On a hazy, hot and humid Sunday in August I eschewed my Reds-Braves tickets and treated My Dear Elderly Mother to an afternoon touring the "Cincinnati Silver" exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. I consider it my solemn duty to share with you, here, a small selection of the photos from our visit as a means to provide you with some much-needed sophistication and refinement.
Outside the museum is a sculpture of our 44th President of the United States of America. My Dear Elderly Mother insists it's Pinocchio. I say art is open to expansive interpretation.
Speaking of expansive interpretation, the public is expressly prohibited from photographing some of the artwork/exhibits at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Other objet d'art is without similar proscription. I shall leave it to my loyal readers to determine how expansive my interpretation of these parameters may or may not have been.
Upon entering the galleries, I stumbled across this gem (below):
Vincent Van Gogh's Undergrowth with Two Figures (1890). It took My Dear Elderly Mother a mere 82 years to see a Van Gogh. And a Monet. And a Matisse. And a Picasso. None of which were captured with my Android Galaxy S9000 but which we enjoyed to greater (Monet) and lesser (Picasso) degrees.
The elevator to the second floor deposited us into an alcove which featured assorted paintings of Italia.
The oil-on-canvas portrait you see above is of a Venetian femmina adulta. The magnitude of the painting is imposing yet the subject itself is alluring. You'll have to visit the museum yourself for more specific details. Around the corner we found the reason for our own visit, the "Cincinnati Silver" exhibit:
The pieces on display were mostly of the household variety; cutlery/utensils, coffee and tea pots, service sets, cups and mugs, platters, etc. Also found in the exhibit was the occasional trophy and/or presentation piece. My favorites were the various, yet precious, sugar shovels and ice cream spoons.
It was difficult to sneak snap photos that didn't include other patrons. I've done my best, here for today's posting, to prevent your senses from being offended by their existence presence.
Having spent an hour or more with the silver exhibit, I then escorted My Dear Elderly Mother around more - but not all - of the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The crispness of detail found in the portrait at left (above) was stunning. I will leave further description as your just reward for hunting it down in the galleries.
Your 800-inch plasma-ray television has nothing on this behemoth, second from left; Jean-Baptiste-Camille-Could-This-Paragraph-Have-Any-More-Hyphens Corot's Don Quixote. Corot tossed in a figure of Sancho Panza for good measure.
Don't tell The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm, but the Cincinnati Art Museum is the place to go in order to view the most rare specimens of Rookwood Pottery.
This collection, above, spans simply the first four years of production from Rookwood. It is older and more rare than even Joe Joe himself! Elsewhere in the museum you will find a Great Wall of China Rookwood Pottery:
It took two photos in order to fully show you this display case of Rookwood Pottery. Yes, I am certain the camera for my Android Galaxy S9000 has a panoramic mode. I'll figure it out someday. Remember, I was attempting to be discreet with my photography!
Random gallery photo!
As we circulated through the museum, we soon discovered that we were following an approximately chronological progression. We very much enjoyed the older paintings; the evident skill of the artists, their unique visions, their various subject matter. I like to spend time observing the individual brush strokes and evaluating the artist's chosen color palette. These are things I have learned from the master, Bob Ross. We did not find the so-called Modern Art to our liking.
Running short of time and energy, we finished with a whirlwind tour of the furniture on exhibit; much of it seemingly from former homes of extended Longworth family.
Desk!
Bedroom suite!
The wood carving on the head- and foot board of the bed was astonishing.
All manner of antiquities (below) were on exhibit!
One thing that is certain about the antiquities, they know how to bake a scrumptious birthday cake!
The Disney XD Girls inform me that the photo below is referred to in popular culture as a "mirror selfie." Who knew?
Afterward we met up with Lou, Alison and The Disney XD Girls for a modest dinner followed by Graeter's. They were out of town and missed my birthday so this get-together served as a birthday party of sorts. Photos were taken by my youngest niece. I will probably never see those photos. I think some of them may have been hilarious.
No kidding; upon return to The Ranch at the end of the evening, I switched on my 800-inch plasma-death-ray television and this very scene unfolded before my weary eyes, BBC America having been dialed up for the preceding night's Doctor Who series 8 premiere.
Roll the credits!
Random gallery photo!
As we circulated through the museum, we soon discovered that we were following an approximately chronological progression. We very much enjoyed the older paintings; the evident skill of the artists, their unique visions, their various subject matter. I like to spend time observing the individual brush strokes and evaluating the artist's chosen color palette. These are things I have learned from the master, Bob Ross. We did not find the so-called Modern Art to our liking.
Running short of time and energy, we finished with a whirlwind tour of the furniture on exhibit; much of it seemingly from former homes of extended Longworth family.
Desk!
Bedroom suite!
The wood carving on the head- and foot board of the bed was astonishing.
All manner of antiquities (below) were on exhibit!
One thing that is certain about the antiquities, they know how to bake a scrumptious birthday cake!
The Disney XD Girls inform me that the photo below is referred to in popular culture as a "mirror selfie." Who knew?
Afterward we met up with Lou, Alison and The Disney XD Girls for a modest dinner followed by Graeter's. They were out of town and missed my birthday so this get-together served as a birthday party of sorts. Photos were taken by my youngest niece. I will probably never see those photos. I think some of them may have been hilarious.
No kidding; upon return to The Ranch at the end of the evening, I switched on my 800-inch plasma-death-ray television and this very scene unfolded before my weary eyes, BBC America having been dialed up for the preceding night's Doctor Who series 8 premiere.
Roll the credits!
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