Author: JWF

UK: Town & Country

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This week we’ve seen two exhibits and made a short jaunt to visit friends in Dorset, Wareham to be specific.  We’re a short walk from the V&A Museum so that was an essential as was the featured exhibit at the Royal Academy.   Being in Dorset was being transported to another world, full of history and marked by heaths, ridges, flood plains, and even a castle.  Corfe Castle sitting high on a ridge in Corfe.  All lovely.

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FASHION AT THE V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum has free exhibits and ones for which you must pay.  We decided to take advantage of one of the free ones.  It was a history of British fashion from about 1790 up through the ages to around 1970.  Mostly women’s clothing, but here and there examples of menswear.  It was fun to see the many layers women wore in the early years, so many that you wonder how ordinary women, as opposed to rich ones, could dress themselves.  Here are a few highlights that appealed to me.  You can probably guess which decade the later ones are from.img_1245 img_1246 img_1249

 

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ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

The other exhibit we saw was “Abstract Expressionism” at the Royal Academy of Art, and it was superb!  A very detailed exploration of the movement with lots of attention paid to several of the biggest names, Gorky, Pollock, de Kooning and Rothko.  But also, we were introduced to Clyfford Still, an outsider in the movement whose work was really only seen by the public after his death in 1980.  The museum in Denver dedicated to his work owns ninety-five percent of it.  A westerner from North Dakota, his work shows the influence of those landscapes.  img_1285

I found the exhibit fascinating, appreciated Pollock’s work and impact in a new way, and loved the intimate display of seven of Rothko’s works in a smallish space–strange to say, I know, since the works themselves aren’t small.  But in this hanging, you can immerse yourself in the saturated color.  No photography allowed so I can’t share it with you, but, if you’re in London, do go!

Note:  All photos copyright JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

London Days

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Days two and three in London involved more walking (only one Tube round trip so far), an art exhibit and a long browse in one of my favorite bookshops.

ART

It was Sunday, the last day of the exhibit, and very foggy.  Like us, many like-minded folks streamed toward the Tate Modern for the Georgia O’Keefe retrospective.  For most people, O’Keefe evokes the thought of flower images and New Mexico.  But she was so much more than a flower painter.  img_1226 img_1227This exhibit traces her work from early abstracts through a brief New York phase (who knew she painted skyscrapers?) to summers in Lake George, NY (loved the simple straight lines of a green door and her presentation of foliage), to the landscapes and adobes of the Southwest and her fascination with skulls and bones (which she insisted did not mean death to her).  Even later, she painted several series of patios and flowery trees.  And, yes, the flowers are here; I’m partial to the poppies and, of course, the stunningly beautiful and beautifully composed white jimson weed!

We rented the multi-media guide (audio with photos of the works being discussed) which was excellent.  Commentary by various curators plus the voice of O’Keefe explaining her approach to her art.  I find that having an audio guide, particularly in a crowded exhibit, helps me focus even if it means I don’t stop and peruse every work.  [I saw no one taking photos of the art and so was hesitant to do so, only taking the above two photos.]

We had lunch in the museum restaurant on the 6th floor and were just ahead of the crowd.  Veal milanese with sauerkraut on the side and a very nice panfried hake with sautéed greens were our selections. img_1230 In keeping with the coloring craze, the table was covered with a mat to color and a glass of crayons.  A diversion for the adults as much as the kids.

BOOKS–HATCHARD’S

After lunch, we walked across the Millennium Bridge and along Sermon Lane to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  From there we took the Tube to Tottenham Court Road and then walked through Leicester Square, past Eros on Piccadilly, and onward.  Hatchard’s has been around since 1797 and is a very proper bookshop. It not only has three floors of books, but is carpeted, not blazingly lit, and offers some quiet nooks where one might sit.  Several years ago it was taken over by Waterstone’s and there are now some signs of that with more gifty items and notecards on the main floor which are nice, but, to me, detract from the seriousness of the place.

The extensive fiction section has been re-located to the second floor along with the largest array of crime novels I’ve seen anywhere.  And there’s an inviting sofa under the window on which one may alight.  Small tables with piles of books on them are staged throughout the entire store, each with a titled sign and then a quotation from some author’s work.  Strong suits are certainly British history and biography as well as the aforementioned fiction and the latest new titles.  We easily spent an hour and I left with a short novel by Tessa Hadley and a few more notecards for my collection.

All photos by JWFarrington; header photo is London Millennium Bridge

Loafing in London

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We arrived yesterday morning in London and powered through the day with lots of walking, one nap, and a respectable early bedtime.  Today we increased our step count exploring Knightsbridge (think Harrod’s Food Hall) and spending time in both Hyde Park and Green Park.  The rose garden was mostly over except for one or two last blooms.img_1194 img_1206img_1219

 

img_1216RECENT READING

The Latter Days by Judith Freeman
Continuing my reading of memoirs by writers and reporters, I read this one by novelist Judith Freeman. She was brought up in the Mormon faith, but strained against its strictures and rules from an early age. Certainly by her teen years, she was rebelling internally, being given talks by one of the church elders, and subjected to little chats with her mother who admonished her to behave more like her older sister, Marcia.

Somewhat surprisingly, Freeman married a local boy at seventeen, got pregnant very soon thereafter and surrendered any thought of college for herself. Later she and her husband moved from Utah to Minnesota and grew even farther away from the church.

Freeman’s memoir is straightforward and plain as she recounts a childhood starved of warmth and thin on material goods. I found some of the early chapters slow, but appreciated more her later discussion of the turquoise notebook she found from her high school years and how she was eventually able to quench her thirst for learning and channel her desire to become a writer. She has written several novels based on her Mormonism.

All photos copyright JWFarrington

Cruise Wind-up: A Dose of Fall

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SAGUENAY

After Prince Edward Island, we cruised on to Gaspe (it wasn’t a very nice day and as we were anchored some distance from the town, not docked, we opted to stay on the ship) and then Saguenay River and Quebec City. Saguenay was a pleasant surprise. It’s a very small town, but we received the warmest welcome of anywhere! In fact, the town has won awards three times for providing the friendliest welcome anywhere in the world.  img_1016

Townsfolk dressed in period costumes greeted us with slices of blueberry pie, maple sugar on a stick, and the chance to test our skill by sawing a log (the Chief Penguin performed). This was all right outside the cruise terminal; further on, another ambassador practically embraced us with information and maps. img_1037 We wandered the few streets. Going into St. Alphonse, a beautiful Catholic church where we bemoaned the craziness of the presidential election with the greeters there, and then browsing the craft market before spending an hour using the free and robust wifi in the cruise terminal.

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Quebec City dawned sunny with a blue blue sky and stunning fall colors. It was a crisp morning, only about 50 degrees, and we walked the lower town (some unusual hanging canoe art here) and then took the funicular up the hill to the commanding Chateau Frontenac and a panoramic view.  dsc01043We wandered around taking in the architecture and the beautiful yellow, orange and red trees (I think I overdosed on photographing the trees!) and then walked back down the hill to the ship. We repeated the process after lunch only without the funicular. Sitting near city hall, I was struck by two lifesize straw harvest figures offering up pumpkins.  Overall it was a day with lots of steps—and stairs!  dsc01067

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MONTREAL

We had opted to go on to Montreal by motor coach, on what most of us would call a bus. This wasn’t really necessary (we’ve been to Montreal many times) as the trip was longer than it needed to be and the hotel wasn’t properly equipped to handle this large influx of cruise passengers. Nonetheless, the raw rain we left in Quebec City had cleared and Montreal was mostly sunny and a balmy 75 degrees. The natives had shed their jackets and scarves and were practically skipping about. We spent the afternoon strolling the streets and sitting in the plaza outside the cathedral before savoring a lovely dinner at Toque with our travel companions. The dinner was the right way to cap off a marvelous trip!

All photos copyright JWFarrington (some rights reserved)