Jaunted

Tags: Museum Travel / Comic Book Travel / Literary Travel / Los Angeles / Los Angeles Travel / Museums / → All Tags

Deepak Chopra Does Comics? See The Battle For Good And Evil At LACMA

Spider-Man, Batman, and the X-Men are just a few of the superheroes who've earned a respected place in the comic book canon. Dedicated collectors know about mainstream bionic men and woman, and maybe a few underground characters as well, but a new exhibit at Los Angeles' LACMA introduces the public to the transportive world of Indian comics.

Being generally familiar with stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana, our interest in modern renderings of ancient gods and goddesses, and the interpretation of said stories, is what drew us to the exhibit. Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India's Comics runs through February 7th of next year, and is a compact representation of cultural comic book art and well-preserved folios from hundreds of years ago.

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Tags: San Francisco Travel / Museum Travel / Museums / San Francisco / → All Tags

San Fran's Next Museum May Feature a Fire-Shooting Tree

Only in San Francisco would a house with a tree that shoots fire be considered a future museum site. That is, if saw player extraordinaire and former hotelier Bob Pritikin has his way. According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Pritikin, who often throws lavish fundraisers at his residence—sort of an adult's fun house with kitschy memorabilia strewn throughout—is hoping to "pay the bills, make a nice contribution to the community and have some daytime visitors" by transforming his mansion into a museum. He originally suggested the less-than-humble "Only in San Francisco" name for the prospective museum site, though his hopes were dashed after learning that the city's Convention & Visitors Bureau already owns said URL.

The visiting groups would be relatively small, limited to 20 people per day, six days a week, says the Chronicle. Pritikin's idea, if realized, would place his home in the esteemed, eccentric company of one of the Bay Area's other homes-turned-tourist attractions, the Winchester Mystery House. This isn't Pritikin's first hubris-driven campaign on behalf of his home, having previously lobbied for it to have it turned into San Francisco's mayoral residence in 2004. That plan predictably never took off, and handsome politico Gavin Newsom is dwelling elsewhere these days.

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Tags: Museum Travel / Museums / Fashion Travel / Los Angeles / Los Angeles Travel / → All Tags

The Original Street Style Photographer, Irving Penn, Hits LA's Getty Center

The courtyard at The Getty Center, Los Angeles

Today, street style dominates the blogosphere and the foremost fashion websites. We're a culture of voyeurs: If it's being worn by Anna Wintour or a MOD (that's insider-speak for Model Off Duty), or photographed paparazzi-style, then we'll sit, stare, and come back for more. But before The Sartorialist and Bill Cunningham were all the rage, a different kind of street style was of interest: real people, wearing layman's clothing, photographed against a neutral backdrop rather than the hustle and bustle of a big city.

Los Angeles' Getty Center is currently celebrating photography vanguard Irving Penn, who recently passed away after a storied career working for magazines including Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Irving Penn: Small Trades is an exhibition of Penn's photographs from the early 1950s featuring men and women in their work attire. A milkman with a checked shirt and pants riding high, a steel mill firefighter in full protective regalia, and prim and proper ballroom dancing team are just a few of the highlights from Small Trades.

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NYC Will Become Deadhead Mecca In March For Grateful Dead Exhibit

Deadheads, book your New York City vacation now, as the New York Historical Society has announced that in March 2010, they will mount an exhibition of the Grateful Dead Archive. It will be the largest exhibition of its kind ever, and is sure to have fans breaking out their Jerry Garcia-brand ties for the occasion.

According to the official description, "Grateful Dead: Now Playing at The New York Historical Society", as the exhibitions is called, "will chronicle the history of the Grateful Dead, its music, and phenomenal longevity through an array of original art and documents related to the band, its members, performances, and productions." If you've been a hardcore fan for years, be sure to look closely at the piles of fan mail that will be exhibited, just in case you ever wondered why Phil Lesh never responded to your sincere letter asking him to play at your prom.

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Chicago Gets Some Bling with The Field Museum's 'Diamond' Exhibit

This tiara, which Salma Hayek donned for a 1998 White House correspondent's dinner (who knew such dinners had a royalty dress code), will be featured at the Field.

Chicago will see some dazzle when "The Nature of Diamonds" brings more than 800 jewels to the Field Museum on October 23. You'll see bling from top-notch designers such as Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and Cartier.

The centerpiece of the exhibit will be The Vault, a reproduced vault that will showcase rare pieces that have rarely been on display. See the diamond jewelry owned by Mae West, Catherine the Great, Joan Crawford, Elton John and other celebs. A highlight is the 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond, one of the world's largest and finest yellow diamonds, and the 407.48-carat Incomparable Diamond, the largest flawless diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America and the third-largest cut diamond ever recorded.

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Tags: Art Travel / India Travel / Mumbai Travel / Museum Travel / → All Tags

Is Mumbai Working To Become A Capital Of Contemporary Art?

We tend to think of Paris or Florence as the places to go for an art hit, but India's largest city Mumbai might be the up-and-coming spot. A new art gallery has just opened there and wants to start showing off India's huge art tradition to the world.

The Gallery BMB is one of the first new galleries in India for a long time—the few that do exist are mostly from British colonial times—but the directors predict it will be the first of many more. It will showcase art from international artists as well as encourage emerging Indian artists to make a name for themselves.

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Tags: Museum Travel / Art Travel / Milwaukee Travel / Museums / Andy Warhol / → All Tags

The Milwaukee Art Museum Dares Reveal Warhol's Later Years

You've seen Andy Warhol's classic Campbell's Soup cans and his bold, bright Marilyn Monroe silkscreen works, but you probably haven't seen the Pop master's art from the latter part of his life, which veered away from glamour and beauty. The Milwaukee Art Museum gives you a peek at those works with "Andy Warhol: The Last Decade," the first U.S. museum exhibit to examine the artist's final years through a survey of painted pieces.

Although Warhol received most of his acclaim from his '60s Pop Art, his output during decade before his death in '87 was far more prolific. The Milwaukee museum shows pieces from this period, including collaborations with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francesco Clemente that inspired the artist to return to painting by hand; abstract works, black-and-white ads, works examining death and religion, self-portraits, camouflage patterns and oxidation paintings—also known as "piss paintings" because he peed on them...nasty.

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Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, The Disney Family Museum Opens October 1

The Walt Disney Family Museum will open its doors October 1, but don't expect to see Mickey's mug plastered all over the place. Instead, the museum explores the man behind the mouse in Walt Disney’s own words through listening stations, interactive media and more than 200 video monitors.

Within the museum's 10 galleries, you'll find drawings Disney made when he was young; drawings and cartoons from Laugh-O-gram Films, Disney’s first company; early sketches of Mickey (see, you'll get some mouse fun); storyboards, a technique Disney developed to map out film classics; the multiplane camera, an innovation at the time that brought depth to his revolutionary Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs flick; the unusual Academy Award Disney won for Snow White, which included a full-size Oscar and seven mini Oscarettes; the narrow-gauge Lilly Belle train he built for his Hollywood home, which recalled his youth and helped spur his vision for Disneyland; and a model of the Disneyland that the animator envisioned.

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Vanity Fair To Shower Toronto With Celebrity Glitz

Hilary Swank as photographed by Norman Jean Roy

From a nude and pregnant Demi Moore to Tom Ford cozying up next to Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley (also nude, naturally), Vanity Fair is well-known for reflecting what's hot—and, apparently, clothes-free—in pop culture since the early 20th Century. In our celebrity-centric culture, Vanity Fair is bar none when it comes to showcasing the mythological glitz of Hollywood life, consistently attracting the curiosity of readers with photo spreads that are sometimes sexy, but always elegant.

With such a storied past, a retrospective seems like a natural way to commemorate 95 years of the magazine's glamorous perspective. Labeled a "smash" after its European tour (because Annie Leibovitz is the Bono of photographers), Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 is a collection of iconic images from the magazine's history. The exhibit will make a stop at Toronto's Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum from September 26th of this year through January 3, 2010, the first North American destination. Amelia Earheart, Charlie Chaplin, and Madonna are just some of the marquee names—and images—being used to draw crowds in Canada's capital city.

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A Museum Fit For A Pope And A Prince: Rome's Galleria Doria Pamphilj

When art aficionados plan their trip to Rome, they usually fill their itineraries with popular picks like the Musei Capitolini and the Galleria Borghese. And while those places are nothing to sneeze at, they overshadow one of the city's best private museums: the Galleria Doria Pamphilj.

At the Doria Pamphilj, you can cross out two sightseeing items on your to-do list, since you get a top-notch collection of art as well as a palace. The 18th-century palace and its collection are owned by the aristocratic Pamphilj family, who have held numerous important posts in the country, including Pope. One of Pope Innocent X's modern-day descendants, Prince Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, narrates a great free audio tour of the gallery. He provides a unique intimate perspective, explaining how and why the family acquired some works and which ones are his favorite.

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Tags: Food Travel / Berlin Travel / Museum Travel / Germany Travel / → All Tags

Berlin Shows Their Sausage Love By Opening A Currywurst Museum

It's hot and greasy and goopy and fatty; it's a full, heaping plate of Berlin's favorite fast food Currywurst. Only a few months ago, we found ourselves on an informal tour of the Berlin's best Currywurst stands, from Konnopke's underneath an U-bahn station to the KaDeWe's department store kiosk. Believe us when we say that currywurst—sausage drowned with curry ketchup and curry powder and presented with a side of either french fries or potato salad—is the shizznit.

So apparently we headed to Germany a tad too early, as Berlin has just opened the first museum devoted completely to the history and varieties of currywurst. The Deutsches Currywurst Museum, cozying up next to the tourist trap that is Checkpoint Charlie, explores the eating habits of Berliners (who consume around 70 million currywursts every year!) and doles out samples of the tasty favorite.

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Tags: Florence Travel / Italy Travel / Museum Travel / → All Tags

Milan's Art May Be Clothing, But Florence's Is All About The Lack Of

Although Milan is Italy's financial hub, it's not the most picturesque spot for a vacay. Yes, it's the country's fashion capital, but if you really want to see some gorgeousness, you should head over to Florence, since your chances of bumping into any of the six-foot Versace models will be slim indeed. Just hop on a train for a two-hour trip from Milan to "Firenze," Italian for Florence.

First stop in Florence should be the Galleria Uffizi, one of the best museums in the world with its hefty collection of Renaissance masterpieces. The museum carries works from all the period's big names, including Botticelli, Caravaggio, da Vinci and Michelangelo. A must-see is Botticelli's instantly recognizable painting "Birth of Venus."

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