YCGL - Friday, October 21, 2022 - Boston Museum of Fine Arts

I set Friday aside to go to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  I think it's my third time going, but its been over 10 years since our last visit.  All I really remember is that it is huge, full and I wanted to come back.  It was super easy to get to.  The bus stop for #87 is across the street from Erik's house and under the railroad track.  It might be 300 feet.  From the bus, it was an easy transfer to the E line subway which has a stop in front of the museum.  

It takes a while to orientate yourself in the museum.  The map they provide shows the rooms, but only by room number and not what is in it.  You figure out that the southeast corner wing is the ancient world and the north central galleries are the European art.  

I have been fascinated by Egyptology since we had a six week unit on it in sixth grade.  It may have been longer because my block teacher, Mrs. Hirsh, had a boarder who was an Egyptian importer, and she was fascinated.  I took a Senior level Anthropology course on Egyptian Hieroglyphics at Boulder.  I spent 10 weeks working and traveling in Egypt when I was working on my PhD, and I used to give a talk to Mrs. Castor's sixth grade world history class about Egypt.  So, the first item you walk into in the Ancient World section is a statue of  the Pharaoh Menkaura (2490-2472 BC).  His is the smallest pyramid at Giza.  That has always been my favorite, I think because it still has the granite cap on the top.  On the back wall is a picture of that pyramid taken across the Harvard/Boston Museum excavations in 1909.  

(You may have noticed that the first picture in a blog is used as the banner on the menu.  I originally had the statue as the first picture, but I thought the detail of the middle region was a little too explicit.  :) )

Right around the corner of the next hallway was this Beadnet Dress.  It is from the time of Pharoah Khufu who built the first and largest pyramid.  I was struck by its simple yet complex beauty, the same feeling I have for all of the Egyptian art I have seen over the years.  

Unfortunately, this room and hallway were all I saw of this whole wing because I had a timed entry to the display of the Obama portraits commissioned for the National Portrait Museum in Washington.  

I have written before about my love of musical instruments, especially strung instruments from the late Renaissance to the Baroque period (1550 to 1725), i.e., lutes, theorbos, and guitars.  

The rosette is tiered like a birthday cake.  It is carved from wood and parchment paper.  There are still specialists who make these for modern instruments.  They take about a week to construct and are a bit pricey!

Another, from Spain about the same time period.

Next I went to another timed exhibit on the history and photojournalism of Life Magazine.  Subjects would be presented to the editorial staff of the magazine, who would select an appropriate photographer who would lead a 4 to 6 person team. One person would take notes of each photograph while researchers would put together a story.  That would go to a section editor who would select, modify or reject a project.  It would then go to layout to make up the magazine.  The the galleys would be sent to the printer who had rows of printing presses to make the five million plus copies to be sent by mail every week.  I spent an hour and a half there.  

I was ready for some lunch by then, but the cafe closed for an evening event as I was walking to the hostess' desk.  So I found a quick, not necessarily healthy snack, and went to the European art section.  I started with the Impressionists and worked backwards.  There were several Van Gogh's  in a row.  It was interesting to compare.  I love the series of six or seven portraits of the postman of the beard, of course, but because to me, he looks more Norwegian than French.  But what I noticed was that most of the painting is flat, right against the canvas, except for the beard and hands, which have the the thick, bold colors that Van Gogh is known for.

The next painting was done a year later.  Here you can see the brush and pallet strokes more characteristic of what we think of as Van Gogh.  

The third painting was a year later and the year he died, 1890.  This really has the depth of paint and abstractness that we associate with Van Gogh.

I don't know if that observation is general for his works or just this particular grouping, but it was an interesting observation.  And, the paintings are exposed.  You literally could breath on the paint if you were stupid enough to do it.  So often now, there are barracades up to keep you from getting too close.

A nice Edvard Munch thrown in.

A final pairing, the Rouen Cathedral by Monet.  He made more than 30 paintings of the cathedral between 1892-3.  

I had to take these at a wide angle because the light reflected too strongly from the thick paint when I photographed them straight on.  Below are two details of the painting on the left showing the intricate mixing of the paint right on the canvas.

(And just for fun, as I was googling the information about the number of paintings of the cathedral, these popped up, fine art leggings.  Your choice of Monet or Van Gogh!  And no, these were not at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, at least I didn't see them there.  Who knows what they sell in the Museum Store.)

Later that night, we had dinner and beers with two more of Erik and Eliza's Hasher friends, Laura and Øystein.  As you may guess, Øystein is from Norway, in a coastal city of Molde.  Laura is also doing the Duolingo Norwegian course I am, but she has a built-in tutor (kind of, his accent is way off of the Oslo dialect they teach in Duolingo.  

Well, I think I'll use the leggings as my send off.  Maybe I should get a pair for Erik and Eliza's running outfits!  (Opps, Christmas.....:))

BTW, when I got back to Erik's, I colored in the rooms I had been in on the map.  I may have been in 7% of the total building, certainly less than 10%.  Planned stop for next year!