Author: The Humble Fabulist

Hello and welcome to my journal! Originally from Thessaloniki, Greece but living in Northern Europe for the past 30 years -the last ten of which in my adopted hometown Brussels, I try to surround myself with nice people & music & visual art & dance, because they make everyday life bearable & beautiful & rich. This is my growing collection of life’s little pleasures I wanted to share with you, but mainly keep and remember so that they don’t fade away… Since end of August 2016, my path brought me to the Big Apple. While I try to absorb the differences in life & culture, and try to grasp the sheer size of New York, I’ll be sharing my impressions in The Humble Fabulist.

Providence || The Rhode Island State House

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Sitting atop Smith Hill, overlooking downtown Providence, a grant building of white George marble, in inverse proportion to the size of the State it was built to serve. Designed by the New York firm of McKim, Mead and White and constructed between 1895 and 1904, it is crowned with the fourth largest self supporting dome in the world, behind only that of St. Peter’s in Vatican City, the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul and the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

The Senate Chamber, home to the 38 members of the Senate; it’s design was influenced by the Pantheon in Rome.

”Hope” is the official state motto of Rhode Island, inspired by the biblical phrase “hope we have as an anchor of the soul.” This little flag made it to the Moon and back.

Thomas Wilson Dorr, 1805-1854
”The People’s Governor”, thanks to whom Rhode Island adopted a state constitution.

This is the Gettysburg gun from the First R.I. Light Artillery, damaged during the battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 with a cannonball still stuck in the barrel.

The Royal Charter of 1663 granted by King Charles II of England, on July 8, 1663, resides safely in a custom steel  vault. The Charter guaranteed Rhode Island settlers complete religious liberty, established a self-governing colony with local autonomy and strengthened Rhode Island’s territorial claims. The most liberal charter of any colony, it served as Rhode Island’s basic law until the adoption of the state’s first constitution, which came into effect on May 2, 1843.

The Rhode Island State House, Providence

November 23rd, 2018

Portland Museum of Art || The McLellan House

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Last, but not least:

A federal-style three-story mansion, completed in 1801 for Major Hugh McLellan, at a cost of $20,000. Purchased in 1880 by Lorenzo De Medici Sweat, it was bequeathed to the Portland Society of Art (now Portland Museum of Art), in 1908 by Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat, in memory of her late husband. It was completely restored to its original condition and its wonderful interior can be visited as part of the Portland Museum of Art.

Do not leave the Museum without seeing this splendid piece of history of Portland, Maine.

Art

Endless Column, 2013
Justin Richel (U.S., b. 1979)

Large Vase with Nude Women, 1950
Pablo Picasso

Garden Figure, 1935
Gaston Lachaise (U.S. (born France), 1882-1935)

Portland, ME

November 21st, 2018

Portland Museum of Art || Noguchi

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”Beyond the Pedestal: Isamu Noguchi and the Borders of Sculpture investigates Noguchi’s expansive artistic practice by exploring his efforts to enlarge and challenge conventional notions of sculptural boundaries.” – Portland Museum of Art

This retrospective turned out to be our best chance to see Noguchi’s work to such an extend; we kept postponing a visit to the Noguchi Museum in New York, and now it is temporarily closed – as every Museum in the City, with no re-opening date announced yet.

Portland, ME

November 21st, 2018

The “Drop”

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”The three members of a middle-class family – a pastor, his wife and their daughter – form a staid group in this painting of a well-decorated interior. The smooth finish of Harry Willson Watrous’ brushwork obscures the insidious reality of racism implied in the work’s title. The ”drop” refers to a pernicious American custom of treating anyone with even a drop of African-American blood as black and discriminating against them on that basis. Watrous’ carefully rendered painting of a mixed-race daughter and her parents suggests that beneath the veneer of egalitarianism and placid family togetherness (portrayed  in this scene), the treatment of African-Americans in the United States was still far from equal.” – Portland Museum of Art

And, guess what… more than a century later, it is still isn’t.

However, had I not read the description I’d never have guessed the Artist’s reference. So captivated was I by the Mother’s silent despair and the Father’s quiet resignation at the Little Girl’s insistent demand, I missed that point completely.

Harry Willson Watrous (U.S., 1857-1940)
The Drop Sinister – What Shall We Do with It?, ca. 1913
Oil on canvas

Portland, ME

November 21st, 2018

The most eclectic way to warm up

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Enter the Portland Museum of Art

Untitled (Hooking Buck Head Down), 2013
Marc Swanson (U.S., b. 1969)
Polyurethane foam, crystals, adhesive

Leopard, 19th century
Glazed earthenware

Candlesticks, ca. 1880
Bronze, marble, gilding
Unidentified Artist

Summer, 1927
Bronze
John Clements Gregory (U.S. (born England), 1879-1958)

Left Hand, 2007
Oil on linen
Jenny Holzer (U.S., b. 1950)

Frisbee, 1987
Oil on canvas
Will Barnet (U.S., 1911-2012)

Black Cat on Orange Background, 1958-59
Oil on masonite
Alex Katz (U.S., b. 1927)

Two Female Models Sitting with Legs Crossed and Kazak Rug, 2013
Oil on canvas
Philip Pearlstein (U.S., b. 1924)

Slab City Road, 1959
Oil on linen
Alex Katz (U.S., b. 1927)

Mother and Child, 1922
Mahogany
William Zorach (U.S. (born Lithuania), 1889-1966)

Diana of the Sea, 1940
Oil on canvas
Marguerite Thompson Zorach

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2016
Ink on latex saturated cellulose
Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (U.S., 1955-2017; U.S., established 1984)

New York-Paris No.2, 1931
Oil on canvas
Stuart Davis (U.S., 1892-1964)

Mrs. Henry St. John Smith (Ellen Archer Eveleth Smith), 1883
Oil on canvas
John Singer Sargent (U.S. (born Italy), 1856-1925

Dancer and Gazelles, 1912
Bronze
Paul Manship (U.S., 1885-1966)

Sideboard, ca. 1795-1800
Mahogany and other woods
John and Thomas Seymour (U.S. (born England), 1738-1818 & 1771-1849)

Portraits of Sally Stevens Lord and James Lord, ca. 1834
Oil on canvas
Attributed to Royal Brewster Smith (U.S., 1801-1855)

Eleanor Foster, 1755
Oil on canvas
Joseph Badger (U.S., 1708-1765)

The Dead Pearl Diver, 1858
Marble
Benjamin Paul Akers (U.S., 1825-1861)

Portland, ME

November 21st, 2018