Taft Museum of Art, and Cincinnati Art Museum - March 7, 2025

Friday, March 7, 2025 - I'm driving to Logan Airport early this morning - Wendy and Ellie are on a 7:48 AM flight down to The Greenbrier in West Virginia for their "Dorothy Draper Decorating Weekend". I figure I might as well take advantage of the fact that I am at Logan Airport, and go somewhere.

A few weeks ago I did some research: In celebration of J.M.W. Turner's 250th birthday this year, there are a number of Exhibitions around the world. In fact, the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati is hosting their own, with a rare public-display of their 10 Turner watercolors (along with 2 watercolors from the Cincinnati Art Museum):

The flights work out well for a day-trip, so I parked Wendy's car at Central Parking and was on a Delta flight (direct) at 9:30 (which turned out to be 10:30, but these things happen - always allow for a little flexibility). The Delta Terminal ("Terminal A") is very popular on a Friday morning:

And off we go:

From the airport, I caught a cab into Cincinnati, crossing over the Ohio River at 1:42

I was at the Taft Museum of Art shortly thereafter:

The Taft is first-and-formost an Art Museum, and secondarily a "Historic Home". All their art is on the second floor - let's start with the "Turner Watercolors":

"Valley of Chamouni", about 1809 or 1814:

"Lake Nemi", about 1835:

The two from the Cincinnati Art Museum are really great:
"Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, England", about 1834:

"Coblenz", 1842:

Other Beauties at The Taft include:

J.M.W. Turner - "Europa and the Bull", about 1845 oil:

J.M.W. Turner - "The Trout Stream", 1809 oil:

Richard Parkes Bonington - "View near Mantes", 1826 oil:

I love the look of The Taft:

And they have "the Duncanson Murals", painted by Robert S. Duncanson about 1850-52:

After 30 minutes, I was finished (about 1 mile):

I looked at Google Maps, to see how far it was to walk to the Cincinnati Art Museum - it was only 0.9 miles!!! So off I went:

It was pretty cool walking a mile through Cincinnati:

I went past the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park:

I reached the Cincinnati Art Museum at 2:50

Even though I had been to the Cincinnati Art Museum last July (read that blog here), there are 5 paintings I want to see (Claude Lorrain, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frederic Remington, Renoir, and John Singer Sargent). The Museum is a wonderful place to visit:

Today's favorites include: Aert van der Neer - "Winter Landscape", late 1640s oil:

Georgia O'Keeffe - "My Back Yard", 1943 oil:

Frederic Remington - "The Map in the Sand", circa 1905 oil:

John Henry Twachtman - "Venice", 1877, oil:

John Singer Sargent - "A Venetian Woman", 1882 oil:

Amadeo Modigliani - "Max Jacob", 1916 oil:

Robert S. Duncanson - "Pass at Leny", 1867 oil:

And of course it is always nice to end the day with Some Fashion - Givenchy, Hermes:

I finished The Museum at 3:50

My cab arrived only a couple of minutes later. Raymond had given me his card, and I had called him 20 minutes ago ("Support Local Business"):

We were at The Airport in 25 minutes. I got my Boarding Pass, easy through Security, and was in the Food Court at 4:36 (American Mastodon):

I had dinner-at-Wendy's (just can't/don't want to get away from her cooking!), worked on my computer, and we boarded a little late. Pretty quiet for a Friday evening in Cincinnati:

We were going down the runway at 7:06

And I was going through Logan at 9:17

Home-in-bed by 11. WOW - Thank You God for this wonderful art/adventure day!

Music today (only listened in the airports):

Acoustic Jazz Quartet - Acoustic Jazz Quartet, 1999 album, last heard NEVER - Excellent acoustic jazz:

Out at The Cincinnati Airport, 2 guys were sitting behind me, talking "records". One guy said "I saw a mint copy of Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, 1959, but I didn't buy it." So I figured I would just pull it up on my iPod (last heard 7/08/2024):

Past entries of this blog are available on the website https://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/

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/

NYC: The Museum of Modern Art, and The Morgan Library & Museum - Feb 25, 2025

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025 - When I returned from my trip-to-New-York-City 3 weeks ago, I thought about other NYC Museums. I hit the website for The Museum of Modern Art and saw that they have a BUNCH OF PICASSOs "On Display". In fact, one of their rooms on the 5th floor is devoted to cubism (Room 503 A Cubist Salon):

In Room 503 are 41 paintings and 4 "sculptures". Of the paintings, I have only seen 1 Picasso, so that means all the rest ARE NEW, including: 4 George Braque, 2 Robert Delaunay, 3 Juan Gris, 3 Fernand Léger (only 1 I like), 2 Stanton Macdonald-Wright, 2 Kazimir Malevich, 2 Francis Picabia, and 5 Pablo Picasso! A "return trip" to New York City will be SO COOL!

The last (and only) time I visited The Morgan Library & Museum was January 2016, so this is a great opportunity for another visit. I took The Train again, but this time I planned ahead (10 days), and the regular train (not Acela) (out of Westwood/Route 128). "Planning Ahead" saved me a lot of money - $35 down, and $54 back (total $89 verses $355 3 weeks ago), plus $7 parking.

So I was up before 4 AM, and left the house at 5 AM, and was parked by 6 for my 6:15 train - nice views:

We pulled into "Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station" at 10:23

On my way out to 9th Avenue, I saw a new storefront - looks like an F.I.T. Senior Thesis (in a good way):

Cool clouds-and-skyscrapers:

There was not a speck of snow in Manhattan:

I reached The Museum of Modern Art right at 11 - not a very impressive entrance:

After checking-my-bag and scanning-my-ticket, I went up to the top floor (5th). The first thing that caught my eye was Paul Cézanne - "Château Noir", 1903-04 oil. I like his colors:

And then it was time for a-painting-leading-up-to-Cubism: Pablo Picasso - "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", 1907 oil:

Cubism (for me) is painting (on a flat surface) views of an object (buildings, still life, a person) from different vantage points. There are also "Cubism sculptures", but I don't think they capture the essence-of-cubism. On November 28, 2019 I wrote a blog titled "Why do I have photos of 25 Picasso paintings?" (see that blog here). I LOVE the art that Picasso and George Braque (and their contemporaries) created in a VERY SHORT 5-year window (1908-1912). And then everyone just went off-the-rails. Room 503 A Cubist Salon is Very Cool:

Favorites from Room 503 include: Pablo Picasso - "Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier)", 1910 oil:

Georges Braque - "Homage to J. S. Bach", 1911-12 oil:

Pablo Picasso - "The Architect's Table", 1912 oil:

Georges Braque - "Man with a Guitar", 1911-12 oil:

Their early work started with landscapes in Spain, and the south of France: Pablo Picasso - "The Reservoir, Horta de Ebro", 1909 oil:

Georges Braque - "Road near L'Estaque", 1908 oil:

Contemporaries experimented with COLOR: Robert Delaunay - "Windows", 1912 oil:

Francis Picabia - "The Spring", 1912, oil:

It was soon over. By the end of 1912, Picasso and Braque had devolved into line-drawings and collages. One description of a Picasso piece from 1913-14 is "Gesso, sand, pasted paper, oil and charcoal on canvas" - good luck with that!

Beauties elsewhere in MoMA include Vincent van Gogh - "The Starry Night", 1889 oil:

Jackson Pollock - "One: Number 31, 1950", 1950 oil and enamal paint:

Edward Hopper - "Gas", 1940 oil:

Room 515 Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is a room with 2 paintings on 2 flat walls, and a triptych curving around the 3rd wall. "Water Lilies", 1914-26 oil, then the triptych "Water Lilies", 1914-26 oil:

Down on the 3rd Floor they have, credited to Apple, Inc, Steve Jobs, and Jerry Manock - "Macintosh 128k Home Computer", 1983 - SMILE on my face:

Even more impressive, they have running, on a small screen, the original TV ad that ran during The Super Bowl January 22, 1984:

I got some fresh air in their courtyard, with a great view of the "New York City skyline", including the Philip-Johnson-designed AT&T Building (with its granite-not-glass façade and split-pediment “Chippendale” roofline), built when I was in New York in the late-1970s:

It was fun exploring New York City on my way to The Morgan Library & Museum:

An impressive interior and Library:

The Gutenberg Bible is Very Impressive:

I made it back to The Train Station a little past 3 PM - plenty of time (before my 5:07 train) for a cup of coffee and work on my computer:

8.46 miles walking around New York City:

The train got to Route 128 at 9:30; I was home by 10:30, and bed by 11. Thank You God for this wonderful art/adventure day!

Music today:

Van Morrison - Best Of Van Morrison Volume Three (2 cds), 2007 double-album, last heard NEVER - a bunch of wonderful songs:

Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears, 1968 2nd album, last heard 10/12/2016 - I remember buying this album:

Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song, 2008 2nd album, last heard 10/12/2016:

various - WBCN Naked Disc, 1997 compilation live album, last heard 9/16/2016 - the 3 songs I like/have are The Verve Pipe "The Freshmen" (acoustic), Sugar Ray - "Fly" (acoustic), and Oasis - "Morning Glory" (live):

Marc Cohn - The Rainy Season, 1993 2nd album, last heard 11/20/2016:

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert [Disc 1], recorded 1966, released 1998, last heard 2/26/2017 - I really like Disc 1 (acoustic performance). Disc 2 is electric with The Band (then named The Hawks) and they sound pretty ragged, so I didn't keep it.

Needless to say here is my favorite lyric, from "Mr. Tambourine Man":

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Stay Human, 2001 3rd album, last heard 2/23/2017:

Diana Krall - Quiet Nights, 2009 album, last heard 2/26/2017:

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James, 1970 2nd album, last heard 3/02/2017 - I like it so much I listened to it twice:

Jethro Tull - This Was, 1968 debut album, last heard 3/03/2017 - I really like their 1st album!

Past entries of this blog are available on the website https://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/

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/