Detroit Institute of Art

Detroit Institute of Arts is located on Woodward Avenue, at 5200, in Detroit Michigan. The Institute is open to the public from 9am to 4 pm, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 9am to 10 pm, on Fridays, and from 10 am to 5 pm, on Sundays. According to the museum's website, tickets for the general admission cost 8$ / person for adults, 6$ / person for seniors, 4$ / person for youth (6-17) and 5$/person for college students. Admission is free for those under 5. Free general admission is also provided for residents of the city of Detroit, each Friday, and for everyone, on the second Sunday of each month. The museum's original building, designed by the architect Philippe Cret at the beginning of the 1920s and opened to the public in 1926, has suffered transformations throughout the years, through additions and alterations, but its Italian-Renaissance is still impressive and recognizable.

The DIA houses a collection of art the ranges from prehistory to contemporary. The permanent collections include sections such as "Africa, Oceania and Indigenous Americas," presenting a "Mummy" dating from between 30 BC/395 AD, "Islamic Art," represented, among others, through pages from the Qur'an dating from periods going back as far as the 9th century AD, "American Art before 1950'," best represented by Diego Rivera's murals with the subject: "Detroit Industry," "American Art after 1950'" and "European Art." The museum is proudly housing one of the first African-American Art collections in a major museum in the country. The Performing Arts are also well represented in the museum, with a permanent collection dedicated to them. One of the most notable here is the "Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collection."

Generally, labels are placed in visible spots, clearly listing the name of the artwork, period, medium, origin and their provenance, along comprehensive descriptions, some even with a comment from the museum stuff.

It is difficult to pick just one painting from the permanent collection dedicated to European paintings. I am contemplating Edouard Manet's "On the Beach" today.

Alongside paintings by Fra Angelico, Ghirlandaio, Rubens or Van Dyck, this painting strikes one as the result of the clash between classic and the willingness to explore something new. The two women in the foreground, suggesting the shape of a reversed L, dominate the aquatic scene. The calm sea, in shades of green and blue, is in harmony with the light yellow sand of the beach. The slightly cloudy sky casts a mild light that envelops everything in grayish tones. The black dress of the woman lying on the beach immediately catches the eye and the stark contrast is impressive. In a surrendering pose, with her left arm thrown over her beautiful mien, the woman in a black dress looks like a resting lioness. There is something strange that appears to create a connection between her and the woman in the second plan of the painting, the one resting in the water. The bather's shades are visible on the water, just as that of the woman in the black dress is visible on the wet sand. One can almost hear the weak waves slowly approaching and finally dying on the shore. The salty air is everywhere. With an economy of gentle brushstrokes, Manet has perfectly rendered the fluidity and the movement of the water medium. The colors of the women's dresses, according to the fashion of the time are in complete dissonance with the marine environment in pastel colors. Another woman in the water, barely drawn, appears to be holding a baby in her arms. They are barely visible from the onlooker's perspective, but the image is full of tenderness. The woman standing on the beach is showing her legs in a pose that suggests the intention of grabbing her companion's attention, but every silhouette in this painting appears to be living in a world of her own, with her own thoughts and preoccupations. No features are visible, but there are stories to be told with every character.

One of the temporary exhibitions going on at the museum is titled "Motor City Muse: Detroit Photographs, Then and Now."

It is one of those exhibitions that offers a glimpse into an urbane, ephemeral world, great artists like Henry Cartier Bresson, Robert Franck or Bill Rauhauser were able to capture and make it permanent.

Van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles," lend by the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, until May 28, 2013, has joined in exhibition the other paintings by Van Gogh at the DIA.

An upcoming exhibition is dedicated to the New York based, contemporary artist, Shirin Neshat's video installations and art photography. The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture given by Alfredo Jaar on April 3rd, a preview celebration on April 6th, a lecture conversation between the artist herself and Nobel Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, moderated by Culumbia University's Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Hamid Dabashi.

Another interesting exhibition, coming up, will be dedicated to the animated film, this time. Starting on Sunday, October 6th, "Watch Me Move, the Animation Show," will be open to those who are keen to find out more about the animation world, as it evolved over a period of 150 years. Personal appearances by contemporary animators at the Detroit Film Theater will punctuate the exhibition.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is two blocks away from, I-94 and its busy intersection with other highways, thus easily accessible from all directions. Street parking is available on all four streets enclosing the museum. There are two parking lots for paid self-parking and also valet parking available.

Those who want to find out more about a subject or an exhibition, can participate in the museum's daily public or private tours, can listen to one of the multiple lectures or a concert, or try to make art of their own in one of the art workshops.