Field Trip Friday: A Day at the Art Museum

It's Field Trip Friday, a chance for you to get involved and tell everyone in the blogosphere about an exciting field trip you went on this week or one of your all time favorite field trips! Of course, if you already posted a fun field trip on your blog you're welcome to link that too while we're getting started.

I don't really have rules, just a reminder that this is a family friendly site so if you have the absolute worst field trip you could ever imagine, you're welcome to vent, just refrain from profanity if you're going to link up. Nudity is a no-no but I don't think I really need to mention that, but I will just for good measure. Feel free to snag my button, but if you do, please link it to my blog and finally, if you could spread the word about Field Trip Friday, I'd be so grateful! Now, on to the fun! Where did you go this week and what did you learn?

I'll get things started.

You may remember that my vehicle broke down when we went to Ohio for Christmas. We couldn't wait for the repairs to be completed so we rented a car and drove back to our camper. The thought was that I would rent a car whenever I really wanted to go somewhere, but that seems to be a bit of a hassle and my husband has discovered that it saves us money if I don't have wheels. So, as frugal as I try to be, that gas money I spend each week adds up! Needless to say, we haven't had many field trips since Christmas but this week we were really itching to get out of the camper and the fact that I planned to introduce Field Trip Friday was certainly a motivator to get out and explore! My husband graciously offered to drop the kids and I off in nearby Huntsville so we could spend the day exploring downtown.

Our first stop and one I will talk about today was the Huntsville Museum of Art. Now I have to admit that I've heard mixed reviews about this museum and the negative reviews really kept us from checking it out sooner. I have heard that it was small and not much to see and for the most part, it isn't huge, though they are adding on to it, you could easily go through it in less than an hour if you're just doing a quick walk through. I guess it all depends on how fond you are of the current display, and how much you appreciate art.

We really enjoyed the exhibit currently on display: Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection. This collection from the Royal Holloway, University of London, includes 60 canvases depicting images from the life and times of Victorian England life. This is the first time that many of the paintings in this collection have been outside of England. They were gathered by Thomas Holloway, a self-made millionaire who made his fortune by developing his own line of patent medicine, and donated to the college.

Walking through the gallery, The Princes in the Tower by Sir John Everett Millais, reminded us of Shakespeare and the mystery surrounding Richard III. Did he really murder or have his nephews in the tower murdered? The painter did a wonderful job of capturing the terror and emotion in the faces of the young lads. Seeing this painting, I was reminded of a book that I have tucked away called The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. We were encouraged to pick it up and read it...possibly as a read aloud.


With the exception of one painting, we really enjoyed the exhibit. One piece that really struck all of us as a creepy, out of place and just plain odd choice to include in the collection, Man Proposes, God Disposes by Sir Edwin Landseer shows two polar bears present at the site of ship wreckage, ripping and tearing into the remains of the ship.

We found it unpleasantly placed across from one of our favorite paintings by Briton Riviere titled Sympathy. An oil painting of a sweet little girl sitting alone at the top of a flight of stairs with her beloved puppy resting his head upon her shoulder. Quite a contrast compared to the polar bears, isn't it?

With the exception of one large painting called The Babylonian Marraige Market that showed a couple women with bare chests, all of the paintings were appropriate for any audience.

The Royal Holloway exhibit is scheduled to appear in Norfolk,Virginia, Quebec, Canada and Palm Springs, Florida. If you live near one of these cities, you may want to view the schedule and have your own Day at the Art Museum. We enjoyed our outing so much that I bought an annual membership- and since they were having a special, I got a 15 month membership with access to over 40 other art museums in the Southeast, all for less than the cost of two visits for my family. Can't beat that!

Your turn! Tell us all about the field trip you went on this week or your favorite all time field trip. Just add your link to McKLinky below and don't forget to spread the word and stop back next week for some more field trip fun! Till then, Happy Field Trippin'!

The art pictures from this post are from the website of ASI Exhibition.