4 Days in April - Day 1

Friday, April 22, 2022 - Today Wendy starts a 6-day retreat - which gives me a GREAT opportunity for a ROAD TRIP:

1,800 miles in 4 days - 10 museums!

Today I will be hitting 4 museums and covering 635 miles:

The day started with a nice Beauty-for-Breakfast walk on Singing Beach:

and then, of course, Breakfast:

I left right after breakfast (7:30 AM), caught a bit of rush-hour traffic, and had fun passing "The Elevation Sign" on the western Mass Pike at 9:50

I'm "heading west", but not that far west!
The notes I wrote to myself say "smooth blacktop" and "Beautiful Day!"

I reached the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY at 10:40

where I was able to park and see a wonderful Jackson Pollock - "Number 12, 1952":

Interesting space they have here:

56 miles west, and one hour later, I was at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY:

They have an exceptional collection of works by Winslow Homer (7 oils and 13 watercolors), and I have seen 11 of them over the years. A nice permanent viewing space:

Winslow Homer - "Watching the Breakers - A High Sea", 1896 oil:

Winslow Homer - "On the Beach", ca. 1869 oil:

From there it was an hour down the road

to get to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY:

HEY - what's with THE SNOW!

Unfortunately, the space where they display their WONDERFUL Jackson Pollock ("Number 2, 1949" - 3 feet high by 16 feet wide) was covered up for a dance Saturday Night:

It was nice to see their set of Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life"

(another set is at the National Gallery of Art [Washington, D.C.], which I saw in February)

Interesting to compare-and-contrast "The Voyage of Life: Youth".
The first is from the National Gallery of Art (1842, oil):

This second is from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (1840, oil)

I had a bit of difficulty getting back up on the highway:

but 2 hours later I was at the Memorial Art Gallery (Univ. of Rochester), Rochester, NY:

The Memorial Art Gallery is a wonderful place, and I have been able to take pictures of over 30 items over the years. Highlights today include:

Benjamin West - "Study for 'Christ Rejected'", 1811 oil:

Winslow Homer - "The Artist's Studio in an Afternoon Fog", 1894 oil:

Albert Bierstadt - "The Sierras Near Lake Tahoe, California", 1865 oil:

Tiffany Studios - "Sunset Scene", after 1915:

Claude Monet - "Waterloo Bridge, Veiled Sun", 1903 oil:

Francesco Guardi - "San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice", 1700s oil:

Paul Vredeman de Vries - "Interior of a Gothic Church", 1595 oil:

Henry Moore - "Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae", 1968, Bronze:

Then it was time to go, and say goodbye to "The Old Building":

Then 3 hours 15 minutes down the road, to check-in at the Sleep Inn & Suites, Ashtabula, Ohio just as it was getting dark. WOW - Thank You God for this Wonderful Adventure/Art Day

Music for today:

The Beach Boys - Beach Boys Concert, 1964

Tripping Lily - The Couch Sessions LIVE, 2006

Um - kind-of boring acoustic music.

Monica Rizzio - Washashore Cowgirl, 2016 debut album

The Who - Odds & Sods, 1974

A collection of outtakes, demos and lost songs. "Long Live Rock" is EXCELLENT!!!

Thievery Corporation - The Cosmic Game, 2005

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits, 1993

WOW - WHAT AN EXCELLENT DRIVING ALBUM!! Fun listening to "Runnin’ Down a Dream":

It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees went by, me and Del were singin' little Runaway

Traffic - On the Road, 1973 live album

Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, 1990

OK - George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty just having fun, singing new songs they just made up, and hanging out together. It sounds great!

Trik Turner - Trik Turner, 2002

I got this album because their song "Friends and Family" was on the Mr. Deeds film soundtrack - IT IS AN AWESOME SONG. Unfortunately, the rest of the album does not measure up, and will be deleted from my collection.

U2 - B-Sides 1980-1990, 1998 compilation album

This is disc-2 of the 2-cd set.

The Thrills - So Much For The City, 2003 debut album

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/

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (J.M.W. TURNER!!!)

Friday, April 1, 2022 - Wendy has a "Free Day", so we headed into the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA):

In addition to their Wonderful Collection, they are hosting a TURNER EXHIBITION:

[only until July 10, 2022]

We were there for about 1-and-1/2 hours, and of the 127 photos I took:

26 were from the MFA's "Regular non-Turner Collection"

2 Turner oils were from the MFA's "always on display" collection

7 Turner watercolors were from the MFA's "NEVER on display" collection

68 Turners were from the Tate Britain, and

24 Turners were from 16 other separate museums and collections.

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The "Turners-of-wonderfulness" fall into 4 categories:

1 - BLOCKBUSTERS that I have not seen:

"The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory", 1806-08 oil (Tate):

"Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps", 1812 oil (Tate):

"Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth", 1842 oil (Tate):

"The Opening of the Wallhalla, 1842", 1843 oil (Tate):

2 - MFA watercolors that are NEVER on display:

"Ship and Cutter", c. 1825 watercolor (MFA Boston):

"Alpine Valley", 1836 watercolor (MFA Boston):

3 - original watercolours/oils that were used for Engravings:

"Tintagel Castle, Cornwall", 1815 watercolour (MFA Boston):

which was engraved by G. Cooke in 1818 for 'Picturesque Views of the Southern Coast of England':

"Dover Castle from the Sea (for Marine Views)", 1822 watercolour (MFA Boston):

which was engraved (as "Dover") by Willmore in 1851 for 'Large Single Plates. 1838-1854':

"Marine Views" was never completed/published, but a few watercolours resulted in engravings.

"The Shipwreck", 1805 oil (Tate Britain):

which was engraved (as "The Shipwreck") by J. Burnet in 1853 for 'Single Steel Plates. 1853-1874':

"The Temple of Poseidon at Sunium (Cape Colonna)", c. 1834 watercolour (Tate Britain):

which was engraved (as "Temple of Minerva, Cape Colonna") by Willmore in 1854 for 'Single Steel Plates. 1853-1874':

4 - Grouping of same-subject pictures - in this case, Venice:

"Venice: The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore", 1834 oil (Mational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.):

"A Gondola beneath ?the Ponte Ca’ di Dio, Venice, with the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and Campanile of San Marco (St Mark’s) in the Distance", 1840 watercolour (Tate Britain):

"Venice, the Bridge of Sighs", c. 1840 oil (Tate Britain):

"Venice Quay, Ducal Palace", 1844 oil (Tate Britain):

WOW - Thank You God for this Wonderful Art-Adventure Day!

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/