Can't Ever Find Wynn When You Need Wynn

I am rarely caught without a camera, at the very least my point and shoot digital, but this weekend we took a whirlwind trip up to Reno to see family. Since we planned on driving up Saturday to see my sister, do a bit of shopping, go to dinner, and lastly on Sunday stop with them in Sacramento to do a bit more Xmas shopping and go home from there, I figured, this was one weekend when there would be little time to be taking pictures.

My first clue that I'd made a tactical error was when we reached Donner pass and it was a bit of the old winter wonderland. Later that evening, driving to dinner, we encountered one of the most glorious sunsets over the Sierras, complete with majestic clouds. And shopping in Sacramento the following day, we ended up in Sac's restored oldtown, which sits along the mighty Sacramento River, and is certainly picturesque. But alas, you'll just have to take my word for it.

On the brighter side, however, on Saturday we made a stop at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, which has turned into a fine little art museum. The permanent collection includes a few very fine Edward Westons and some nice western pieces, but they seem to do a pretty good job of attracting some very nice touring exhibits. You may remember that I saw the Frida Kahlo show there back in the early days of this blog (here). At the moment they have an excellent Ansel Adams show, featuring a few pieces I had never seen before, along with some very fine prints of more familiar works, like Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico.



Also appearing at the moment were selections from the Wynn Collection. Consisting of 14 selected pieces from Steve Wynn's private collection. The NMA website describes it,

Highlights of the exhibition include Pablo Picasso’s Le Rêve (The Dream) (1932), a painting depicting Pablo Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter and Vincent van Gogh’s Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat (1890), perhaps the most important portrait of a female sitter in van Gogh’s oeuvre. Works by Impressionist painters include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Among the Roses (Madame Leon Clapisson) (1882) and Claude Monet's Camille a l'Ombrelle Verte (Camille with Green Parasol)(1876)as well as Post-Impressionist paintings such as Henri Matisse’s The Persian Robe (1940), and Paul Gauguin’s Bathers (1902). Other noted works are a Self Portrait with Shaded Eyes (1634) by Rembrandt van Rijn; a landscape by Jan Brueghel the Elder; and a portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife (1885) by John Singer Sargent. The exhibition also features a triptych portrait of Steve Wynn created in 1983 by Andy Warhol. After its presentation at the NMA, the collection will be permanently installed at Wynn Las Vegas, scheduled to open in spring 2005.

So, I apologize for the want of a camera and the atrocious pun by which I began this posting, but I heartily recommend a trip to the NMA. The Wynn Collection will be appearing until March 30, 2005, and the Adams Masterworks exhibit can be seen until January 30, 2005.