Charlotte, NC- Art, Art and More Art

I left Wrightsville Beach and made my way towards Charlotte, North Carolina.  I got there after dark, finally made it to my Couchsurfing host’s house, and they were absolutely AMAZING!  They were so welcoming and Lee was so sweet.  She was genuinely interested in hearing about my trip, and gave me some awesome tips of museums to hit up while I was in the city.  Lee had work to do, but their au pair, Irene, and I had time to become friends, which was really awesome!  Then, when Dana got home, I told her about this metal head that I had seen a photo of on Pinterest, and she had no idea what I was talking about, but she was super eager to help me figure it out and we all searched on our iPhones to figure it out and she helped me find all the info that I needed to know!

So, armed with all of the knowledge of my amazing hosts, I got up and got ready.  Irene and I grabbed lunch at this adorable French pastry shop called Amelie’s for breakfast and we had a really great opportunity to talk about  Spain and her travels, and we made arrangements to meet up later that day to go see Metalmorphosis!

My first stop was the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.  This museum is in a beautiful building in Uptown Charlotte.  (They have a senior and student discount).  Based on this building I was expecting a pretty great collection of art, but I was disappointed and not disappointed all at the same time.  I loved all of the art in there and it was a great collection, but it was a very small collection as well.  I was surprised when I came to the end thinking that there should have been more, but it was still worth checking out.

This is a view from one of the floors of this beautiful building, and the Firebird Sculpture in the background.  The building is really gorgeous.  Besides the building these were a few of my favorites from the collection:

L’Acrobate by Pablo Picasso

Lettre d’amour a mon amour by Niki de Saint Phalle

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol (I melt a bit each time I see a Warhol)

Untitled Etching of a Woman by Pablo Picasso

Le Reve by Italo Valenti

Porquoi by Julius Bissier

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That afternoon Irene, the kids and I made a little trip to see this incredible work of art called Metalmorphosis by David Cerny.  It’s in the middle of this business district and, when it isn’t broken, the pieces of this face spin in opposite directions, but even without that, it’s still an incredible work of art!

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The day I left, I went to another museum that Lee and Dana recommended was the Mint Museum of Art.  However, I realized after that there are two, and I think I would have preferred to go to the Uptown instead of the Randolph, but I was at the Randolph and I did still enjoy it!

Peruvian Double Chambered Whistling Bottle with Bird

Peruvian Quipu (I was especially excited to see a Quipu in person after studying about them in a Anthropology Class)

18th century Peruvian/Spanish painting ‘Landscape with Musician’

An Akuaba (Another work of functional art that I have been looking forward to seeing in real life)

They had a really interesting fashion exhibit

Alice Goes to Washington by Carol Gentithes

I was really surprised to see all of this amazing art in Charlotte, not really realizing how much was in the city.  I’m so thankful that my hosts were so great and full of suggestions!

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