Dallas Museum of Art

The Scout Master took the day off of work today just to play!  I love days like this.  I've been up to my ears in New Beginnings, Women at the Well, and TCD's UIL music, and I totally needed a day just to breathe.  

We decided to explore the arts district in downtown Dallas.

 I loved that this old church was right in the middle of all those high rise buildings.

...and I definitely had to take a picture of these beautiful longhorn statues. 

We got to the Dallas Museum of Art right at 11:00am when they opened.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE museums??  I LOVE art.  I LOVE beautiful things hung in immaculate rooms with gorgeous lighting.  Some of the art we saw was breathtakingly beautiful...  

This amazing armoire is hand inlayed with little pieces of mother of pearl and tortoise shell.  Absolutely stunning!

I loved all the traditional stuff, especially the European Art and the Impressionists.  But there was definitely some intriguing contemporary stuff mingled in, too.

 

...like this fun chair!  It's called Stuffed Animals on a Steel Base.  :)

 ...and then there was this one called Parallel Occurrences in the Mark Manders exhibit.  At first, his pieces were way too unconventional and shocking for me, but after reading the inspiration behind all of them, he turned out to be a pretty fascinating artist.  (Not that I would want to have this on display in my home...)  

By 12:00, I was feeling pretty light headed, so we had lunch in the little Museum Cafe.  (I'm on Day Two of that crazy detox diet.)  

This is the window right next to our table.  I wish I had taken a picture of the gorgeous mosaic outside the window, too, but I was kind of into my tomato basil soup!  It was a great lunch!


After refueling, I was able to make it all the way up to the third floor to see what became my favorite exhibit of the day!  It was a re-creation of Wendy and Emery Reves' Villa La Pausa in France (which was originally built for Coco Chanel.)  After her husband's death, Wendy Reves donated 1400 pieces of art and furniture to the museum in 1985. 

It was amazing to walk through that wing of the museum and imagine these people entertaining in this beautiful home in the late 1950s.  There were even letters from Salvador Dali and Winston Churchill thanking them for their hospitality.  Amazing...

What an enlightening and inspiring way to spend a Friday afternoon.