Category: Art

Tidy Tidbits: On Wall, Screen & Page

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Last week one of my sisters and her spouse visited and then they departed, and my other sister and husband arrived. Having house guests is always an excuse for fun outings we’ve put off taking. One such outing was exploring the Bradenton Riverwalk (last week’s blog); another was a live concert (more in my next blog); and yet another was a return to the Sarasota Art Museum. And there are always TV programs to watch and a never-ending supply of books to read!

LOOKING

Sarasota Art Museum

This small museum, connected with Ringling College, has lovely gallery space and presents several changing exhibits each year.  We had not visited in a while and took my younger sister and brother-in-law.  

The main exhibit focused on paintings by Judith Linhares and several artist friends of hers.  Linhares is represented in several museums including the Whitney in New York.  Here were large scale female nudes midst colorful quilts along with works featuring tigers and woodpeckers.  Her paintings are vibrant and alive.  

Woman with Woodpecker, 1983

I also enjoyed the small paintings of everyday objects by Mary Jo Vath.  Especially appealing were the fuzzy yellow monkey hat and a bowl of red roses reflected on a tabletop.

Red Reflection by Vath

The museum’s shop is chock full of tempting items from jigsaw puzzles to note cards and jewelry.  They also have a café which we haven’t yet tried.  Worth a visit!

VIEWING

Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (PBS American Masters)

February is Black History Month and appropriately, PBS is offering relevant programming.  We watched this two-hour documentary about Marian Anderson, and it’s superb!  There’s archive footage of Anderson performing in a variety of venues including at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939.  Details of her early life, her travels abroad, and her eventual marriage to architect Orpheus Fisher round out the film.

It’s well known that the DAR denied her the right to sing in Constitution Hall in DC, but probably less so that, in Europe, Anderson suffered none of the indignities of being Black that were widespread at home.  She was an extraordinary woman with a great gift which I appreciated even more so having watched this.

As a staff member in the Penn Libraries, I well recall when Marian’s nephew donated her papers to the collection.   The library is credited in the documentary.

READING

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Michelle Zauner (vogue.com)

H Mart is a Korean supermarket and Zauner’s memoir is about her mother’s illness and subsequent death from cancer.  It’s also pop musician Zauner’s coming of age story as the child of a Korean mother and an American father growing up in Philadelphia and Oregon.  Her mother is demanding and picky, and she and Michelle are often at odds, particularly during Michelle’s teenage years.  Their shared love of food and Korean dishes figures prominently in their relationship, both the dishes her mother cooks for her and those that Michelle makes to tempt her mother when ill.  

Annual trips to Seoul to visit her mother’s family are noteworthy events, and one aunt in particular a real comfort after her mother’s death.  Michelle’s relationship with her father is also a tense one, and she is frequently very critical of him.  Rebellious in trying to find her place, she vacillates between her Korean heritage and her American roots. 

 Zauner writes candidly, in raw detail, about her mother’s decline and death. Some readers may find this more than they want or need to know.  Nonetheless, I recommend this memoir.  (~JWFarrington)

Note: All unattributed photos by JWFarrington. Header photo is of Tigress by Judith Linhares, 2009.

Art & Eating in Manhattan

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CURRENT MUSEUM EXHIBITS

Surrealism Beyond Borders

One of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s current exhibitions brings together Surrealism works of art from around the globe from Egypt to Mexico to Europe.  Most of the artists I did not know.  I also don’t know that I liked these paintings and objects but they are different, often provocative, and sometimes chilling.  

Body Snatcher in Switzerland by Enrico Baj

At least one, Salvador Dali’s black telephone, has some whimsy.

Lobster on Telephone by Salvador Dali, 1938

Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror

The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are jointly presenting the largest retrospective ever of Jasper Johns’ work.  Prolific since the 1950’s, he is 91 and still producing.  There are many rooms of paintings on display at the Whitney.  I agree with the critic who stated that the Whitney might have showed two-thirds of what is here.  

Flag above White with Collage

Lots of American flags in different color combinations; several maps of the U.S., some multi-colored, some black or gray; and various paintings including real objects (tableware, used paint cans) or string and pieces of wood.  I especially liked the colorful version of the United States, the placement of tableware along a frame, and the fifteen monotypes of a Savarin coffee can filled with paint brushes.

Map, 1961
Frame detail, Dancers on a Plane, 1979
Savarin, 1982, one in a series

Seeing gallery after gallery, one appreciates Johns’ recurring themes and recognizes the repetition of certain elements. I wish we’d been in Philadelphia long enough to see the other half of this massive exhibit!

EATING AROUND

Marwin Thai

A nice addition to the Upper East Side, Marwin has about five tables and offers on site or takeout dining for lunch and dinner.  We enjoyed a satisfying and modestly priced meal from the special lunch menu.  Between us, we had Thai dumplings and spring rolls to start.  The Chief Penguin tried pad Thai while I sampled the green curry with chicken.  His pad Thai was good and my curry very satisfying.  It’s a brothier curry with less coconut milk and lots of green peppers, bamboo shoots and basil.  And since Happy Hour runs from 11:30 to 7:00 pm, we decided on beer—Singha and Stella d’Artois—$5.00 apiece.  

Canyon Road

Occasionally, I have a yen for some good Mexican food and prefer to patronize a restaurant that isn’t part of a chain.  Canyon Road on the Upper East Side fit the bill for a recent casual dinner.  It’s decorated with colorful square flags and strings of little white lights and has a comfortable feel.  

We ordered the requisite original margaritas and the house guacamole.  Both were very good, and the guacamole had a lively kick.  I tried the chicken tacos (three small corn tortillas on a board and plenty of food).  The Chief Penguin, who’s a fan of quesadillas, had the shrimp and jalapeno one which came with salsa, sour cream, and a bit of guacamole.  We went early so there were only a few other diners.  Service was excellent.  It’s now on our yes, return list.

Note: All photos by JWFarrington. Header images is Squash with Pan de Muerto by Maria Izyquierdo, 1947.

Maine Days: Wyeths & Lawyers

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FOR WYETH LOVERS

Farnsworth Art Museum

Along with the the Brandywine River Museum outside Philadelphia, the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland has one of the largest collection of works by the Wyeth family.  Here are works by Andrew Wyeth of Cristina’s World fame, by his son Jamie Wyeth, by Andrew’s father, N. C. Wyeth, and some by other Wyeth relatives.  This year’s featured exhibit is works from Betsy Wyeth’s estate, a gift to the museum.  Betsy, wife of Andrew, died in 2020 at the age of 98.

Islander by Jamie Wyeth
Fisherman’s Family by N. C. Wyeth
Wicker by Jamie Wyeth

I was also struck by a couple of works in their permanent Maine collection, a striking woman in white and a still life of intense golden flowers.

Kym in White by Alex Katz
Orange Prince by Beverly Hallam

Another highlight for me this year was the Women of Vision exhibit.  It focuses on thirteen women who are either artists or patrons of the art whose work and/or philanthropy has ties to Maine.  Some are historical figures like Edna St. Vincent Millay, one was a Passamaquoddy basket weaver, while others like photographer and gardener Cig Harvey are actively working.  I was particularly struck by a charming strawberry basket.

By Molly Neptune Parker

PERFECT FOR AN AIRPLANE FLIGHT

A Good Mother by Lara Bazelon

Author Bazelon is a law professor who also spent seven years as a federal public defender in Los Angeles.  She knows how the federal court system works and has penned a fascinating and gripping courtroom drama set in LA.  This is her first novel.

Lead defense lawyer Abby Rosenberg is a bit of a hot shot who utilizes bold and sometimes questionable techniques to win her cases.  She is also a new mother still on maternity leave.  Her client, Luz Rivera Hollis, is a nineteen-year-old accused of murdering her soldier husband at an army base in Germany.  She too is a new mother to infant Cristina.  Abby’s co-counsel, Will Ellet, is young, ambitious, and unsettled in his marriage.  You may wonder about the ethics and behaviors of these lawyers, but their actions make for a good story!  What exactly constitutes being a good mother?

Note: Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is cone flowers at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Maine Time: Trolls & More

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TROLLS IN THE GARDEN

We made the first of this year’s visits to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens yesterday.  It was lovely and mostly sunny.  We were impressed with some new annuals and the expansion of beds near the entry bridge.  These gardens get better every year!

Lisianthus in purple
Pink member of the canna family

This year’s highlight is the presence of some gigantic trolls. These wooden sculptures are the work of Danish artist Thomas Dambo.   They were built on site over several months by the artist with assistance from garden staff and more than 150 volunteers.  Dambo has been working with wood since early childhood, and his trolls are found around the world.  

Soren Troll by Thomas Dambo

I was told that these five trolls will remain in place until they deteriorate and fall apart, estimated to be about five years, longer if they receive some maintenance.  They are impressive works!  We tramped around and found two of them, Soren and Birk.

RECENT READING

Baghdad 2002

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson

I must confess to buying this paperback book partly because of its very attractive apricot-colored cover.  It’s a novel set in Iraq in 2002 when Sadam Hussein was ruling the country.  The author is a former international correspondent who spent a year living under that regime.  Her depictions of the city and the environment are picturesque and chilling.  

Wilkinson has created three female characters, one based to some extent on her own experiences.  Ally Wilson is the wife of the Australian ambassador, Huda is a village girl who has advanced in life to working at the Australian embassy, but also acting as an informant for the government.  Rania, born rich and privileged, has fallen on hard times; she and Huda were close friends as children.  How these three women come to interact with one another and how Huda and Rania’s concern for their teenage children makes them compatriots is the heart of the novel.  

I found the descriptions of daily life fascinating, but noticed a lack of tension in the narrative until about the last third of the book.  Nonetheless, it’s worth reading about Bagdad during this brutal time.  (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING—BRITISH CRIME

Unforgotten (Season 4, PBS Masterpiece)

Cassie and Sunny (radiottimes.com)

Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart and Detective Sunny Kahn are partners in solving cold case crimes. Bodies turn up years later in odd places, in this season, a freezer.  This duo must identify the victim and then excavate his or her past to determine how and why the individual died.  Was it an accident or murder?  And who were the principals in this person’s life and what role did they play in the demise?  One incident and one quick decision decades ago reverberated through the lives of four people.  

From the haunting and ethereal opening song, “All we do is hide away,” to the detailed interviews with possible suspects, each season is gripping drama. This season is exceptionally so.  Nicola Walker as the lead (familiar to some viewers from her role in Last Tango in Halifax) is superb, as is Sanjeev Bhaska as Sunny. This pair like and care for each other as friends as well as colleagues. Their mutual respect is echoed in the respect shown to victims, suspects, and family members.  Complex, involved, and compelling—highly recommended!

Note: All garden photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).