Despite the Spring like weather I guess it's now time for the Winter Flickr

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Well, we set temperature records here in Northeastern New Jersey on Xmas Eve and Xmas Day, warmer here than in California but Xmas wasnā€™t a very nice day, foggy and rainy. Today itā€™s a rather cool 50 degrees but if you can believe it, there is snow in the forecast for early this week. Really crazy weather.

I had a splendid Xmas day with my friends at the Jersey shore. We Skyped with members of their family at three other locations, one of which was overseas, which still strikes me as being remarkable. They always make me feel like part of their family and my friend really put out a feast of food to which I contributed an apple cake and the cinnamon almond sugar cookies.  I ate too much of everything but it was definitely worth it, itā€™s good to cheat on your diet occasionally. Since my first visit with them some sixteen years ago I have always baked my cinnamon almond sugar cookies as well as whatever cake or pie I also bake. I make the cookies because I know the kids love them. Iā€™ve never not brought them. When I drove down a few weeks ago to go to Princeton with my friend she said it would just be the two of us which I took to mean the kids wouldnā€™t be around. So I decided to bake my variation on my Aunt Lillyā€™s bake until burned chocolate chip hard cookies. When I arrived I was surprised to see the kids and asked if they were going to join us but they both had homework to do. And probably didnā€™t really want to spend a day in a museum with their mother and her ancient friend.  We both enjoyed the cookies though and I was glad I had made something different. So I was amused when I wrote to confirm Xmas and she wrote back to me, ā€œBy the way, the kids were very disappointed that you didnā€™t make your usual cookies last visit.  If you feel like bringing some on Christmas - they would be delighted!!ā€   I wrote back and explained why I didnā€™t and promised never to arrive without them again. Like Famous Amos I guess I am known for my cookies.

I took one of my long walks this morning as I knew I was going to visit the Brooklyn Museum which doesnā€™t entail a long walk, rather it entails a long subway ride from the Port Authority at 42nd Street to Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. You have a long walk through a tunnel from the PA to the #2 or #3 train and then itā€™s about a 35 minute ride. The museum is right outside the subway entrance. The Brooklyn is a great museum with a wonderful permanent collection and I enjoy going but they are sort of a poor relation to the public museums in Manhattan. They have trouble attracting big exhibits and thereā€™s always a long interim between their mounting exhibitions that I want to see. So when I saw the announcement for Impressionism and the Caribbean: Francisco Oller and His Transatlantic World I knew I would be going. I planned on going the week of my vacation which was originally scheduled for this week but I deferred to my co-worker who needed the week so I will take the week after the New Year. And itā€™s lucky I checked as the exhibit closes on January 3rd and I probably would have missed it if I waited. Heā€™s not someone I had ever heard of but I liked what I saw on the website and when I walked through the exhibit, which was quite large, I saw many wonderful things as well as art by his contemporaries. This is a link to the website with a description of the show as well as some of the images. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/francisco_oller And here are links to articles about the exhibit in the NY Times http://tinyurl.com/nnfnkyx and The Observer http://tinyurl.com/jovvy8j

Some of the things I liked by Oller are, landscapes like French Garden, http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=160464  and French Landscape, http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=160461 The Battle of Trevino, a frenzied war scene with an enormous amount of action; use the wheel on your mouse to enlarge this one, thereā€™s a lot to see, http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Art/Paintings/en/PartFOller0001.html A magnificent portrait,  Coronel Francisco E. Contreras   http://www.wikiart.org/en/francisco-oller/coronel-francisco-e-contreras-1880 and Paul Cezanne Painting Outdoors, https://twitter.com/deborahsolo/status/667089153990000640

Other artists in the exhibit included this magnificent portrait of Federico de Madrazo by Ingres from the Hispanic Society, a venue Iā€™ve mentioned before that has many beautiful things most of which are not on display. Although they have a new curator so that may change. https://www.flickr.com/photos/76509819%40N04/17747247915  Monetā€™s Vernon in the Sun http://picssr.com/search/vernon+in+the+sun+monet click on the first image to enlarge it. Frederic Edwin Church, Jamaica, one of his smaller masterpieces http://tinyurl.com/qcn5h99 This beautiful watercolor by Winslow Homer, On the Way to Market, Bahamas http://www.encore-editions.com/winslow-homer-on-the-way-to-market-bahamas/zoom and finally Pissarroā€™s Coconut Palms by the Sea http://picssr.com/search/pissarro+coconut+palms Again, click on the first image to enlarge it.

The second exhibit which I had actually forgotten about was Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861ā€“2008, this is a link to the museum website describing the show, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/coney_island_american_dreamland and this is a link to an article in The Forward about the show with images http://forward.com/culture/art/325835/the-life-and-death-and-life-of-coney-island/  It was another large installation filled with paintings, photographs, videos and memorabilia all having to do with Coney Island. One of the first things I saw which pleased me was Sanford Robinson Giffordā€™s Beach at Coney Island, http://tinyurl.com/nduz2gv Gifford is one the Hudson River painters of whom I am enamored. I marvel at how he could paint such tiny images and create a very distinct beach scene. The blue of the sky and the blue of the ocean with the waves rolling in, just beautiful.  Glackens, The Fruit Stand https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/22835082510/in/photolist-AMRLt9-zK61YE There were a number of Reginald Marshā€™s, Pip and Flip is a fine example showing a sideshow attraction of pinhead sisters, two women suffering from microcephaly. This was the 30ā€™s during the depression and while to our modern eye their being in a sideshow is cruel, they would have been grateful to have the employment http://www.eeweems.com/reginald_marsh/large-pip-and-flip.php And I will end with my favorite contemporary artist, Red Grooms, whose installations and paintings are always a lot of fun. This is his Greetings from Coney Island, a three dimensional wall hanging. https://www.flickr.com/photos/brattmuseum/8748718164 The exhibit originated at the Wadsworth Atheneum and this link to that site has a 30 second video which is interesting and shows some of the images. Go to full screen to enjoy it. https://thewadsworth.org/exhibitions/past/coneyisland/ Finally, this is an article from the Hartford Courant which has a slide show of 21 images from the exhibit, very worthwhile http://www.courant.com/entertainment/museums-galleries/hc-atheneum-coney-island-0125-20150125-story.html

I had a splendid time. I hope to get to the Wadsworth Atheneum again someday but as Iā€™ve mentioned previously the traveling logistics arenā€™t in my favor as itā€™s a much greater distance than I remembered it being.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this tour and now letā€™s head over to the Flickrs.

Andy G.

Untitled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27401732%40N05/23244860555/

red satin sissy 4

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136587301%40N08/22862525049/

cosi0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bev2u/10500135976/

my halloween outfit , do you like ?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/77117093%40N02/15276309446/

iaow

https://www.flickr.com/photos/93624623%40N04/11564865335/

Oh my!! What a naughty wind!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/saki_75153/16518097287/

marie_antoinette_01

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128510274%40N06/18140105649/

Lil' Red

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hello_monique/8861373114/

Alice on her knee's.x

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132265551%40N05/21025564215/

Nylon on nylon

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubytv/22610107948/

lotties new uniform

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissy_lottie/23058984129/

Pink sissy maid

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22979184%40N05/6607053327/

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Well, this is the first Flickr of the New Year and I think I want the old year back, it seems to have been much warmer. Today we had the arctic blast and the temperatures were in the 20ā€™s when I awoke and in the 30ā€™s when I ventured out. Looks like 40 is our high for the day which is what you can expect from winter but certainly not as pleasant as the warm weather we had been enjoying. Letā€™s just keep the snow away and I will keep my complaining to a minimum.

I continue to enjoy my new work schedule, 2 days in the physical office and 3 days in the virtual office. 5 days in the virtual office would be best but it will be a while before I address that issue with my employer. Iā€™ve settled into a second routine for those days I work from home. I still get up early although not as early as the other two days, somewhere between 4:30 AM and 5 AM instead 3:20 AM and 3:45 AM. Stay up a little later too. Instead of doing my exercises when I get home, now I get up in the morning and do them first thing. Then I go for a 35 minute walk and sign into the office when I get back, around 6:30 AM. I work my usual day, signing off around 3PM at which time I take another 35 minute walk. The double walk is to offset the fact that working from home is much more sedentary, no more walking to the bus stop and walking across town. But Iā€™ve lost a lot of reading time. I read waiting for the bus and while riding on the bus. The commutes, back and forth, to and from the City, combined took about 90 minutes during which I was able to read for most of the time. So my two walks, during which time I canā€™t read, eat up much of that. But I donā€™t even consider that a complaint, itā€™s little enough to give up to enjoy the benefits of working from home. This week I have to go into the office on Monday as my co-worker doesnā€™t return from his vacation until Tuesday but subsequently I will have the final four days of the week off which I am looking forward to.

There isnā€™t much in the way of art currently; once again Iā€™m fairly caught up on the current art exhibits. I planned on visiting the Neue Gallery but my timing was off as their exhibit closes Monday and itā€™s unlikely Iā€™ll go tomorrow. Luckily I always have the Metropolitan Museum, there are a few things there to see and I can always go back and see some of the exhibits Iā€™ve already visited and enjoyed. I went there this morning and took in their African exhibit, Kongo: Power and Majesty.  The exhibit consists of carvings, sculptures, masks, fabrics and what they refer to as power figures, large fierce looking wooden statues with nails driven into them, each nail a plea to the priest of the fetish to punish a thief or someone who has done something bad to the person making the request. They are fairly ugly and off putting. I confess that this is really is not my cup of tea, itā€™s certainly much more functional art than decorative and there was very little that I would describe as attractive. This is a link to the Met press release describing the exhibit, http://tinyurl.com/phxcu2j This is a link to a display of the images in the exhibit, http://tinyurl.com/zym6o7n And this is a link to the New York Times review of the exhibit. http://tinyurl.com/jozue9j

Wayne Thiebaud is a contemporary artist and I ā€˜m not overly familiar with his work but I Googled him and he paints commonplace objects like pies, cupcakes and lipsticks in very bright colors. I have a feeling that Iā€™ve seen his work at some of the auction previews I attended.  My brother sent me this brief film of him talking about Rosa Bonheurā€™s Horse Fair which also lives at the Met. It was painted in 1853 and is an enormous painting, 8ft tall and 16ft wide. Thiebaud discusses her techniques and if you have any interest in art itā€™s an excellent video. My brother commented that it made him want to go look at the painting again and I agreed so I visited it this afternoon after the Kongo. Itā€™s a remarkable painting in its size and scope. Iā€™m going to have to listen to the video again now that the painting is fresh in my mind. The film is part of a series of short films from the Met website that show contemporary artists discussing art in the Met. I looked at the roster and I don't think I recognized more than four or five names and other than Roz Chast, the New Yorker cartoonist and Thomas Struth, the German photographer, I don't think I've seen anything by any of the others.  This is a link to the Thiebaud video http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/4/wayne-thiebaud/ and this is a link to the Chast video. http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/2/roz-chast/ And if youā€™re interested this is a link to the four pages of artists represented in the Project. http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/ Each of them does a brief video.

Now letā€™s visit the latest from the Flickrs.

Andy G.

DSCN9897

https://www.flickr.com/photos/63520684@N08/16420144068/

Sofa Seduction

https://www.flickr.com/photos/103977268@N06/19971932052/

Frilly things feel so nice

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindaw567/21970960869/

K_01_35

https://www.flickr.com/photos/49721052@N02/4620527021/

Untitled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/134473064@N06/22264833212/

2015-09-18_04-52-59

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136208579@N03/21329010739/

20151130_184458-1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/137260335@N08/23411091766/

IMG_7545

https://www.flickr.com/photos/10792226@N00/23694965620/

i find my christmas tree

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dafnetv/23383231173/

2015-12-22 21.51.09-1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/133721686@N08/23379299284/

LTS dress2

https://www.flickr.com/photos/90004351@N06/23520716459/

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Aside from our recent recurrence of the polar vortex, Iā€™ve enjoyed my last vacation of the year.  Temperatures on my thermometer have done nothing to make me sunny, 8 degrees one morning and 12 degrees the next although it warmed up a little in the next few days. On Tuesday I went to Medicare to enroll. I took the train into Hoboken after which I went into the City to visit the Met. Because of the late start, and the cold, I didnā€™t walk uptown and took the subway instead. But my day did feel like an Odyssey, a very long voyage which encompassed the walk to the train, the train into Hoboken, the bus into the City, the walk across town to Lexington Avenue, the subway uptown, the walk over to the Met, the bus through Central Park to the West Side, the subway downtown to the Port Authority and the bus home. Seemed endless. The cold didnā€™t help. It was so cold that when I got inside the museum I noticed something on the bottom of my glasses and it turned out to be two tears that had fallen on my walk from the subway. This gives new meaning to the phrase, moved to tears. Iā€™m certainly well insulated with my many layers of clothing and while I loathe the cold weather I can deal with it if Iā€™m moving; itā€™s the waiting that I find intolerable, like when I wait for the bus in the mornings. The train I was catching was scheduled to arrive at 8:27 AM. I got there at 8:24AM  which pleased me as it meant a short stand in the cold. But the train ran a little late getting in at 8:30 and I have to tell you, those six minutes standing in the 8 degree cold were very unpleasant.

The Medicare visit wasnā€™t too bad, I was certainly expecting the worst. I had a 9:05AM appointment and got there at 9AM. I signed in and they called me right away but my optimism faded when I realized it was just a second sign in. So I sat down and read my newspaper and it took about 45 minutes before they finally called my name and invited me in. But I had a very nice young woman and we went through the process; I didnā€™t have many questions and she answered all of them. It took about 20 minutes and then she said we were done, shook my hand and gave me my enormous Medicare annual. It wonā€™t replace any of the books Iā€™ve been reading but it will be useful I have no doubt.

I checked my list of museum sites and there is absolutely nothing else out there to see that I have not already seen which is very disappointing but as always my fall back is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is always something to see at the Met and Iā€™ve mentioned many times there are areas that I havenā€™t explored yet. And there were a few exhibits that I havenā€™t see so I spent my week at the Met.

I wandered quickly through Egypt,  this is a link to the exhibit.  Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom It was filled with statues, busts, stelas, bowls and other assorted pottery and shards that were dug up from the ground where they had been buried for centuries. It was interesting but not especially memorable, again like the Kongo exhibit I wrote about last week itā€™s not really what Iā€™m looking for when I visit the museum. Still I was grateful to find something that I hadnā€™t seen.

I had much more fun with The Luxury of Time: European Clocks and Watches. This was a small exhibit of beautiful and ornate clocks and watches and automatons. The best way to describe automatons are, they are ornate pieces of art that are animated in a three dimensional way. There is one in the Linsky collection which I wrote about some time ago. The most wonderful piece in the exhibit is Automaton Clock in the Shape of Diana on Her Chariot. It show Diana on a chariot with her bow and arrow in her hands ready to fire. You press a button and the chariot starts to move, Dianaā€™s eyes turn from side to side every second and finally she shoots her arrow. Itā€™s really marvelous. Next to the case with the automaton, on the wall was a screen with a short video showing the mechanism in action. Much to my surprise the Met not only doesnā€™t have the video on the website, they donā€™t even have an image. But Iā€™m pleased to say that I Googled it and found a video from the Yale University Art Gallery on Youtube that shows exactly what I described, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ro4zscyE0 There was also a Grandfather clock which the Met keeps running and next to it was a video showing the case being opened and the three pendulums being wound by key. There were other automatons and clocks and watches, some of the watches in ornate engraved cases with tiny images on them and others with painted images on them. All in all it was most enjoyable. Hereā€™s a link to the other objects in the exhibit. http://tinyurl.com/hjnnedo

On another day I walked up expecting to visit the exhibition in the drawing corridor but when I arrived I discovered that it was still the old one,  one that I had seen.  As it turned out I was a day early, when I looked to the end of the corridor I saw attendants putting up the description of the next exhibit on a freestanding wall. It opened the next day which was fine as I went back the next day to see it, Wordplay Matthias Buchinger's Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay. I found it a bit of a disappointment, the overall theme of the show was calligraphy and it opens with a bunch of contemporary pieces and at the end there are some of Buchingerā€™s drawings. There were many that depicted the same image of the ten commandments but there was also a trompe lā€™oeil calendar which was very nice. The story behind Buchinger is that he was born without arms or legs or thighs, yet in addition to being able to do mundane things like thread a needle and shave himself, he was capable of creating these drawings and was also musically talented as well as being a magician.  I think Ricky Jay was clearly taken by the story behind the artist rather than the art itself. The Met hasnā€™t posted any images on the website as yet but this is a link to an informative article on Buchinger and the exhibit and among the illustrations is the trompe lā€™oeil calendar.  http://hyperallergic.com/266513/the-mysteriously-tiny-drawings-of-an-18th-century-artist-born-without-hands-or-feet/

During the week I also spent time in Korea  http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/korea India http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/encountering-vishnu and Southeast Asia, exploring cultures and art that I havenā€™t paid much attention to and found many beautiful things to admire. Asian art is definitely growing on me.

There was a small exhibit at the Lehman wing, Girolamo dai Libri and Veronese Art of the Sixteenth Century, which consisted of a wall size altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with saints. The altarpiece was on the wall outside a small room with etchings, only one of which was by someone known to me, Albrecht Durer.  http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/girolamo-dai-libri  Afterwards I wandered through the whole Lehman collection which Iā€™ve described before and is always wonderful, Ingres, Rembrandt, Memling and many others, always a treat to revisit.

Today I went back to the Met for my final visit of the week. This was in the American Wing, Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age. The show consisted of furniture and fixtures from the homes of the very rich, notably Arabella Huntington. This is Arabellaā€™s introduction from Wikipedia, Arabella Yarrington "Belle" Huntington (c.1851-1924) was the second wife of American railway tycoon and industrialist Collis P. Huntington, and then the second wife of Henry E. Huntington. She was once known as the richest woman in America, and as the force behind the art collection that is housed at the Huntington Library. Henry Huntington was Collisā€™ nephew so she kept it in the family. She had a magnificent mansion on West 54th Street which she subsequently sold to John D. Rockefeller with furnishings in place. The dressing room from the mansion has been installed in this exhibit just as it looked in the mansion. Iā€™ve spent a lot of time in this note saying that Iā€™m not really into a bunch of things and furniture is on that list as well. When my brother and I would travel to visit museums, he would always stop and admire the furniture that was situated throughout the gallery while the only notice I took of it was that it was preventing me from getting closer to the wall art. But that being said, this was a fascinating exhibit into a lost world of opulence and splendor. They may have been robber barons and morally despicable but they certainly had nice taste. This is an article from yesterdayā€™s New York Times that goes into detail about the exhibit and has a number of illustrations.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/arts/design/peeking-into-the-gilded-age-at-the-met.html 

While wandering through the gilded houses exhibit I mused to myself that if I won the $800 million Powerball it would be nice to build myself a mansion like the one Mr. Vanderbilt built for himself in 1883. In the exhibit there was a picture showing a four story mansion taking up all of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Street which is fascinating when you think about whatā€™s there now.

Well, I see that having the week off has made this a remarkably long post even for me, someone who can only say Iā€™ll keep it short with a smile on my face. Hope itā€™s of interest to some of you.

And now weā€™ll move on to whatā€™s of interest to all of you, the Flickrs.

Andy G.

white_gold_02

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128510274%40N06/23312760645/

1005meri-(2)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/meritats/23330953696/

On the Floor

https://www.flickr.com/photos/103977268%40N06/23104231509/

Decemeber 5th. MSDB Bizarre Bazaar

https://www.flickr.com/photos/51500650%40N07/23466658281/

lotties new uniform

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissy_lottie/23058984129/

untitled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27401732%40N05/23488604702/

Scuba

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenclose/23568429995/

IMG_2575

https://www.flickr.com/photos/asiandesert/23568516205/

flwr1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/10618704%40N06/23220316109/

Meet me in real life like this..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alina_694/23339795681/

tifanny alexandra

https://www.flickr.com/photos/carlmax41/22893382284/

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Today started out rainy but afterwards turned into a rather nice day getting up to around 50 degrees. This was pleasant after the early week temperatures in the teens with a rather chilling wind. But it appears the cold weather will return as this week progresses. My thoughts at this time of year seem to inevitably recur to baseball; 5 or 6 weeks away from pitchers and catchers. Not that I am a baseball fanatic. I enjoy reading about the game in the newspapers but it has to be more than 20 years since I actually went to a game and the only baseball on television that Iā€™ve watched has been a few innings of the Mets this year as they entered the playoffs. That was fun but itā€™s frustrating that baseball is driven by television in that the games are only played at night and begin after 8PM which meant the most I saw was a few innings before I had to go to bed. I stayed up much later when I was 12 years old. And going to a baseball game has become so expensive, itā€™s hard to imagine a family of four, mother, father and two kids going very often when after paying for tickets and parking and the very expensive beer and sodas and hotdogs and popcorn probably lay out $400 or $500 for the afternoon. But the reason I look forward to pitchers and catchers is because it heralds the beginning of the end for winter, my least favorite season.

There will be no art appreciation today as rather than going into New York city for an exhibit I had a lovely afternoon with a good friend. She came around Noon and we had coffee, the java cake which I baked and 4 Ā½ hours of catching up conversation. Most enjoyable.

And I think Iā€™ll sign off here and let everyone rest their eyes this week.

And of course, view the Flickrs.

Andy G.

Best of Vegas trip

https://www.flickr.com/photos/134090544@N05/23286694191/

102_4719

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahmorgan1978/23334609905/

124. Open up my storage~

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiyoon12345/20817455325/

Santa Girl MISAKKY 003

https://www.flickr.com/photos/misakky/23088362173/

IMG_0427(900-2)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76625201@N03/19957200579/

Untitled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lovelymaco/20147415232/

a1stephie-137

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100379735@N06/23601865815/

Purple lolita

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blackietv/22690395030/

flkr0704a

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32603346@N06/19402790422/

New Dresses

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91992190@N00/22883409671/

gingham maid

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyball1/6082081758/

Guest - isn't she sweet...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131111227@N04/22816452850/

[andyg0404]

Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.

Welcome to snowbound Northern New Jersey. My least favorite weather is here big time, 1-2 feet of snow is expected before this is over tomorrow. I went out this morning and was able to pick up the newspapers but Iā€™m concerned about getting any of them tomorrow. I did a good deed though. As I walked to the 7-11 I saw a young man standing in the bus shelter. I walked over and asked if he was waiting for a bus and when he said yes I told him that no buses would be coming today. He was as happy as I would have been if I was in his place but he was appreciative that I told him. I was smart and went to the Shop-Rite yesterday afternoon as I knew I wouldnā€™t want to be driving this morning. Doesnā€™t look like I will be able to turn around in my back yard any time soon, hope I donā€™t lose another mirror backing out. I imagine a large portion of my friends on the board are experiencing much of what Iā€™m describing as this storm is cutting through a large number of states. The winds have been fairly high and my main concern right now is a power outage caused by the winds toppling trees. I have my fingers crossed.

I am especially dismayed that the snowstorm arrived today as I have had this date on the calendar for a month and was expecting my friend to drive up from South Jersey so as to take her to the Sothebyā€™s auction previews, as well as other venues. I contacted her on Thursday, before the full extent of the storm was evident, and told her I didnā€™t want her driving back and forth in the snow. We agreed to postpone the visit until February but unfortunately that eliminates the Sothebyā€™s auction preview that is currently underway. I wonā€™t be able to go either as New Jersey Transit has shut down the system completely, no buses, trains or light rail. Iā€™m not smiling. Once again our weather confounds, to have experienced such early mild winter temperatures and then to suddenly have such bitter cold weather and now, our first major storm, so much later than usual, well, I guess thatā€™s why itā€™s called climate change.

Anyway, for the first time since Iā€™ve been writing about my trips to view great art we all will be experiencing our visit to the auctions electronically. There are five auction previews I would have visited and Iā€™ve selected highlights from three of them so here we go.

The Collection of Alfred Taubman ā€“ The first link is to the full list of items.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/old-masters-collection-a-alfred-taubman-n09458.html

One of the stars of Alfred Taubmanā€™s collection is Gainsboroughā€™s The Blue Page. This was originally thought to be an oil sketch for his much more famous painting, The Blue Boy, but research discovered that it was painted after the Blue Boy. I was lucky enough to see this painting in an earlier preview and itā€™s wonderful. The first link is to the website description with provenance and other interesting details while the second link is to a short Sothebyā€™s video about it.
http://tinyurl.com/jyqynlq
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2015/10/thomas-gainsborough-r-a-the-blue-page.html

Another star will be Raphaelā€™s Profile Portrait of Valerio Belli, Bust Length, Facing Left. There is also a video for this painting. I was surprised at how small it was, itā€™s in a circular frame and is shown in the video being held in the palm of one hand. The estimated price for this is $2M-$3M but I would think it will go above the estimate.
http://tinyurl.com/htvt5gm
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2015/10/raphael-profile-portrait-of-valerio-belli.html

Bernardo Bellotto was an 18th Century Italian landscape painter and he painted in the style of his Uncle, Antonio Canal, famously known as Canaletto. As I love Canaletto, who is represented below in another section, itā€™s not surprising that I was drawn to this painting, Venice, A View Of The Grand Canal Looking East From The Campo Di San Vio, To The Left The Palazzo Correr. The detail and architectural precision set against the massive blue sky with clouds and the shimmering blue water appeal to me no end. A painting I could wake up to and look at with pleasure every day.
http://tinyurl.com/zsyxh8d

George Romney was an English portrait painter and Iā€™ve seen many of his paintings on my visits to the different museums, the Frick has several, two of which are on display, and the Met has a bunch as well.
Here is, Portrait Of Mrs. Jordan As Peggy In "The Country Girl,ā€ Mrs. Jordan being a noted actress of the time. 
http://tinyurl.com/hgxbtko

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres is another one of my favorites, Iā€™ve written about him many times Iā€™m sure. Heā€™s represented here twice, once from Taubmanā€™s collection and the other from the Master Drawings auction. His drawings are as wonderful as his paintings, not least of all because he seemed to do them so effortlessly, knocking them off quickly to earn his keep. Iā€™m looking forward to seeing one of his portrait paintings in the upcoming Christieā€™s Old Masters auction preview in April. Assuming it doesnā€™t snow.
Portrait Of The Sculptor Charles Dupaty
http://tinyurl.com/z367qaf
Henri Iv Playing With His Children
http://tinyurl.com/hpmd6nb

Master Paintings Evening Sale - The first link is to the full list of items.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/master-paintings-evening-sale-n09460.html

Orazio Gentileschi was a 17th Century Italian artist and one of the earliest exhibits I saw after I started frequenting the museums was a blockbuster exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that showcased him and his daughter Artemisia. Wonderfully beautiful, large paintings by both. DanaĆ« has been hanging in the Metropolitan museum on loan for the last two years and Iā€™m sure the Met is devastated that itā€™s been put up for auction rather than being left to them in a bequest. This is a painting that Iā€™ve had the pleasure of seeing, first in the long ago exhibit and I revisited it this summer. There are two short videos for Danae, the first one shows it arriving at Sothebyā€™s and being uncrated and hung. The second is, what I can only describe as an artsy, fartsy music video paying homage to it. Make of it what you will.
http://tinyurl.com/hllbbbp
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2015/10/first-look-gentileschis-danae-comes-to-sothebys.html
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2016/01/reimagining-gentileschis-danae.html

Iā€™ve already gushed over Canaletto when I listed Bellottoā€™s painting but this painting is something I truly rue not being able to see in person. Itā€™s one of his few interior paintings and it captures the internal architecture of Westminster Abbey. I look at paintings like this and I canā€™t imagine how he was able to capture the details so thoroughly. I can only say once again, magnificent. Thereā€™s a video for this one as well.  An Interior View Of The Henry Vii Chapel, Westminster Abbey
http://tinyurl.com/gog2lt9
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/videos/2016/01/canalettos-awe-inspiring-westminster-abbey.html

Peter Paul Rubens - Saint Norbert Overcoming Tanchelm is an oil sketch for a statue which along with another sculpture were on either side of Rubens painting Adoration of the Magi.
http://tinyurl.com/hbtcrps

Sir Anthony van Dyck -The Tribute Money I think will also generate a lot of interest as the descriptive material describes it as in excellent condition, has been in the family who commissioned it for centuries and is one of the last known of his religious paintings to still be in private hands. I much prefer his non-religious paintings but this is quite beautiful.
http://tinyurl.com/hp32cpy

Master Drawings - The first link is to the full list of items.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/master-drawings-n09457.html

Jean-Ɖtienne Liotard is also someone Iā€™ve spoken of a number of times. The exhibit of his works at the Frick was one of my favorites all time. I also regret missing this opportunity to see this drawing.
Portrait Of Count Jean Diodati
http://tinyurl.com/jnrama6

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo was an 18th Century Italian painter and Iā€™ve written about seeing his drawings and etchings a number of times. The Country School is from his series The life of Punchinello, the famous character from the Commedia dell'Arte. As you can see from this example thereā€™s a lot going on in his drawings.
http://tinyurl.com/hqad63a

And I think Iā€™ll close here with JMW Turnerā€™s The Junction Of The Lahn And The Rhine, Germany, a very serene watercolor landscape.
http://tinyurl.com/hopzeh2

I hope everyone who is affected by this storm is hope, safe and warm and with their power intact. I mentioned last week about looking forward to Spring training in baseball and this is especially appealing now in light of the weather today. I was pleased this morning to read that the New York Mets have come to terms with their slugger Yoenis Cespedes so itā€™s possible the team will enjoy another successful season. Although like all sports baseball is played on the field and not on paper.

And so, on to the Flickrs.

Andy G.


Gamepitcon 2016 - IMG_3096

https://www.flickr.com/photos/x_redtails_x/23839670423/

Look at this sissy poseur.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissyplaything/22776313735/

Such an adorable big brother

https://www.flickr.com/photos/51886658@N04/21730498804/

My day outfit

https://www.flickr.com/photos/107544285@N05/22985475933/

Oh sun, where art thou?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/13219604@N03/22281166306/

What a lovely little sissy girl Katie is here on the train station dressed as a. Little Japanese schoolgirl in her girls school uniform just how lovely does she look

https://www.flickr.com/photos/134925861@N04/23754830512/

oldie 2, prom dress

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136031688@N06/23715302571/

InstantanƩ 2 (2015-12-18 06-42)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97124493@N07/23202935373/

Sexy Shades of Red-03

https://www.flickr.com/photos/34381851@N03/23605013940/

untitled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/61793334@N04/22804060829/

20150307_201721[1]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126820131@N05/16559070778/

Back to school

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22092915@N05/15914525215/

[Angela M...]

Thanks Andy for your weekly contribution and I hope you don't get too snowed in or loose your power. I have a gas fireplace to rely on if the power goes out so I won't freeze but the rest of the house gets cold fast if that does happen. I just leave the taps running a bit so they don't freeze. We have not had that happen in quite a few years now so we have been lucky. We also have not had that much snow here either. I have a new snow-blower I bought two years ago and have only used once and the one before that I had for more than 20 years and only used that a few times. I guess we are just in a pocket here as cities around us get lots of snow each year. Like you I am waiting for spring and warmer weather so I can venture out for my walks again. I just had back surgery last week and I am on the mend slowly and told to take it easy for about two weeks. Hopefully we don't get much snow here as I don't think I could even handle the snow-blower at this point even though it has power drive and turn options it is still big and heavy to move around. Anyway stay warm and safe Andy and thanks for the post again it is nice to see the paintings and read up on the exhibits.

[andyg0404]

Hi Angela,

Sorry to hear about your back surgery and hope you have an easy recovery. It's tough as we grow old and our bodies start to break down and recovery takes longer. A big fear of mine is falling. When you're young and you fall you bounce back up but when you're older and fall, you run the risk of breaking something. I went out for my walk this morning wearing my new knee length snow boots which worked well except that in some places the snow was up to my thighs. We got about two feet of snow.  http://tinyurl.com/h6we6fr I'm grateful that I have someone who will clear my property for me, I can't imagine doing it myself anymore. The question is where will he put it, there's just so much of it.

Andy G.

[Angela M...]

Hey Andy, love the photo. Two feet of snow is a lot to move when you are on a city lot. In the past I had fun trying to find places to deposit all the snow we would get and sometimes had a wall four feet high in the front garden. We will get a fine from the city if we put it back on the road or too close to the curb so with the snow-blower I would drive it all into my back garden and sometimes over the fence. With a large deck and pool back there I was limited to where I could put it. There is a service alley behind my house that was once used by garbage trucks so I put some back there over the fence but it is also used by Bell Canada to get to phone lines so I don't put too much back there. So far we have not had too much up here and I am happy if I don't get to use my snow-blower again this year. I can do small light amounts with the shovel but I sometimes overdo it and then I am in pain again. I bought some new boots last year that have a nylon covering at the top that almost comes to my knees and tie off with laces to keep the snow out. Glad you did not loose power but it sounds like getting to work Monday might be a problem, or are you working from home on Monday? 

[andyg0404]

I will have to commute to the City on Monday and Tuesday but the buses are running and it shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully the bus won't run late and make me stand outside in the cold. I think the snow in my backyard must be about 3 feet deep and packed solid. A couple of warm days would help. Have a good night.

Andy G.

[samantha1]

i feel lucky that where i live in uk ,i donot have the problems of snow this year.It is fairly mild and i am very cosy in my house,the only problem i get is having a large house for myself and having big electric and gas bills