Yesterday Ben looked after the children so that I could go with a friend to the Degas to Dali exhibition on at the Auckland Art Gallery. It was wonderful. The Art Gallery itself is a beautiful French Chateau-style building, originally designed by Melbourne-based architects and opened in 1887. It has just recently undergone some extensive renovations with a very modern extension which has been tastefully done and complements the existing heritage building. The exhibition was also really good with a range of modern art from, yes, Degas and Dali but also Renoir, Warhol, Monet and Van Gogh – just some of the 62 artists with works on show. My favorite was an Andy Warhol portrait of Maurice the dog.
Some photos from the exterior of the building:
Queen St should be devoid of cars, but there are almost no streets devoid of cars in Auckland. Cars rule and until that changes, I will always dislike the place.
I really appreciate the Heritage buildings here despite my earthquake experience. I know that Heritage buildings pose a greater earthquake-risk but I love beautiful architecture. I would rather be crushed to death by a magnificent structure than some hideous carpark so I will take the risk for a beautiful building but will forever continue my boycott of ugly multistorey carparks.
Elizabeth hasn’t produced a “dog poo” for a while now and instead skulks away to our bedroom to produce her poo. Our bedroom has become her favourite toilet place. Nice.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. Daniel brought me breakfast in bed this morning so I’m feeling very loved and spoilt.
rachel.blog 
It's a lovely art gallery, Rachel. I thoroughly enjoyed that exhibition whilst in Auckland. Appreciated the smaller crowd too, much better than the crowd squeeze that seems to go hand in hand with similar events at the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA. Also loved the spectacular city and garden views looking through the soaring glass windows in the modern part. They got the light right!
I don't think it's as good as GOMA, especially from a parent's perspective. There's always so much stuff for kids at GOMA. Not so much at the Auckland gallery.