Art in the City

Song - Are You in the Mood by Django Reinhardt covered by Zak Martel

Yesterday, Mr. B and I drove into the City to see the James Tissot exhibit "Fashion & Faith" at the Legion of Honor.  It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the ocean, the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown from the knoll in front of the museum. 

Above is an early self portrait of the artist and is painted rather loosely and impressionistic. Tissot was a French painter and lived in France and London from 1836 - 1902.

 

This is a painting of his muse - Kathleen Newton who lived with him from 1875 until her untimely death from TB in 1892. And while his "style" is not to my taste, I found the show delightful. It was interesting to see how he rendered people in work and play. 

The young girl playing croquet was one of my favorites but unfortunately I had left my "real" camera at home so all of these shots were from my cell phone so they are not very good quality.

Tissot rendered fabric with great care as he was well acquainted with drapes and folds coming from a father who was a successful drapery merchant and a mother who designed hats.
As a painter, I would go crazy rendering all of the pinstripes on this woman's gown!!!  But it was beautiful to look at.

 Afterwards we headed upstairs to the Legion's regular exhibit and I found some of my old favorites like "The Bath" above by Jean-Leon Gerome

And "The Absinthe Drinkers" by  Jean-Francois Raffaelli

 "Shelter on Montmartre" by Vincent van Gogh

 "Sewing Party at Loctudy" by Edouard Vuillard

 And after all of that eye candy we went around the corner for some dim sum that was excellent!

After the busyness of the holidays, it was nice to spend some quiet time together on a beautiful day!

"Part of the secret of a success in life is eating what you like 

and let the food fight it out inside."

--Mark Twain

Raining in Paris - Day 22

Song - Wish You Were Here by David Gilmour


This post is taken from my French travel journal and my trip through Southern France in April 2018.  For some reason my iPad and Blog were not communicating at the time so I was unable to write any posts. At home I am able to blog "post" travel! Thanks for joining me on the journey!

It was threatening to rain today so I figured that it would be a great day to spend indoors at the Musee d'Orsay but so did a thousand other people.......and this was the "no wait" line for those who already had a museum pass!

But once inside I was rewarded with beautiful art to warm my soul and stimulate my creative juices.....this is a detail from Le Pont d'Argenteuil by Monet.

Mary Cassatt's "Jeune femme cousant dans un jardin"....sigh....

And detail from Monet's "En norvegienne, dit aussi La Barque a Giverney".....enjoying the yummy colors in the sunshine!

Renoir's painting of "Jeune femme a la voilette".....just look at the softness of the veil covering her face.....

Close detail from Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Mademoiselle Gachet dans son jardin a Auvers-sur-Oise"

There is nothing like seeing the real deal - the colors and the brush strokes - there is energy here!

 "Les Roulettes, campement de bohemiens aux environs d 'Arles" also by Van Gogh

And beautiful detail from Edouard Vuillard's  "Le dejeuner en famille"

Garish and amazing quick gesture drawing by Toulouse-Lautrec painted on pieced canvases - once again you can just feel the energy radiating off the canvas.

And I will leave you with a sweet intimate moment in a detail from "Le bal de l'Opera" by Henri Gervex.

In the evening we dined at Le Recamier and enjoyed the best of souffles as well as fun waiters! Mr. B's first time there.....can you tell that he loved it?

"Art enables us to find ourselves 

and lose ourselves at the same time."  

--Thomas Merton

PS - My apologies for misquoting John Lennon on yesterdays quote: 
It should of read "Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars and the sun."
Corrected by my brilliant and sweet husband Mr. B!

Impressions of the Day

Song - Con te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli

Last Sunday Mr. B and I went to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco to see the Intimate Impressionism show from the National Gallery, Washington DC which they are remodeling.

Not Washington....but the Gallery.

Just thought I might have confused you there......

It was lovely and there were many great pieces but I did have a few favorites.

There are several pieces that I wanted to share with you....

The Artist's Sister at a Window by Berthe Morisot

The Artists Paint Box and Moss Roses by Edouard Vuillard

Sweeet!

Argenteuil by Claude Monet

Detail of Argenteuil 

Just look at those yummmmy colors!

Table Set in a Garden by Pierre Bonnard

I can just see myself sitting in that garden having a cup of tea.

The last two are probably my favorites because they are just so painterly!

Then Mr. B took me for coffee and cheesecake at Caffe Trieste because I have been commissioned to do a painting of the little coffee house and I needed some reference material.

And then I took Mr. B across the street to......

Church !

This is actually the Nuova Porziuncola at the National Shrine of Saint Francis and is a scaled replica of St. Francis's Porziuncola in Assisi, Italy.

As we were driving home, we both felt like we had a mini European vacation!

Without Chevy Chase!!!

"For it is in giving that we receive." --St. Francis of Assisi