Earlier this month I went to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. I can honestly say I’ve wanted to go there for a while. I can also honestly say that the only reason it actually happened was because it was the 5 year anniversary of the Figge and admission was free. It’s only $7 normally, but the free thing really sold me. Who said free stuff only attracts college students??
The museum is nice. It's no Chicago Art Museum, but hey, what is?
The Figge did have some really interesting exhibits. My favorites were two photography exhibits. The first took up an entire floor and entitled “Scale”. It featured panoramic (and some not) photographs of stunning geographical landscapes, mainly rock formations. Most of the pictures were shot at close range so you could see the contour and edges of the formations, rather than being a far off picture of a mountain range surrounded by greenery. The photographs were quite excellent and, of course, made me want to see them in person.
The second photography exhibit was by a man whose name I cannot remember who took pictures in the 1930’s and 1940’s of seemingly mundane everyday things. A person buying a newspaper from a vendor, children playing in a park, a man working on a car, someone waiting for a taxi, etc. They were all in black and white and contained no famous faces but they were still striking for the emotion they showed. They were very candid, like little glimpses into the lives of these people, their thoughts and fears.
Other enjoyable parts of the museum were the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit and the Grant Wood collection. I like Wood’s style… they remind me a bit of “home” since he lived in the Midwest and was inspired by the landscapes. The quote painted on the wall near his collection made my day: “All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow. That’s why I moved back to Iowa.”
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