What better way to spend a rainy October afternoon than exploring the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a designer and artist myself, I love to visit the PMA and its collections. Though the cold, dreary weather made for a less pleasant bus ride and climb up the iconic stairs, the inside of the museum was filled with bright lights and plenty of new exhibits to explore.
I was especially eager to see the newly reopened Arms and Armor collection since it was closed during my last visit in the summer. I had not visited the exhibit for several years, so I was curious to see how it would be different from what I remember. Another new and exciting exhibit was “El Origen de la Noche (The Origin of the Night),” which was an interactive exhibit in which the museum guests were submerged into total darkness as audio recordings from several nights in the Amazon rainforest played on surround sound speakers. Several guests laid on large bean bags spread throughout the room.
Perhaps the most interesting of all the new exhibits I viewed was “The Artist’s Mother: Whistler & Philadelphia.” The exhibit was focused on famous artist James McNeill Whistler and the famous portrait of his mother he created in Philadelphia in the late 1800s. Because this was the first time in nearly 150 years the painting has been in the city, the exhibit wanted to celebrate the portrait’s legacy in Philadelphia, as well as the questions surrounding the story of the portrait’s subject, the artist’s mother, Anna Whistler. Beneath the painting was a description of Anna Whistler’s life and her relationship with her son. Although I enjoyed seeing this iconic piece of American art, my favorite part of the exhibit without a doubt was the work by local artists that was featured alongside Whistler’s painting. These artists created their own portraits of their mothers in a variety of media, from charcoal to paint to engravings. These portraits were also paired with the story of the woman in them, as well as her relationship with her child who made the portrait. The more non-traditional techniques used in these portraits gave them a lot of emotion and truly showed how the artist felt about their mother, especially in works where the mother was elderly. I loved to see the stories of these women, who were often born and raised in Philadelphia, like myself.
“The Artist’s Mother” is on display through October 29, and if you are able to, I would definitely recommend checking it out! College students can get tickets for 50% off and the museum is also pay what you want every Friday evening. Whether for this exhibit or another, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is definitely an incredible way to spend a day inside.