Let’s Go! Part V

There is more to share about food, but for today let’s turn our attention to art, another focus of this adventure.

As mentioned several days ago, Lisbon is a city of museums.  There isn’t time to visit all, so let’s go to the highly regarded Gulbenkian Museum. Here we will find a wealthy man’s collection of paintings, sculpture, rugs and decorative art. At one time Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, who lived the last 13 years of his life in Portugal, negotiated with the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. as a potential home for this outstanding collection, but it ended up in Lisbon where a specially built facility ensured that it would be kept under one roof.

There are many beautiful things here, but being a fiber person, I am enchanted by the textiles, an example of which is this embroidered Japanese hanging. Can you imagine the ability, to say nothing of the time, it would take to create such an intricate pattern with needle and thread?

Next stop Sintra, a beautiful town in the mountains near Lisbon, which was the summer retreat for Portuguese royalty whose reign ended in 1910. In the royal dwelling, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, two things make a special impression.

One is the painted wood ceilings,

more primitive than frescoed ceilings and charming in their own right.

The other is the tile work done on many of the palace’s wall surfaces and is evidence of Portugal’s long history of tile making.

Imagining the effort that went into the painting of each tile so as to create a cohesive whole is overwhelming.

Though not typically described as art, these copper pots are pretty wonderful.  Wouldn’t you like to have one or two of these?

Moving on to Spain, Bilbao is home to one of the five Guggenheim museums, and it is spectacular.

The exhibitions are impressive, but it is the Frank Gehry designed building that is the real work of art.  (Thanks to the hubby for this terrific photo.)

One could spend hours here studying the building’s angles and interconnecting shapes and photographing it again and again to capture the changing hues of the titanium shingles.

This is a museum not to be missed!

On to Paris, also known for its museums, but rather than visit the familiar ones, let’s go to the Musee Jacquemart-Andre.  Like the Gulbenkian, it represents the acquisitions of a wealthy person with the difference being that they are housed in the family’s residence.

Though the decor is not typical of today’s, it clearly represented the good taste and attention to detail of the mansion’s owners.

Again, fiber caught my attention, this time in the form of Gobelin tapestries woven by hand in the 18th century.

Aren’t we fortunate that art is such an important part of history?

Thanks for traveling with me today.  We still have lots ahead of us.

Joining Tabletop Tuesday

Smokin’

OK, I’ve seen many unusual art installations, but Xu Bing‘s Tobacco Project at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts may take the cake.

Mimicking a tiger skin rug, the installation is created entirely with what else……cigarettes, more than 600,000 of them.  Consequently, the viewing experience is not only visual but sensory as the sweet smell of tobacco fills the room.

Look closely and you will see that in some areas the filter end is up and in others it’s the tobacco end.

The result is astounding.  From one location, the “rug” looks like this,

from another like this.

How, you ask, was this constructed?  The artist made a brown paper drawing for a crew to follow as they put it together, gluing the cigarettes to carpet.  The piece was so large that it had to be done in modules that were fit together in the exhibition space.

To explain this creation, one only has to read the words from these artists:

Time Out For Richmond

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever been to Richmond, Virginia?  I had not before this weekend when we attended a perfect and beautiful wedding there.  Quite frankly, I’d never given Richmond much thought, so everything I saw and learned was new to me.

Richmond is one of the oldest cities in the country having been settled 400 years ago  just a few years after Jamestown.  Like many other places in the South, its economy relied heavily on farming, particularly tobacco which today is still a lucrative business.

Richmond, of course, was capital of the Confederacy, and there are many reminders in the city of its importance during the Civil War.  On one street, appropriately called Monument Avenue as it has huge statues of Civil War heroes Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart and Robert E. Lee, is the house that served as headquarters to Davis who, as you know, was president of the Confederacy.

It appears that many of the old buildings and residences in Richmond have been preserved, and they are charming.

One of the wedding activities was held in this one which is now home to the Virginia Garden Club.  Like many another structure, it had columns, seemingly an architectural must in Richmond, even in the fine arts museum.

Speaking of the museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in a winner.  It proudly sports a new addition which to me was almost as interesting as the art it housed.  Walking through the galleries was a visual delight and, as you might guess, the tapestries caught my eye.  

Weaving tapestries in the 16th and 17th century was a real art form, and I marvel over how threads are used to produce a work as layered as any painting.  I can only imagine the challenge of “painting” in this medium.

Richmond is home to two universities, the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University.  Please don’t tell, but I was unfamiliar with VCU until last year’s NCAA basketball tournament, however, its significant presence in the city cannot be denied.  I was surprised to learn that the enrollment is in excess of 35,000.

We stayed in the Jefferson Hotel, and I’m sure its walls have many stories.  I had no idea that part of the filming for Gone With the Wind was done there.  Walking down the stairs to the large ballroom, I could imagine Scarlett O’Hara making her appearance in the dress she had made from Tara’s velvet draperies.

Alligators in one form or another were inside and out at the hotel.  That was somewhat puzzling until I found a sign explaining their presence.  Apparently, in days past, Florida visitors thought it cute to have a pet alligator.  As they travelled north, the alligators often outgrew their habitat and were left behind in Richmond, probably becoming residents the local populace didn’t welcome.

I’m sure there is much more to know about this historic southern city, but time was short so it will have to wait for another day.  In the meantime, do come back tomorrow to glimpse a most interesting installation at the museum.

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A Hidden Jack

What is this in the place where flowers bloom and dahlias wait their turn?

A weed perchance, its leaves an oversized green?

It must come out, but wait, there is something hiding there,

something I have not seen before.  

I lift its head and experience a sense of familiarity.

I look and think, and then I know.  It is the same image as in one of my favorite Georgia O’Keeffe series called Jack-in-the-Pulpit which she painted in the early 1930′s.

Do you think she saw what I am seeing?

 Did she stumble upon it by accident? 

Did she know what surprise this big leafed plant held in secret?

Oh, how she captured this hidden wonder and made it come alive for all those who may never see.

Joining This Week in My Garden,  Outdoor Wednesday and Alphabet Thursday‘s letter  J

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On the Road III

OK, we made it through the night though we did have some giggles over one of the beds which slept like a water bed without the water.

On the road again to the Ft. Davis Drug Store for what is touted to be the best breakfast in west Texas.  

It sure must satisfy the cowboys because the first person we saw was the real thing, complete with gun on his hip.

Then it was Marfa, here we come, and the second of our departures from the plan.  We learned in a hurry that Marfa has its own schedule….maybe places are open, maybe not.  The Chinati and Judd Foundation tours don’t occur until afternoon, and once the family learned that the collections were very modern they didn’t have much interest in hanging around.  Guess the artist daughter and I will just have to return.

Rather than leave Marfa in the dust, however, we had to have a little adventure.

 Since the little girls and I had been to the top of the Empire State Building, it seemed appropriate to climb to the top of the Presidio County courthouse.  Just like in NYC, we got a birdseye view of the town

and what could have been the last picture show.  Impressed?

Marfa may be a hip kind of town these days, regarded as an important art center, but it has all the feel of an updated Old West, at least on the outside.  Exteriors have been carefully restored to original condition, but the interiors are definitely minimalist in keeping with the art exhibited there.

I may not have seen the art that sparked my interest in Marfa, but it was not a total wash.  

There was an exhibit of Andy Warhol interpretations of The Last Supper which were totally new to me.  Are you familiar with these?

My favorite art may have been this car

with its own special message.  

Yeehaw! Let’s move on down the road. 

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Browsing Houston III

The Heights is Houston’s oldest organized neighborhood.  Over time, as many of the houses became rental property, the area deteriorated, but in the last few years it has undergone a rebirth becoming a very eclectic and hip neighborhood.

New homes built in the traditional craftsman or Victorian style associated with the Heights are springing up on every street, young families and empty nesters are moving in, restaurants and shops are locating there, residents enjoy camaraderie with neighbors.

There is much to see and do in the Heights, and the place to start is West 19th Street where you can actually spend the better part of a day.  Here you will find

art

and antiques,

cafes

and bakeries,

home goods

and accessories of all kinds.

When you’re tired of walking and overwhelmed by all there is to see, you can stop at Shade for the best ever coconut cream tart.  It’s so good I had to take a bite before snapping the picture!

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Art Speaks

Who knew when we bought this painting nearly 10 years ago that it would be so prophetic?

We got it because we liked it, the colors under proper light were wonderful and it appeared to be the perfect fit for the spot over the fireplace.  At the time the subject matter didn’t have any special meaning; in fact, it seemed rather sweet.  It was no more than a nice painting, and it is just right for the space for which it was purchased.

In the years that have passed, the painting has taken on new life.  My mother has been diagnosed with dementia.  She remembers less and less about her life, but she is still a whiz at word games and when we play Yahtzee she can add faster than I.  She grows smaller day by day having lost her appetite and in many ways she seems quite lost to me.

As a consequence of her condition, we have moved her to an assisted living facility where she shares space with others who, in different ways, are no more competent than she.  I go over several times each week and what I see reminds me of the painting.  Some people are napping in their chairs.  Others are wandering, trying to figure out what they should be doing.  Some are lounging in their chairs looking lost, sad.  I want to know what they are feeling, what they are thinking, if they feel abandoned, forgotten.  They seem unable to tell me, and the same is true for the elderly figures in the painting who now seem lost to me.

During these visits I often feel scared, fearful of my own future.

I wonder if I am the woman in the middle of the painting wondering what to do, feeling helpless, questioning life that seems to be lost.

I can’t help but wonder if this canvas grew out of a situation experienced by the artist.  I am sure he was not aware that one day this story would become my story.  Yes, art speaks, draws us in, plays with our emotions.  Do you ever find that to be true?

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Quilts Galore

If the International Quilt Festival is any indication, things are definitely bigger in Texas!  Houston’s huge George R. Brown Convention Center was as filled as filled could be with vendors, exhibitors and breathtaking quilt displays.

As a fiber artist, I like anything done by hand with fabric and threads, so an afternoon wandering in the exhibition area was a treat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As one would expect, there were traditional quilt patterns, some made with more contemporary fabrics and colors to give them a new twist.

The quilts that left me breathless, however, were the art quilts, amazing creations of which I am totally incapable.

There is as much skilled art ability in these as in any painting, yet fiber creations don’t seem to receive the same appreciation in the art world.

Just take a look at some of the work which combines such elements as machine stitching, embroidery, dying and photo transfer.

Standing in front of these pieces, I kept asking how.  How could the stitching be so controlled, so perfectly placed to create the desired images and depth of field?  How much time did it take to combine all these elements and achieve such perfection?  How are threads able to achieve such color shading?

Obviously, a lot of questions and if for me there are no answers, I can enjoy standing before the wondrous pieces and saluting their creators.

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