Fort Worth Modern

Tadao Ando is a mature and highly regarded Japanese architect – most of whose projects have been built in Japan.  His almost new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is across the street from the Kimbell.  Ando’s building has its own creative integrity but also manages in several small, but key, ways to reference and respect the Kahn Kimbell.  It is a big, new museum that is a grand temple to contemporary art.  It seems to float upon a surrounding lake in which its reflection causes it to be simultaneously be in the sky and joined to the earth.  The collection is excellent – that unbeatable combination of money and taste.  Walking through it and having Mark explain and highlight the features of its architecture and programming was – again – a treat beyond words.  Mark is not only an insightful architect but a passionate observer of the visual arts.  He could not have been a more organized, generous, or insightful host.  What a day.  I am happiest when in a great museum.  Today I had the double pleasure of two museums generously shared with me by a person who is similarly happiest within a great cultural institution.