It has been a week since I arrived in this new country. Apart from the places I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't get a chance to get out of the house much. So when V asked me if I'd be interested to go to the museum in Stanford University, I was more than delighted.
I took the Caltrain (my first ride alone!) to Palo Alto where I met V and then we took the Marguerite shuttle (a free shuttle service provided by Stanford, which I think is pretty cool). The shuttle dropped us at the campus oval from where we walked up to the Cantor Arts Center which is the museum.
As soon as we entered, we checked in our bagpack and we were handed a map of the museum. The friendly guide offered to make some suggestions on how we should approach covering the museum. It was divided into different sections-Asian, American, Italian, Greek etc.
Pottery, sculptures, paintings, photographs from different eras some as early as 400 BC were on display. Each section had its own unique regional flavor and it makes one think that even after the rolling over of centuries, there is a common thread running between all artifacts in any given section. Although the techniques and materials used have evolved with time, the core remains unchanged.
There are a few sections where the exhibits keep changing. In one such section, the exhibit on display was called 'La Caricature.' It displayed the original caricatures that appeared in the immensely popular journal of political satired 'La Caricature.' I was amazed at the witty and strong messages in caricature. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Some of my other favorites were 'Guardian' photography collection, Greek sculptures and paintings.
The museum is very well organized and as mentioned earlier, grouped into several different sections. This makes it easy for the visitor to chose and visit the section of their liking. Each exhibit is accompanied by a detailed note about the artist, time period and the inspiration behind it. I found it very useful especially because I'm not very good with history. Also, since I've no idea about art, these notes served as an excellent medium to educate me.
Unfortunately, we only had 2 hours as the museum closes at 8 pm on Thursdays. So we couldn't manage to look through everything. But we are definitely visiting again.
We then strolled down to the Palo Alto downtown, had some Greek food and then headed home. An evening well spent!
What: Cantor Arts Center
Where: Stanford University Campus, Palo Alto
When: Wednesday-Sunday 11 am-5 pm
Thursday 11 am-8 pm
Admission: Free
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