Inspiration from art

I spent the morning in Midtown Atlanta, which was a fun change of scenery.  First, I went to the High Museum of Art to see the new exhibit.

Let's go inside...

And, that is all I can show you.  They forbid me to post pictures of the artwork.  The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit is entertaining, but my favorite pieces at the Museum are the two pastels by Mary Cassatt featuring a mother and her child. 

Mary Cassatt's life is as inspirational as her artwork.  Being an unmarried woman in the mid-1800's, she was not fully supported or encouraged  in her career as an artist by her family nor the arts academy which she attended.  She moved to Paris, hired a private tutor, and trained her hand by copying the masterpieces hanging in the Louvre.  "Critics claimed that Cassatt's colors were too bright and that her portraits were too accurate to be flattering to her subjects"; however, it is those very bright colors and accurate depiction of everyday life that creates the beauty in her work.  Her paintings now sell for millions of dollars.  I love the story of someone going "against all odds" to become successful at what they do.*  



Check back tomorrow to see where else I went...

*All information about Mary Cassatt was obtained from www.marycassatt.org.