Glenbow Museum & Café Rosso

The greatness of a country depends on three things:  its Words, its Deeds and its Art.
~ Group of Seven Catalogue, 1920

On Sunday my family and I saw the exhibit titled Transformations at the Glenbow Museum which featured works by Canadian artist A.Y. Jackson & German artist Otto Dix.  Though I found the order to be a bit confusing, the work was incredible.  Jackson was never one of my favorite member of the Group of Seven but these works, even though about such a sad subject as the First World War, were absolutely beautiful.  My favorite part of the exhibit was seeing the sketches beside their completed paintings.  Typically I find his colours quite dark, but surprisingly the images featuring the war zone utilized brighter colours.

And it was nice to be introduced to a new artist (to me).  Dix struggled through the war as he was quite open about his feelings about the Nazi army.  At one point he stopped painting anti-war images and joined a German landscape painting group though he did continue to comment in his own way.  He created his own imaginary landscapes to express his feelings on war's destructive impact on nature and humanity.  I was particularly drawn to his prints.  They were both involved in trench warfare which shaped their creative lives.

Before I leave the Glenbow I always take a moment to sit in the Blackfoot (Nitsitapii) tipi and listen to the prayers.  I couldn't wait to get home to begin more work.  After the exhibit we snacked at Café Rosso...I've been wanting to try it for some time and we were not disappointed.  It looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.  We'll definitely be back.