Friday, July 15, 2022

Philadelphia, Barnes, Woodmere and Newark museums

Friday, July 15, 2022 - Last night Wendy and Ellie did an overnight in Falmouth, so I'm hitting the road to pick up some more art-photos-for-my-collection:
Starting in Cherry Hill, New Jersey - driving 383 miles in 7 hours 16 minutes, and stopping at 4 museums!

I started the morning with a Great Breakfast at Cracker Barrel:

I made my way west, over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia:
Note: coming in this way, there is no "good picture" of the Philadelphia skyline.

I took a picture of Google Maps before I started today (and it turns out that the actual garage is the purple star):

Since The Barnes Foundation did not open until 11, I walked up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where I saw a woodchuck looking for his breakfast:

And then it was into the Museum:

Francesco Guardi - "Grand Canal with San Simeone Piccolo and Santa Lucia", c. 1770-80 oil

Canaletto - "Rialto Bridge", c. 1730 oil:

J.M.W. Turner - "The Burning of the Houses of Parliament, October 16, 1834", 1834 or 1835 oil:

a painting by Claude Monet that I have never seen - "Japanese Footbridge, Giverny", 1895 oil

Some people look at Monets on the wall, some don't:

Claude Monet - "Waterloo Bridge, Morning Fog", 1901 oil

a painting by Pablo Picasso that I have never seen - "Female Nude", 1910 oil
click here to read my November 2019 blog about "Why do I have photos of 25 Picasso paintings?"

It was nice seeing their beauties over in the American Wing:

Albert Bierstadt - "Platte River, Nebraska", 1863 oil (private collection):

Frederic Edwin Church - "Pichincha", 1867 oil:

So now I'm playing with MapMyWalk. I hiked 5.88 miles in Philadelphia:
but I want to get more of a sense of the vertical (the 4 floors in the Philadelphia Museum of Art). So I loaded it into Google Earth:
and spun it around:
Unfortunately, it looks like Google Earth just can't get enough elevation from walking up a few flights of stairs:

I then walked back down to The Barnes Foundation:

I had previously visited here back in April 2016, but they had a "No Photos" policy at that time. NOT SO TODAY!!

There are 10 paintings by Amedeo Modigliani on display. the 1st group is from 1915 through 1918, and the 2nd group are all from 1919:

There are 4 paintings by Claude Monet on display, from 1873 to 1880:

There are 6 paintings by Pablo Picasso on display, from 1903 to 1914:

And don't forget the occasional Renoir, Degas, and van Gogh:

I left there at 12:40, and was up at the Woodmere Art Museum at 1:20. Previously visited in April 2014, it was good to return:

Edmund Darch Lewis - "Edge of a Forest on the Susquehanna River (Early Morning)", 1866 oil:

Jasper Francis Cropsey - "The Spirit of Peace", 1851 oil:

And on this HOT day, it is nice to see - Harry Bertoia - "Free Interpretation of Plant Forms", 1967 bronze welded copper tubing:

I made my way over into New Jersey, and was at The Newark Museum of Art at 3:30

William C. Bradford - "Working Through the Artic Ice Fields", 1883 oil:

Martin Johnson Heade - "Jersey Meadows with a Fisherman", 1877 oil:

Albert Bierstadt - "Western Landscape, Mount Whitney", 1869 oil:

William Trost Richards - "Twilight on the New Jersey Coast", 1884 oil:

Finally, it is always nice to see a "Sideboard in the classical style", ca. 1790-1810:

Time to head home - once again over the "Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge":
And 6:30 traffic on the Merritt Parkway:

Home by 10 PM. WOW - Thank You God for this Super-Duper Adventure/Art Day

Music for today - starting in the Super 8 with:

Pat Metheny - What's It All About, 2011 solo album
I listened to it 3 times. On February 12, 2012, it received a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.

Then on my way to breakfast, because I was near Philadelphia, I put on 93.3 WMMR

Um - it was TALK RADIO. Bad TALK RADIO. So I listened to some random music radio station on my way into Philly.

After the Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Barnes Foundation, I tried WMMR again, and they were playing music - a set by somebody, then a set by Elton John, who is playing a concert in Philadelphia tonight. They talked about how "Madman Across the Water" was played on WMMR 50 years ago, and they are still playing it today. I was there when they were playing it 50 years ago, and I can say that was true.

And then it was time to roll into albums that have never appeared in my blogs:

various artists - Brazilian Café, 2009

various artists - Brazilian Groove, 2006

various artists - Brazilian Lounge, 2006

various artists - Arabic Groove, 2006

various artists - Asian Lounge, 2006

various artists - The Best of Bond...James Bond, 2006

various artists - Animal House soundtrack, 1978
There was a time there when every party, and I mean EVERY PARTY, played "Shout" (by Lloyd Williams) from this album!! Great Song, Great Album!

The Waterboys - This Is The Sea [Disc 2], 1985
This is the 2nd/bonus disc that came out in 2004, and it has some very good stuff on it (including a live version of "This Is the Sea").

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/