A Summer of Art

Greetings art-lovers!

It’s been a little while since I last posted, but that doesn’t mean my summer hasn’t been RIDICULOUSLY art-filled. New York City is one of the absolute best places to be if you love art. Gallery openings are almost as common as hot dog stands and museums seem more plentiful than pigeons (literally). This summer I also had the fantastic opportunity to go to Italy for the Venice Biennale, an international, contemporary art exhibition that takes place every other year in Venice. Countries are given a pavilion to display work created by innovative artists who are representative of that country’s artistic tides. Many of these pavilions are centered in two ticketed locations, one in Gardini and the other in Arsenale. Other pavilions, as well as smaller artistic collaborations, are sprinkled throughout the city of Venice. With four days in the beautiful city, I visited as many pavilions and galleries as physically possible. I reached the conclusion, over some delicious bigoli, that art is not unlike a drug. One simply cannot ever get enough of it. Once you start, and once you get a taste of the good stuff- Bellini! Titian! Tsibi Geva! Irina Nakhova!- there is no going back.

Anyways, my Italy trip exposed me not only to wonderful contemporary art, but to the masterpieces Italy fostered as the center of the art world for centuries. I visited the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice as well as the Basilica di San Marco. I was very excited to see the greatest works of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, and Tintoretto. I was especially eager to peruse the Treasury of Saint Mark’s, which houses many reliquaries gathered from the raiding of Constantinople. I wrote about several of these gorgeous reliquaries in a final paper this fall. Seeing them in person was an out-of-body experience.

After Venice, I took a train to Verona, where art abounds in the Castelvecchio, the Duomo di Verona, the Basilica di Sant’Anastasia, and the Galleria d’arte moderna. I can’t wait to talk about all these gorgeous places and the gems housed within.

Florence was my last art-oriented stop. I think I almost cried when I saw Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and “La Primavera” in person at the Uffizi. Seeing Michelangelo’s “David” in the Galleria dell’Accademia was less emotional but no less astounding.

After Florence, I spent a few days belly-flopping into the water on the Italian Riviera. The entire coast ought to be considered a work of art in itself! The tiny pink and yellow walk-ups carved into the cliffs of Cinque Terre, Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure are a breathtaking display of history.

Keep your eye our for posts about Italy, New York City, and perhaps a DIY or two! I’ve been thinking it’s time to make a wind chime…

Until next time!

xoxo, Chloe <3