A Van Gogh in Oklahoma

I thought I would share more of a travel story today. Back in 2014 I taught some training classes at Oklahoma University in Norman. I was there roughly a week and a half and drove there from Alabama. Now when you are going to be in a place for a week and a half you don't want to be stuck in a hotel, you want to see something if there is something to see. I asked around and the students told me about the Fred Jones Art Museum there on campus. I'll be honest I wasn't expecting all that much in it but it was something to do so I went there on a Saturday morning. As you can tell by my posts I do like to take photos when I travel.

I asked the lady up front if it was ok to take pictures and she said yes as long as there was no flash. In other words, you can take pictures but not good ones. I politely handed her my phone and we figured out where to cut the flash off and I was good to go. I was hoping to see someone that I'd heard of and there were a few. I noticed a small Rembrandt etching fairly quick. I'd post it but the glass over it caused such a glare it made the photo blurry. I started to notice these side rooms. At first I didn't go into them because I thought they were offices, but I also saw paintings in there. I decided I'd just walk in there and if I wasn't supposed to be in there then someone would tell me.

So I walked in this one room and there was this guy behind me, he'd been standing just inside the door. He was a security guard. I asked if it was ok to be in there and he said that yes it was fine it's just that he was not allowed to leave the room for insurance reasons he had to be in there. The other parts of the museum didn't have a security guard I wondered what was so important this small room had one....then I turned around.

There is was on the wall just over a fake fireplace. An original painting by Vincent Van Gogh. I was blown away that it was actually there. I never thought I see that in a small museum in Oklahoma I figured all that stuff would be in France or something. Well rules is rules and the flash wasn't on so it was fair game.

As you can see on the placard it was Portrait of Alexander Reid, who was apparently Van Gogh's roommate. He is also rumored to be the guy that actually cut off Van Gogh's ear. Since myself and the guard were the only people in there I started asking him more about the painting. Now you can't see it too well in the photo but in the painting on the wall behind Alexander Reid are three more paintings. If I remember right it was the painting in the middle but it may be one of the others. One of those paintings is actually another Van Gogh painting. So here Van Gogh actually did a painting of one of his paintings inside one of his other paintings. That's pretty trippy.

Because of the nature of the business I'm in I didn't know if I'd ever get to attend that museum again so I asked the guard if he would be nice enough to take a picture of me with the painting because truth be told, people back home might think I made it up. Luckily for me.....

In closing, it was a great visit. Van Gogh was not the only famous artist who's works were there. There were several by Monet and Renoir as well and I may post those at another time. As for the Van Gogh painting I was told there was a lawsuit pending against the museum for custody of the painting so it may not be there anymore. However, if you are ever in Norman, OK you should still check out the Fred Jones Art Museum. It may still be there as well as the other great works. Have a great day!