Deerfield Academy

Thursday, May 10, 2018 - Last month, Wendy and I were at the Albany Institute of History & Art, and I really liked their 5 paintings by Homer Dodge Martin, so I decided to add him into my "Where's the Art?" app. Research revealed he is in collections across the country:


It turns out that Deerfield Academy has one of his paintings! On Thursday April 26 I visited the Boston Public Library to view their copy of "The Charles P. Russell Collection" - a 1969 book published by Dearfield Academy listing their art collection:

The five pieces I found interesting are:
George Inness - Passing Shower, c. 1865 oil:

Winslow Homer - Girl Resting on a Hillside, c. 1868 aquatint:

Homer D. Martin - Criqueboeuf Church, c. 1890 oil:

Frederick Childe Hassam - Rainy Evening - New York, 1891 oil:

Frederick Childe Hassam - Rainy Day - Boston, 1886 oil:

The black-and-white reproductions only whet my appetite to see the real paintings!

Over the next two weeks I exchanged emails with Lydia Hemphill - as is the case at many boarding schools, Lydia wears many hats: Director of Studies, Visual Arts Teacher, Director of the von Auersperg Gallery, Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair. We agreed on this Thursday, so after my breakfast in Boston, I headed west:


I stopped in the Concord Free Public Library to do an hour of work, and got to Deerfield right at 12:30:


We walked over to a house that had the Childe Hassam paintings:
Rainy Day - Boston, 1886 oil

Rainy Evening - New York, 1891 oil


We then went to the Hess Center for the Arts, through the Von Auersperg Art Gallery:

and then through a labyrinth of doors-and-stairs to get back into the storage area:

(I LOVE getting behind-the-scenes)!

Homer D. Martin - Criqueboeuf Church, c. 1890 oil:

it is fun to contrast it with his painting-of-the-same-name out in The Los Angeles County Museum of Art:

(Criqueboeuf Church, Normandy, 1893)

And then back to the Main School building
George Inness - Passing Shower, c. 1865 oil:


I headed back home from there, avoiding (most of) rush hour. Thank you God for a GREAT Adventure DAY!

For my listening pleasure, I have been doing Shuffle Songs on my iPod. 17,869 songs!

Mass Audubon trail & Addison Gallery

Saturday, April 21, 2018 - Wendy is hosting a retreat at our house today, so I'm "out and about". After morning Bible Study at CTR, I ran some errands and worked out at the MAC rowing machine (266 calories in 20 minutes). Shower-shave-and-shine, and then Headed West (hey, technically the Transfer Station is west of the Heath Club). After that I went west only one exit to the Massachusetts Audubon Society property. Although it is just south of 128, it is still technically in Wenham, and I have been wanting to hike this property for a few years now:

It took me less than 18 minutes to hike the 0.72 miles:

It was a beautiful day to be out in the woods:

and I was the ONLY ONE when I got there, and when I left!

I headed down 128, got gas at Route 1, and then up to Andover.

I could have done a more-direct route, but I like staying on Interstates (95 and 93) when I can.

I was last up at The Addison Gallery of American Art (at Phillips Academy Andover, Andover, MA)

with Wendy in December 2014. Once again I was able to see beautiful paintings:
Frederic Church - Mount Katahdin, c. 1856:


Albert Bierstadt - The Coming Storm, 1869:


Albert Bierstadt - The Snow Mountain, c. 1863-68


Winslow Homer - Eight Bells, 1886:


Childe Hassam - Early Morning on the Avenue in May 1917, 1917:
I REALLY LIKE Childe Hassam's "Flag Paintings", and I made a Google Map of their locations.click here

Winslow Homer - Country School, 1873


Worthington Whittredge - Home by the Sea, 1872:


Jackson Pollock - Phosphorescence, 1947:


I then headed over to Ellie's in Ipswich to drop off some stuff and pick up some food. This is the Ipswich River down the path behind her condo:



I got home at 4, and we headed out at 5:30 to The AMC Four Thousand Footer Club 2018 Annual Meeting, Awards, and Dinner in Exeter, NH:


It was a lot of FUN, and the certificate I got for climbing all 67 4000-footers in New England:

goes very nicely with the one I got last year for doing the 48 4000-footers in New Hampshire:

Hey, maybe this part should have been over on dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com

Thank you God for a GREAT Adventure DAY!

For my listening pleasure, I have been doing Shuffle Songs on my iPod. 17,869 songs!

Day 3: 3-day trip to Cleveland Museum of Art

Monday, April 9, 2018 - Um, just drove home today - no stops. 532 miles, home by 6 for a nice dinner:


No photos, no news - just a blog entry to finish the trip. Thanks for coming along!

Thank you God for another GREAT Adventure with my Wonderful Wife!

(Hey, we did have lunch at Five Guys in Newburgh, NY. That kind-of-counts as an "Adventure" [well, maybe more of a "treat" than an "adventure"].)

For my listening pleasure, I have been doing Shuffle Songs on my iPod. 17,869 songs:

Right now, I LOVE "Shuffle Songs"!! Whereas listening to an entire album of live Van Halen, or Acoustic Guitar, or live Bruce, or Miles Davis jazz or 1965 No. 1 Hits might be a bit too much (especially with Wendy, who doesn't like "messy jazz"), one-cut-at-a-time is JUST PERFECT.

and also Wendy read more of my book out loud:

Day 2: 3-day trip to Cleveland Museum of Art

Sunday, April 8, 2018 - Relatively short travel day today - 353 miles versus 518 miles yesterday:


With a little research I found St. Anne's Anglican Church in Madison, Ohio, with its 10 AM Service! We got there right before the service started:


And had nice chats with Pastor Kelly Irish both before and after the Service.

We got down to The Cleveland Museum of Art a little after 1, in plenty of time for our 2 PM tickets to the exhibition:



I LOVE the central courtyard at The Museum:

All the families come out to play at the museum on Sundays, and there was even a gondola for selfies!


I took photos of 28 pictures in the exhibition - my 5 favorite are:

Canaletto - The Procession on the Feast Day of Saint Roch, about 1735, National Gallery, London:

Michele Marieschi - Doge Pietro Grimani Carried into Piazza San Marco after His Election, about 1741, Galerie G. Sarti, Paris:

Canaletto - The Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day, about 1745, Philadelphia Museum of Art:

Francesco Guardi - The Giovedi Grasso Festival in the Piazzetta, about 1775, Musee du Louvre, Paris:

Francesco Guardi - The Meeting of Pope Pius VI and Doge Paolo Renier at San Giorgio in Alga, 1782, Private collection:

As always, museum exhibition spaces are quite lovely and gracious:



Elsewhere in The Museum, it was WONDERFUL seeing two pictures which had not been On Display the previous 2 times I had been here.
Frederic Church - The Monastery at San Pedro (Our Lady of the Snows), 1879:

John Frederick Kensett - An October Day in the White Mountains, 1854:


As always, it is GREAT catching up with an old friend:
Albert Bierstadt, Yosemite Valley, 1866


Then a little over 2 1/2 hours to get east to Brookville, PA. Nice dinner at the Court House Grill & Pub, then bed at the Super 8.Thank you God for another GREAT Adventure DAY with my Wonderful Wife!

For my listening pleasure, I have been doing Shuffle Songs on my iPod. 17,869 songs:

Right now, I LOVE "Shuffle Songs"!! Whereas listening to an entire album of live Van Halen, or Acoustic Guitar, or live Bruce, or Miles Davis jazz or 1965 No. 1 Hits might be a bit too much (especially with Wendy, who doesn't like "messy jazz"), one-cut-at-a-time is JUST PERFECT.

and also Wendy read more of my book out loud: