8th Grade Visits the Kimbell

By Mrs. Hoover and the Eighth Grade

The first Eighth Grade field trip of the year took place on October 29th. Mrs. Hoover, parents Sharon Zeugin and Dennis LaBonte, and several other friends of GSA, joined us for our journey to the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth to see the Impressionist art exhibition on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago.

This outstanding collection included over 90 icons of that stellar period in art (1860-1900) from Renoir, Degas, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh and many others. Mrs. Hoover gave us the background on what we were going to see but we had also studied these artists in art class at GSA and were looking forward to seeing them in person.

We had a picnic lunch and then spent three hours discussing and enjoying the masterpieces. We saw Monet's Waterlilies and Haystacks series, Lautrec's Moulin Rouge and Renoir's Luncheon Party as well as Gauguin's surreal work and Cezanne's landscapes and still lifes. The Kimbell Museum is a beautiful space to see art and also has an amazing gift shop!

We all had favorite paintings in the exhibit: Nic liked "Paris Street: A Rainy Day by Caillebotte, because of its combination of realism and impressionistic brushstrokes—it really looked like wet cobblestones!" Ana felt that "Degas' Ballet at the Paris Opera was truly spectacular, with its unique lighting and out of balance perspective." Sam was fond of "Renoir's Chrysanthemums, because of the color and the details that were perfect, yet not perfect. Something about those flowers caught my eye and made me take a closer look." Gabi liked "Woman at Toilette by Berthe Morisot, because it was an intimate glimpse of a socialite's life captured in brushstrokes and light." Liz felt that "the powerful image of Van Gogh's First Self Portrait was very intense and the eye filled in what the brushstrokes left out." Maeve's favorite was "all of the Degas pastels because they were so beautiful, you couldn't look away!" And Mrs. Hoover couldn't decide! It was a day to remember!