Gallivanting Grandma

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I have loved Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings for a very long time.  My grandmother had a framed print of The Sunflowers hanging in her house ever since I could remember.  When I was a kid, it had never occurred to me that it was a famous painting. I just knew that I liked the pretty painting with the sunny flowers in a vase.  When I was older and encountered the original in the Metropolitan Museum, I felt like I was greeting an old friend.  There were more old friends and new acquaintances when Jeff and I visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Holland in July 2009.

Entrance to Philadelphia Museum of Art

In the mid-1970s there was a fabulous retrospective exhibit of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  I packed up my two young sons, we took the long subway ride to Brooklyn, and we spent an enjoyable day at the museum.  It was then that I fell in love with Van Gogh’s beautiful glowing paintings. The beams of light on the paintings made the colors more vibrant and luminous.  The golden butter-yellow wheat fields burst off the canvases. The bright red poppies popped out against the cool green grasses and almost swayed in unfelt breezes. The blues and greens and aquamarines of uniforms or sky or wallpaper glowed in each painting. One painting was more indescribably beautiful than the next.  Vincent Van Gogh painted a legacy of natural beauty for all of us to enjoy.

American Paintings

A few years ago, during a trip through Provence, Jeff and I happened to wander into the courtyard of the hospital in Arles where Van Gogh spent some time.  We drove through the beautiful countryside around Arles and St. Remy and saw the yellow wheat fields and silvery green olive orchards similar to those in Van Gogh’s paintings.  We saw the places that Van Gogh had visited and painted: the Cafe Terrace, the Langlois Bridge, and the orchards of olives and almond trees.  It was easy to see why Van Gogh became excited and came alive and captured the light of southern France in his paintings.

Japanese Ceremonial Teahouse

Last night, we spent a restful night at the Sofitel in downtown Philly; it was a modern comfortable room.  Our timed tickets for the Van Gogh exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art were for 12:30 PM.  We checked out of the hotel and drove to the museum for early coffee when the museum opened.  We wanted to visit several parts of the museum before seeing Van Gogh Up Close. We climbed the stairs to the second floor toward the museum’s Asian Art section. It did not disappoint! They have a fabulous collection of Asian art from several different countries.

Statue of Buddha

We walked into the Pillared Temple Hall which is a reconstructed 16th century temple hall made of 14 hugh elaborately carved granite pillars originally located in the south Indian city of Madural.  It was quite impressive! The next room was the Reception Hall From a Nobleman’s Palace from 1600s Beijing.  This was another beautiful reconstructed room with gorgeous Chinese rosewood furniture.  Part of the Chinese Imperial Collection was displayed in some of the cases.

Scholar’s Study

At the end of the Asian wing there was a reproduced Japanese Ceremonial Teahouse which was built in 1917. On one side there was an exhibit called A Taste For Tea in Japan. There were descriptions of the processes of tea ceremonies and the accouterments associated with each step. I liked the idea of “The tea ceremony offers a temporary respite from the complexities of daily life”. On the other side of the teahouse was a beautiful room from a Chinese Scholar’s house.  The Asian wing did not have many visitors, so it was pleasant walking around and viewing the incredibly detailed works of art.

The Great Stair Hall

We had a little time to see some of the American art on the first floor.  We had recently seen the hugh new American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, so we approached carefully to avoid comparisons. This exhibit was very good because it was small scale and included newer “folk art” pieces as well as regional art from Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania. There were Pennsylvania chests, Philadelphia highboys and paintings, furniture, silver, glass, and ceramics from the 18th & 19th centuries. There was a nice collection of Rookwood pottery and some lovely Tiffany Studios pieces.

A Corner in South Philadelphia

About 12:15 we joined the long line near the entrance to the Van Gogh exhibit. Twenty minutes later we were able to pass though the gates to enjoy some time with Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings. Of course there was no photography allowed in the special exhibit. Anyway, photographs or reproductions never capture the beauty of the colors of his paintings.

It was a rather large exhibit of about 45 paintings mainly from the last few years of Van Gogh’s life. The paintings were grouped according to several themes: “Blades of Grass,” “High Horizons,” and “Tree Trunks and Undergrowth”. We followed Van Gogh across different terrains as he explored a variety of viewpoints and the viewing angles that he saw. One painting that I had not seen before was entitled, Rain. It was Van Gogh’s fields blurred by diagonal lines of white and grays which simulated a heavy rainstorm. The entire exhibit was wonderful.

Pat’s King of Steaks

Geno’s Steaks

We were planning to drive home this afternoon, after lunch. I joked with Jeff that I came to Philadelphia for the Van Gogh exhibit and he came for the Philly Cheese Steaks! So we were obliged to go to “South Philly” for lunch. We drove to the famous corners of Philly Cheese Steak fame to “Pat’s King of Steaks” and “Geno’s Steaks”.  The two establishments are on triangular corners across the street from each other. We found parking easily and Jeff chose to try Pat’s steak sandwich with provolone cheese rather than the traditional “Cheese Whiz”.

Instructions at Pat’s

After one hearty sandwich, Jeff couldn’t eat another sandwich, so he is planning to return soon to try Geno’s steak sandwich. Next month, the Barnes Foundation opens in their new building with the largest collection of French Impressionist Art in the United States.  We’ll return to Philadelphia: me for the art; and Jeff for the Philly Cheese Steak!  :-)

South Philly Mailbox

Wall Near Pat’s & Geno’s

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Our adventure this week was an over-night in Philadelphia, PA.  A while ago, I read about a special exhibit of Van Gogh paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art this winter called Van Gogh Up Close and thought it would be fun to see the exhibit and visit the ‘City of Brotherly Love’. The first time I went to “Philly” was with two young sons eager to learn about the early history of our country.  It must have been in the late 1970s.  At that time, we explored the historic district and expressed disappointment that “The Bell” was so small and left outside in the elements. Today the historic district has expanded and modernized and the Liberty Bell has its own indoor museum.  We didn’t plan to visit any of the historical tourist sights during this trip.

Highway Into Philadelphia

We left for Philadelphia this morning and had a pleasant three hour drive mostly on the Garden State Parkway.  As we approached the city, we saw the tall skyline of new modern-glass and steel buildings.  We had booked a room at the Sofitel because it was well located in the downtown center of the city.  We checked in and, after a bit of a rest, we went out to explore the immediate neighborhood around the hotel.  The section was called Rittenhouse because of a lovely park on the other side of Walnut Street. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and spring flowers were in full scented bloom. The trees had bright celery-green spring leaves and the birds in the park were happily chirping.

Rittenhouse Square

It was good to stretch our legs after a long car ride and we walked along Walnut Street admiring the diversity of architectural styles. In the middle of the traffic grid is the huge Philadelphia City Hall which was built about 1900. It is literally a traffic-stopping structure designed in Second French Empire style and built on the former site of a colonial public square. The architectural style is similar to the ornate Opera Garnier and the Louvre Palace wings in Paris. An interesting bit of trivia is that this City Hall building is currently the second tallest masonry building in the world.  This means that it is supported by granite and brick rather than steel.

Local Eatery

As we walked along Walnut Street, we passed neoclassical designed buildings complete with ornate columns, as well as high Victorian architecture with gingerbread metal trim.  Add to the mix a little Art Deco, a sprinkling of Beaux Arts, and several modern glass skyscrapers.  We explored the narrow tree-lined streets near Rittenhouse Square to discover that many of the buildings were traditional brownstones and red-brick Federalist style townhouses of the early 1800s. Downtown Philadelphia seemed like an architectural stroll through time and history.

Shoppe Window

After a break at Capogiro Gelato Artisans, we walked to the Rosenbach Museum & Library at 2008-2010 Delancey Place.  The Rosenbach brothers bought one of the 19th Century townhouses to keep their collections of rare books, manuscripts, and antiques. Dr. Abraham Rosenbach, who was a scholar and the preeminent rare book dealer of his day, helped to create some of the most famous libraries in the U.S. for his wealthy clients. A sample of those libraries are: the Morgan Library in NYC, the Widener Library at Harvard University, the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, CA., and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washing, DC. Older brother, Philip Rosenbach was an antiques dealer and collector. The house at 2010 Delancey Place is furnished with Philip’s treasures and shows how the brothers lived from 1926-1952 among the 18th century antiques with names such as Hepplewhite and Chippendale.

Typical Neighborhood

Visitors are limited to explore only part of the first floor and two rooms on the second floor unescorted.  A one hour tour of both houses is included in the admission fee of $10 adults/$8 seniors and is the only way to see the private rooms and libraries. After we paid our admission fee, we were greeted by a volunteer docent, Susan Sklaroff. We were the only guests this afternoon and as a result, we had a private tour of the houses. We were led through security-locked doors and into a reception room. Susan proceeded to tell us about the history of the Rosenbach family, the houses, their relationships, their collections, libraries, and how the family history was woven into the tapestry of Philadelphia history.  These were amazing multi-faceted stories and histories which made visiting this museum such a special experience.

Special Gelato Flavors

After we passed a Samuel Yellin iron gate in the entry hall, we entered the parlor.  This was an elegant sitting room with a beautiful Philadelphia highboy near the window and Gratz family portraits on the walls. Susan told us about the Gratz family and their role in early colonial Philadelphia history. The patriarch of the family, Michael Gratz, helped to build the first Synagogue in Philadelphia in 1782.  One of his daughters, Rebecca Gratz, founded the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum in 1815 and started a Hebrew Sunday-school run only by women in 1819.  Our tour guide, Susan Sklaroff, became so interested in the history of Rebecca Gratz that Susan writes a blog about Rebecca.  It is:  http://rebeccagratz.blogspot.com

In brief, the Rosenbach brothers lived very well and my description of the house and beautiful collections could not do justice to the elegant furnishings.  The museum’s website and wikipedia only give you a peek at the incredible facilities.  There was beautiful English silver, part of a miniature portrait collection, paintings, porcelain, stature, and glass.  The upstairs rooms house part of Dr. Rosenbach’s library.  It was written that there are 130,00 books and manuscripts in the collection.  Susan said that most of the rare books are stored within the building’s specially made “stacks”.  The Rosenbach Museum & Library website lists many of the rare books, letters, and papers.  We saw: Lewis Caroll’s own copy of Alice in Wonderland, Robert Burns’ letters, part of the Charles Dickens collection, James Joyce’s handwritten manuscript of Ulysses, Benjamin Franklin’s first Poor Richard’s Almanac, manuscripts by Shelley, Keats, Oscar Wilde, Conan Doyle, Joseph Conrad, Walter Scott, Wordsworth, and Bram Stoker’s handwritten notes for Dracula, etc., etc., etc…..

Moka? or  Coconut?  or  Burnt Sugar?

There is also a recreation of Marianne Moore’s Greenwich Village NY living room on the top floor.  Moore’s complete library is part of the Rosenbach collection, which includes books by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop.  Finally, the author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak, who is the author of Where the Wild Things Are, chose the Rosenback Museum to be the repository for his works in 1968. 10,000 works of art, illustrations, drawings, manuscripts, and books by Sendak are housed in the Rosenbach Museum.  These are on display in continually rotating exhibits of Sendak’s works. During this visit, two rooms were devoted to Maurice Sendak’s illustrations for the 2003 publication of Brundibar. What an amazing jewel of a museum!  I look forward to visiting again when we return to Philadelphia.

Waiting For Gelato

After so much culture and exposure to so many jaw-dropping books, we worked up an appetite.  Jeff consulted his Zagat app and found a small Italian restaurant close by. Viola was just a few blocks away from the museum on a pretty little street off Walnut Street.  Up a few steps; pleasant small room; attentive young Italian waiters; limited menu; BYOB.  Add to the list: a delicious southern Italian dinner! Jeff had veal and I had a fantastic chicken dish with mushrooms, potatoes, and sugar-snap peas.  It was a perfect end to a good day!

(note: iPhone photos)