Museums: Virginia Museum of Fine Art

Until earlier this year, my art museum visits had been sporadic for a long time. I did manage to see the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk last year (it’s currently closed for renovations) because of an even hosted by the Northwestern University Club of Virginia, but I haven’t been a regular museum goer since the days I lived in Chicago and was a member of the Art Institute of Chicago. (Even when I lived in DC I only infrequently made it to any of the Smithsonian buildings.)

But I made a trip to Boston earlier this year for the AWP Conference and while I was there, having a little extra time, I went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Twice. That was wonderful, and it reminded me how much I do love art museums and art. So a couple of months ago when I found myself in DC with an afternoon to spare, I visited both the National Gallery of Art and the Freer-Sackler. (I went back to the NGA a couple of weeks ago when I was in DC to see some plays.)

And then I recalled that Richmond also has a wonderful museum: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I don’t get to Richmond too often–It’s a little under two hours away–but because they have an Out of Town Membership, I decided to join.

And finally this weekend I was able to visit the museum because I was in Richmond for a meeting. I loved it. Because it was my first visit, I decided I would try to see everything. Next time I go I’ll focus more, but for now I wanted to get the lay of the land. I can’t wait to go back.

The current special exhibit–free to members, so that was a plus–is pop art by Tom Wesselmann. While I’m not a pop art fan, normally, Wesselmann has a couple of series that I really liked, including the Bedroom Paintings. You can see some of the images here.