Philbrook Museum of Art

During my trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma I had the chance to visit the The Philbrook Museum of Art with my friends @adrianmcarroll and @cbconnell.

The Art Museum features two locations. The main site is located in part in a former 1920s villa,which was donated to the city of Tulsa by its owners and a satellite facility known as Philbrook Downtown, is found in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District.

The museum houses a varied and extensive permanent collection of art, ranging from African & Asian collections, Native American art to Italian Renaissance and a surprising and delightful modern collection.

I really liked these paintings:

While the museum collections are enjoyable, it is the museum grounds that really steal the show. The garden is an oasis of peace, everything is in order, there’s a great variety of flowers and butterflies fly in the air.

The Philbrook Downtown exhibits Modern and Contemporary art on the first floor and Native American art on the second floor. I personally enjoyed the first floor more.

This painting stroked my interest. It was inspired by traditional tribal imagery. The artist began with a foundation of bold geometric patterns and later on he added his own unique style of colorful and imaginative painting to capture the energy and rhythm of urban life.

Different style was the painting draw by Mike Glier, the Garden Court.

“Destruction and decay have been literally supplanted by vitality and growth”

The artist’s idea of antithetical fusion of hope and beauty with fear and destruction can be found in this painting. At first the painted garden seems idyllic – cool shadows play upon gray walls, birds perch on branches and ledges, a variety of flowers and vegetation grows untamed over the weathered surfaces. We are lulled into a state of quiet reflection and appreciation of nature. But this calming effect is promptly shattered. As we look it becomes evident that the shadows and textures are splattered blood, bullet holes, and shrapnel scars. This quiet setting has at another time been the scene of violence and carnage. The destruction and decay have been literally supplanted by vitality and growth.

The Native American gallery was organised into four dynamic themes: Preservation, Adaptation, Innovation and Integration.

I found this painting pretty interesting, maybe for the colors and the geometrical shapes. It belongs to the Identity&Inspiration theme. It focuses on the individual artists who are inspired by various sources, and who in turn inspire us through their creativity and craftsmanship.