Tag: travel

░Treasures░of░the░de░Young░

The Humble Fabulist2 Comments

Skipping the colourful psychedelia of the Summer of Love Experience didn’t mean the time we spent at the de Young would be any less fun – quite the contrary, as the works you are about to see will demonstrate.

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In contrast with the age of freedom and sexual liberation that was being celebrated next door, this is how courtship was done in Thomas Eakins’ time:  Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)
The Courtship, ca. 1878
Oil on canvas

Whistler depicted his former patron Frederick R. Leyland as a hideous peacock, surrounded by money bags and sitting astride Whistler’s house, which had to be sold. You see, Leyland had commissioned Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (Freer Gallery of Art) for his London townhouse. All was going according to plan, until Whistler decided to make some unauthorized alterations. Leyland was less than pleased, they argued bitterly and their relationship reached an all-time low when Leyland sued Whistler for the Peacock Room’s over-expenditures. Whistler had to file for bankruptcy but, with this painting, he still had the last laugh:James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
The Gold Scab: Eruption in Frilthy Lucre (The Creditor), 1879
Oil on canvas

A work by the earliest-known African American artist. A freed slaved and self-taught painter working in Baltimore, Maryland, Joshua Johnson portrays the daughter of a wealthy Baltimore merchant. Her Empire gown, stylish Napoleonic bangs, and Turkish shoes (known as ”straights” because the could fit on either foot) reveal the influence of French fashion in America. I do love her ”straights” – I wish all shoes were so soft they could fit on either foot!  Joshua Johnson (ca. 1763-ca. 1824)
Letitia Grace McCurdy, ca. 1800-1802
Oil on canvas

A dress made of glass for a head-to-toe modern Cinderella:Karen LaMonte (b. 1967)
Dress 3, 2001
Cast glass

This explosion of colour:
Richard Mayhew (b. 1924)
Rhapsody, 2002
Oil on canvas

The cool flatness of Samuel Miller’s children: Samuel Miller (1807-1853)
Young Girl with Flowers, ca. 1850
Oil on canvas mounted on board

Samuel Miller (1807-1853)
Young Boy with a Dog, ca. 1850
Oil on canvas mounted on hardboard

Treasures of the de Young

July 7th, 2017
  

 

 

San Francisco is… the stunning views from Lands End

The Humble Fabulist6 Comments

As if 4000 years worth of art, a spectacular French-inspired building that resembles the Parisian Palais de la Légion d’Honneur (here’s that ”European” feel again), and interesting exhibitions like the Degas and Paris Millinery Trade we’d just seen were not enough, Legion of Honor sits high on the grounds of Lincoln Park, in a unique setting. To reach it, you have to walk (or drive) through a glossy, perfectly manicured golf course. And on your return, you can – no, you must, take one of the Lands End trails, walk past rocky cliffs, shady cypress and eucalyptus trees, cross paths with local runners, find your way around a stone labyrinth, descent to Mile Rock Beach or just let your eyes rest on some of the most stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean you could have wished for.

Lands End

July 7th, 2017

San Francisco is… the eclectic Legion of Honor

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

A haven for European Art spanning 4000 years; paintings, sculptures, decorative objects, frames as precious as the works they adorn, ancient art from the Mediterranean basin and  mummies from Egypt, all under this beautiful French neoclassical structure, a replica of the French Pavilion at San Francisco’s Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, itself a replica of the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur in Paris, an 18th-century landmark on the left bank of the Seine. Michael Sweerts (Flemish, Brussels 1618-1664 Goa)
Portrait of a Youth, ca. 1655-1661
Oil on canvas

Louis Léopold Boilly (French, 1761-1845)
After Clodion (Claude Michel)
Triumph of Amphitrite, ca. 1785-1799 (details)
Oil on paper mounted on canvas

Honoré Daumier (French, 1808-1879)
Third-Class Carriage, 1856-1858
Oil on panel

Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824-1904)
The Bath, ca. 1880-1885 (detail)
Oil on canvas

Konstantin Makovsky (Russia, 1839-1915)
The Russian Bride’s Attire, 1889
Oil on canvas

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905)
The Broken Pitcher, 1891
Oil on canvas

Jules Bastien-Lepage (French, 1848-1884)
Sarah Bernhardt, 1879
Oil on canvas

John Anster Fitzgerald (British, 1823-1906)
Fairies in a Bird’s Nest, ca. 1860
Oil on canvas

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1887)
Mary Queen of Scots, ca. 1860-1869
Terracota

Celestial and terrestrial globes, Dutch, ca. 1600
Jodocus Hondius, the elder (Joos de Hondt, 1563-1612), cartographer
Metal, walnut and paper

Table from Italy, Bologna, 17th century
Walnut

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917)
The Three Shades, 1898
Bronze

Paneled room
France, ca. 1680 and later
Painted and gilt wood and mirror

William Blake
”Time in advance… ”and ”Time, having passed on…,” from The Complaint, and the Consolation; or, Night Thoughts, by Edward Young

[Night Thoughts was first published in 1742 and its continuing popularity more than fifty years later inspired publisher Richard Edwards to bring out a new, deluxe edition, for which he commissioned William Blake to provide illustrations.]

Legion of Honor

July 7th, 2017

San Francisco is… keeping its hats on

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[In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, hats were a social obsession, subjects of acclaim and critique. The Paris millinery industry was at its financial and creative peak between the mid-1870s and 1914, the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the outbreak of the World War I, decades that coincided with the ear of French Impressionism. The women who made and sold hats – milliners, or modistes in French – as well as those who purchased them, fascinated Edgar Degas and other artists in his circle.] Bonnets of the 1880s by Mangin Maurice (left) & Cordeau et Laugaudin (right)

Bonnet, ca. 1894 by an unknown designer, France

Jean Béraud, 1849-1935
Fashionable Woman on the Champs-Élysées, n.d.
Oil on canvas

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Woman Adjusting Her Hair, ca. 1884
Oil on canvas

Hat by Maison Virot, ca. 1900 (with alterations)

Hat by Camille Marchais, ca. 1895

Bonnet by Mesdemoiselles Cotel, ca. 1885 (left) & Capote by E. Gauthier, ca. 1890

Hat by Caroline Reboux, ca. 1904-1905 (left) & by Au Bon Marché, retailer, ca. 1884

Capote by Auguste Poussineau, known as A. Félix, ca. 1880-1885 (front) & Hat by Monsieur Heitz-Boyer, 1898 (back)

Hat by an unknown designer, ca. 1890

Édouard Manet (1832-1883)
Berthe Morisot, ca. 1869-1873
Oil on canvas

Louise Catherine Breslau (1856-1927)
The Milliners, 1899
Pastel on paper mounted on board

Paul-César Helleu (1859-1927)
The Final Touch, ca 1885
Pastel on paper

Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade exhibition ran until September 2017 @ the Legion of Honor*

July 07th, 2017

*If, by any chance, September 2018 finds you in San Francisco, please do make me jealous and go see the current exhibition, Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters!

San Francisco is… a little crooked

The Humble Fabulist5 Comments

Not only it is host to some of the steepest streets on this side of the Atlantic, but also to some of the crookedest. Lombard Street on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, is so steep that it was deemed too dangerous for vehicles to just drive through. Thus its transformation into a switchback with eight sharp turns – so sharp and steep, I thought every household in San Francisco should, by default, include a shrine devoted to the genius who invented automatic transmission.

Lombard Street

July 6th, 2017

San Francisco is… taking the best wedding photos

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

The three most renowned photographer assistants in the whole of Fisherman’s Wharf, Glaukus, Icarus & Rufus, working as a team. Today, they help with a wedding photo session.

Okay guys, are you ready…?
Glaukus: ”Hold her hand… Perfect…” *click*
Icarus: “Now, look at each other…” *click-click*
Rufus: “Pose… Great…!” *click*

Glaukus: ”Hey, mate… MATE!” “Where d’ya think you’re goin? Come back ‘ere, you’re not done yet…!

How to take great wedding photos @ The Embarcadero, Pier 39

July 5th, 2017

San Francisco is… a walk at Pier 39

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Starting with a fair warning!

Meeting Glaukus, Le Poseur →↓

Paparazzi are not welcome →↓ If warnings and crowds do not scare you off, chances are you’ll make it to the other end of the pier where, depending on the season, you may be able to observe sea lions relaxing on their floats. Usually, there are hundreds of them, but in June and July most head south to breeding grounds on the Channel Islands, although a handful of lazybones, do remain. 

Walking along the Embarcadero, from Pier 39 to Fisherman’s Wharf and the Maritime Museum, then back to where we started, at the City Hall. Across the street, the Davies Symphony Hall was beginning to glow.

July 5th, 2017

San Francisco is… Coit Tower & The Views

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

So what if the line went round and round, forming a complete circle at the base of the tower. There was so much to see during the hour we waited to reach the lift that, for once, I didn’t feel the pain. For the entire ground floor is adorned with floor to ceiling murals painted in 1934 by a group of artists employed by the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

They depict life in California during the Depression, with emphasis on the theme of industry and commerce and distinctive touches of leftist political ideas, clearly evident; like on Bernard Zakheim’s “Library” which depicts fellow artist John Langley Howard reaching for a copy of Karl Marx’s ”Das Kapital” (spelled here ”Das Capital”).  Touches one is familiar with in Europe, but rather unusual in the States. Perhaps it is true, after all, San Francisco may well be a very European city.

The Tower & details the Murals Industries of California
Ralph Stackpole

Industries of California
Ralph Stackpole

Newsgathering
Suzanne Scheuer

Library
Bernard B. Zakheim

City Life
Victor Arnautoff

City Life
Victor Arnautoff

Scientist-Inventor
Mallette Harold Dean

City Life
Victor Arnautoff

City Life
Victor Arnautoff

Banking and Law
George Harris

California
Maxine Albro

The (360°) views

You can buy tickets on-line in advance and skip the lines. But where is the fun in that?

Coit Tower

July 5th, 2017