Paris

So, the Parisians are rioting (again).
And we're not going this weekend.
So, I'm a little bit sad.
But also safe and sound in Germany.
So, that's good.
Bryn's still going, via train.
So I'll be solo, but that's okay!

I've decided that instead, I will spend this weekend getting to know Stuttgart a little bit better...and at the same time do one of my favorite activities in the whole world--visiting museums! There's several museums in Stuttgart, including the BMW and Mercedes-Benz museums, but those probably won't be on my agenda. The two I'm most interested in are both adjacent to the city's center.

The State Gallery

"Comprising the Old State Gallery (Alte Staatsgalerie) and the New State Gallery (Neue Staatsgalerie), exhibits range from the Middle Ages to the post-modern.

The Old Gallery, built between 1838 and 1843, houses works produced from the Middle Ages up to the end of the nineteenth century including old German, Italian, Dutch and Impressionist. Artists include Rembrandt, Casper David Fredrich, Bellini, Tinteretto and an entire room devoted to the 'Legend of Perseus' cycle by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The earliest and most important work in the gallery is a 1385 altarpiece of the Bohemian School depicting King Wenceslas with St Vitus and Emperor Sigismund.

The New Gallery, constructed between 1979 and 1984, is acknowledged as one of the finest examples of post-modern architecture. The permanent exhibition covers work by twentieth-century artists including Matisse, Beuys, Pollock and Schlemmer and incorporating one of the world's largest collections of the work of Picasso."

House of Art

"Home to the Stuttgart City Gallery, the Württemberg Society of Art and the Stuttgart Union of Artists Gallery, the House of Art exhibits painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Highlights of the collections include work by Hölzel, Dix, Fritz Winter, Dieter Roth and Joseph Kosuth."

Thank Goodness for handy little websites like this one: http://www.stuttgart-museums.com/