peripathetic

Think of...
...van Gogh. And what do you think of? Sunflowers, I bet. Or a wood-and-wicker chair you're never quite sure if you've really seen, or just seen a photo of. That'll be because it's famous. To paraphrase the poetic Donald Rumsfeld, I know I don't know whether or not I've seen the chair painting for real. I know it. I just don't know it... I don't know.

;o)

Anyway. This painting, by van Gogh, you know you don't know, and therefore in future you'll know that you don't know it. OK, OK, I'll stop now. [grin] It's a rare example of Japonaiserie - artist working in particular style apes another style. It's really amazing. Layered. Like looking through a lace curtain into fog, or through drifting smoke. I found it on the marvellous Van Gogh Gallery which on first look seems immersive and comprehensive.

There's also a Bosch Universe website. Surreal and disturbing work - and that's just the website. Why the hell does a site about such an interesting and compelling painter have to play uselessly with scripting and layout which doesn't work in the majority of browsers? A really shitty design which stopped me from seeing any actual works unless I used IE. Let all your visitors see the content. Please. Stupid people.

However - [Pete rubs hands] - there is visible and ever-so-nearly *graspable* treasure aplenty at the Art Institute of Chicago. Browse through the collections online, and read the helpful and unpatronising notes on each exhibit. (This one made me shiver. Really.)

The Smithsonian Institution is a place I know very little about. When I think of it, I think of a massive collection of riches exhibited in grand old buildings. But I knew nothing much about it until now [quote from the site]:

In 1826, James Smithson, a British scientist, drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the estate should go 'to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.'

Looking at the Library of Congress' Built in America database (database? hah! - unimaginably rich and exhaustive descriptions, histories and photos, more like!) for the original buildings, it certainly seems important and historical enough. But modern? Yeah, modern and accessible too. Surf the site. 'Tis good. :o) [I neglected to mention here on first posting that the Enola Gay is exhibited by the Smithsonian and very little mention isi made of its war role. Shame.]

MOMA's website has gems like this Seurat, and, because I need more coffee, here are the rest: A List Apart, Newtopia, an article about why Microsoft are lying liars, and how trainee vets practise putting their arms up a cow's anus.