Fun Photos and Great Paintings

The trip to Ft. Worth with three of my art girls was great. The weather was perfect if not a bit warm. The Impressionist exhibit at the Kimbell Museum was quite enjoyable. There was something like 92 paintings in the collection from the Chicago Art Institute – all Impressionists works – all favorites - Renior, Degas, Gauguin, C'ezanne, Van Gogh, Pissarro, and of course Claude Monet to name a few. Monet was probably everyone’s favorite because of his versatility of style and color. I love Renior – his subjects, his color, his softness, etc. Degas and his dancer paintings are always fun especially the pastels. I find them quite inspirational.

We started our tour through the exhibit about 11 AM with instructions to meet at 12:30. Then we each went off on our own with our audio players to take in the show at our leisure. It was a bit crowded due to some school kids being there, but it was still good. I found myself standing in front of some paintings trying to absorb the painting, the color, the brush stroke, and the fact that some very famous artist painted that very painting – that it probably hung in some very famous places. It was an overwhelming feeling – one that I can’t quite explain - one that I can’t quite take with me when I go. I had that same feeling standing in the Coliseum in Rome, but multiplied about ten times. I like to get up close and personal with the paintings. Then I like to stand back in the middle of the room to view them, and absorb their magic. Of course, the girls finished viewing the show and were waiting on me. I had them walk back through the show with me to discuss our thoughts and opinions. Truthfully, I just hated to leave. One of the most impressive pieces was Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day painting. It was huge. But the fact that he also did a painting of a Calf Head and Ox Tongue from a butcher shop was very interesting. Ashley liked Van Gogh’s bedroom painting. Emily liked Jongkind’s Entrance to Port Honfleur – she likes boat paintings. None of us liked the Gauguin paintings all that well or the Manet – to dark. My favorite may have been Morisot’s Woman at Her Toilette. But the Monet’s – what can I say – he was just so prolific. He did so many studies of the same things. His paintings are just so awesome.

The collectors of these paintings made for some interesting reading – especially Bertha Honor'e Palmer, wife of Chicago tycoon, Potter Palmer, who built the Palmer House Hotel. Read about the Palmers in Wiki – well worth your time. My grandfather, who was a chef/caterer, worked in the Palmer House as a young man. Some day I would like to visit Chicago and stay at the Palmer.

Thanks to Ashley’s independent nature, we opted to skip the buffet at the museum and go to Joe T Garcia’s in the Stockyards. I guess quiche and soup did not sound as wonderful as Mexican food on a beautiful patio. We then walked through the Stockyards going in and out the tourist shops. The girls are always lots of fun. Here they are on some quarter horses. We tried on some expensive clothes – furs to be exact. Trying on boots may have been the best. Ashley looked pretty good in the red patent leather boots.

We made it home before dark, but I was worn out. Now it is back to rather mundane things like shopping at Wal-Mart. If I could just absorb that awe feeling of those famous paintings to carry with me day to day…