurship" is a wonderful opportunity to view four paintings that have "never been seen in Boston" (according to the museum's website) and they are exquisite! ANY opportunity to see one of these masterworks up close is a rare treat.