New Brunswick, NJ
December 2017
I graduated from Rutgers and after being there for five years I have passed by Zimmerli Museum a million times. I am embarrassed to say that I only went there once, and it was a very quick visit. I used to take a lot of Art History courses in Voorhees Lecture Hall, and never took more than a moment to stop at that beautiful museum. Maybe it had something to do with having a newborn while in college, but now the kids are older and we can enjoy such outings.
This time, grandpa insisted that we go, so into the car everyone went, and down to Zimmerli. First, I have to say how large the museum is. It is deceiving in its size when you look at the building outside. Inside it does seem much bigger.
The kids are now older, so going to an art museum is not always something they want, but they did enjoy this one. We were there specifically to see the Odessa Exhibit, since that’s where we are from, and we sure did. It was interesting. Some works were beautiful, and some were not in my taste, but that’s still interesting to see. I especially liked Remembrance by Lev Meshberg.
They have a very impressive exhibit of Soviet Nonconformist Art. It was interesting to see. Aside from the Nonconformist Art there were some original sketches and notes by the artists that created so much imagery that people associate with USSR. While I don’t particularly care for those images, they were everywhere in my childhood: on tv, monuments, banners, school, textbooks. I mean everywhere. The museum shows the process of developing them, and it was absolutely fascinating. I felt like I was sitting in the artists head, listening to his thoughts, almost intrusive. I loved it!
They do have a small exhibit on Ancient Art that my kids were fascinated by, and a nice European Art exhibit, which I loved! I like to get close to a painting, to see all the details, to see every crack in oil, to be able to look at it from every angle and see the layers of oil. There were many thought provoking works.
Because grandpa can’t walk well, his knees give out after a while, he had to stop too soon. The kids and I quickly walked through the American Art, but not enough time to soak it in.
I am looking forward to another visit to this museum very soon! We went on a weekday, and the kids had free admission. The admission for the adults was fairly small, around $6.00. I would love to go on another week day, and really take my time.
Here you can see some of the art in Zimmerli, provided by the Google Art Project: Zimmerli Art Museum
Also here is the website for Zimmerli Art Museum with all the information you might want, like hours and admissions: http://www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu/information/visitors
I don’t have any photos of the inside, but for next time, I will do a few from the outside. I do however have this awesome photo of the little space between the museum and Scott Hall (I think I remember it right), where I like to let my kids just run and play after we visit New Brunswick.
