Museums: McMullen, Davis & Fruitlands

Thursday, May 30, 2019: I've got the day to myself, so after hitting the Boston Public Library, I'll be heading west and hitting 3 Art Museums::


The Boston Public Library and the Old South Church sure do take a nice picture:

I want to look through the Library's copy of "Two Views of Italy: Master Prints by Canaletto and Piranesi" [published by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College]:

2 lovely illustrations are:
"Imaginary View of Venice", 1741 etching:

"The Portico with the Lantern":

It is a lovely booklet - maybe I can pick up a copy on eBay.

I then headed west out Route 9 to Boston College, and its McMullen Museum of Art::


Hiram Dwight Torrey - "Sunrise Among the Mountains", c. 1856 oil


Philip Leslie Hale - "In the Garden", n.d. oil:


Another 10 miles west on Route 9 takes me to Wellesley College's Davis Museum:

Wendy and I had visited here back in November 2016, and they have a wonderful collection!

Today's highlights include:
William Trost Richards - "Seascape", 1870 oil


John Frederick Kensett - "Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway", 1851 oil:


And then I headed down the road for an afternoon visit at the Fruitlands Museum (Harvard, Mass.) [I last visited here May 19, 2018]:

They still have the "salon style" going on, which is Very Impressive, but a bit like drinking out of a fire hose:


Albert Bierstadt - "Mount Ascutney from Claremont, New Hampshire", 1862 oil:


William Louis Sonntag - "Mountain Scene with Stream", 1881 oil:


And from there I headed home! Thank you God for these wonderful adventures!

When I'm on my own, maybe I don't always eat very well, but at least I have A LOT OF FUN:

Middlebury College Museum of Art & Hood Museum (Dartmouth College)

Saturday, May 25, 2019 - Wendy has a conference out in Marlborough (also known as Marlboro - don't ask), so I decided to START MY HIKING FOR 2019. Over the past 2 days I hiked 6 mountains over in the Adirondacks - yesterday was a BIG DAY (see dixonheadingnorth), and "they" closed the road to the trailhead for today's mountain, so I'm just coming home.

Well, anytime I get to drive 255 miles/5 hours, I'm sure I can fit in a museum-or-two:


Beautiful farmland in Eastern New York State:

Does it look flat - or is it just me, after two days of hiking in the Adirondacks?

I got to Middlebury College Museum of Art at 12:05 (it opens at noon):

Frederic Edwin Church - "Otter Creek, Middlebury, Vermont", 1854 oil:

and a section of Li Xubai - "Mountain Home with Pine and Chrysanthemum", summer 2006


Lunch at an old favorite:


Another 2 hours down the road, and I was at Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art:

I had visited here once before, but they have undergone a large expansions, and display much more of their wonderful art!

A wonderful display of their collection of 6 Assyrian Relief Panels:

They had copies of a booklet that they had published:

and when I asked how I could get a copy, they JUST GAVE ME ONE! Thank You!


Regis Francois Gignoux - "New Hampshire (White Mountain Landscape)", about 1864 oil


Thomas Hill - "Mountain Landscape", late 19th century oil:


Winslow Homer - "Enchanted", 1874 oil:


And from there I headed home! Thank you God for these wonderful adventures!

Today, for my listening pleasure, I am listening to one of my mp3 cds that I burned back in February 2000:

Lou Rawls - The Essential


Neil Young - Unplugged, 1993


various artists - Toga Rock, 1990


Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love, 1987


Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?, 1972 double album


America - History: America's Greatest Hits, 1975

Sotheby's NYC May 2019

Sunday, May 19, 2019 - I really enjoy my trips with Wendy to NYC to see Auction House and Gallery exhibitions. Sotheby's is actually having another "American Art" auction this month, and there are a bunch of pieces I would like to see:


Wendy served at the 7:45 AM Service at Christ the Redeemer, so I went to that service and we left there at 9 AM. I just reviewed past Sotheby's blogs (5/21/2018, 3/24/2018, 5/22/2017), and I see that in the past we left at 7:15, 7 and 6:30. There were a lot of cars on the road, and traffic would sometimes just stop (no cop car, no accident). At 11:30 - we're heading to NYC!


It took 4 hours to get down to the Henry Hudson Parkway on the West Side, but then it took another hour to get across town (Sunday in the City - walkathons, fundraisers, roads closed). SpotHero parking, and a great lunch at Cafe Luca:


Then a quick walk over to Sotheby's:


Wonderful highlights include:

Sanford Robinson Gifford - A Lake Twilight, 1861 oil:

Andrew Wyeth - Open Water, 1977 watercolor

Alfred Jacob Miller - Two Arapaho, ca. 1860 watercolor:

Childe Hassam - Spring Woods (In the Orchard), 1921 oil:

Francis Augustus Silva - Sailing on the Hudson near Nyack, 1872 oil:

Albert Bierstadt - Mountain Lake, circa 1865 oil:

Frederic Edwin Church - Ruins at Baalbek, 1868 oil:

Jasper Francis Cropsey - On The Hudson Near West Point, 1877 oil:


Sotheby's has many other auctions coming up, that I'm really not interested in (Timepieces, Modern Art), but it was VERY EXCITING to see pieces that had been flown to New York in anticipation of their "Old Master and British Works on Paper" auction in London 3 July:



Canaletto - The Presentation of The Doge in S. Marco, 1763-66 pen, ink, wash:

J.M.W. Turner - Sun-Rise: whiting fishing at Margate, 1822 watercolour:

J.M.W. Turner - Landscape with Walton Bridges, oil:


Note from the Future - these American Art pieces sold for:

Lot 39 - Sanford Robinson Gifford - A Lake Twilight - $2,900,000
(estimate 1,200,000 - 1,800,000)

Lot 35 - Andrew Wyeth - Open Water - $150,000
(estimate 150,000 - 250,000)

Lot 73 - Alfred Jacob Miller - Two Arapaho - unsold
(estimate 150,000 - 250,000)

Lot 65 - Childe Hassam - Spring Woods (In the Orchard) - $481,250
(estimate 250,000 - 350,000)

Lot 79 - Francis Augustus Silva - Sailing on the Hudson near Nyack- $740,000
(estimate 700,000 - 1,000,000)

Lot 45 - Albert Bierstadt - Mountain Lake - $112,500
(estimate 60,000 - 80,000)

Lot 46 - Frederic Edwin Church - Ruins at Baalbek - unsold
(estimate 1,000,000 - 1,500,000)

Lot 42 - Jasper Francis Cropsey - On The Hudson Near West Point - unsold
(estimate 120,000 - 180,000)

Picked up the car at 4, dinner at Five Guys in Peabody! Excellent Adventure-Time with my Beautiful Bride! Thank You God for these Great Days!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking in New England (the 4,000 footers; the 100 Highest; WATERFALLS)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/