Favorites from the Museum Collection

Take a look around, what do you see? Crazy colors, Robots, Dragons, and TVs! There are lots of fun things to see at the Milwaukee Art Museum. A quick walk through the galleries can stir any rainy day blues—filling the imagination with ideas and inspiration.

Here are two pieces from the Milwaukee Art Museum Collection that have a lot in common though they are very different in style. When you look at them what do you see? How are these pictures similar? Both are red, white, and blue with patterns on their surface.

On the left is Jean Dubuffet, one of the most famous French painters and sculpturers of the second half of the 20th century. His Court les rues is beautiful example of his graphic and whimsical style. If you look closely you can imagine that large squiggly blob in the center is a person!

Court les rues or “Court Street” in English probably means that this person is standing on the corner—which makes sense if the brown object to their right is a mailbox, with its white handles and riveted steal frame. The bold colors, graphic stripes, and all the colorful graffiti around them are sure fun to look at don’t you think?

The second piece is a man cut-out and painted on wood titled Youth of Abraham, by celebrated folk artist Howard Finster. The young man, with his business suit is probably on his way to work. Look at all the funny things on his jacket and pants. There are people and places, ghosts, airplanes, and all kinds of curious sayings. What do you see? One message reads, “Stop Look & Live.”

Stop by the Museum Galleries and you’ll surely spot something different each time. Maybe you can come up with your own list of favorites from the Museum Collection?