Crystal Bridges statuary

Shore Lunch, Dan Ostermiller, 1999

 One of the great features of the Crystal Bridges Museum is the network of trails that surrounds the buildings. When we planned our trip, we built in time to take a hike on the various trails and see what there was to see. Like the rest of the grounds, there were lots of flowers, and well-designed trails. There was also art, which is appropriate, since it is an art museum and all. I didn't get pictures of everything, but here are some of the works we saw on the hike.

These two photos of boulders take a little explanation. The boulder in the photo above is art, as shown by the number and (not visible in this photo) the word "ART" that have been attached to it. It is part of an installation called Grains of Sand by Robert Tannen, that is designed as a sort of scavenger hunt on the grounds.

The thing is, the art boulders are made of the native stone that also is found all over the grounds, like the other boulder, above, which was situated directly next to one of the ART boulders. I try to be open and appreciative to art of all kinds, but I have to admit myself a bit mystified over these boulders. They certainly made us laugh a bit, and they made us think, and I guess that is the point, what makes them art? Anyway, we had a chuckle every time we discovered one.

Stella, Andre Harvey, 2009

Stella here typifies the problem with outdoor art - you want to run over and pet her snout, and climb on her back, but the museum doesn't want her to be damaged by constant contact with grimy hands. Makes sense, but it was torture to not rub an ear. They shouldn't have made her so cute!

Group of Bears, Paul Manship, modeled 1932, cast 1999

We had to hike a bit farther than we though to see these lovely creatures - the scale on the map is not quite accurate. They were apparently meant for the Bronx Zoo, but not cast at the time. You can definitely see the Art Deco influence in their lines. I would have liked to pet them too.

Poppies and Puppies

Here are some more pictures from my visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I love Rookwood Pottery, and I love poppies, so I would love to have this vase. My picture doesn't really do the colors justice. This one from the museum is much better.

Yes, another poppy vase. One thing I really like about Arts & Crafts era vases and lamps is that so much of the work was done by women artisans. Like this one. They didn't really get famous, like their male counterparts, but they were there, and they are documented, some of them at least, and they did lovely work.

This little guy was just about my favorite item in the entire museum. And he is really old - 3rd century CE - just goes to show that even the ancient Chinese liked their cute dogs.

And the Japanese, in the 18th century.

So did the Koreans. This adorable little puppy (who looks an awful lot like puppy Miikka) is from the 16th century.

Tomorrow - Medieval European art and artifacts.

Philadelphia Statues

On the campus of the University of Pennsylvania

OK, here we are - I got the Philadelphia trip pictures off of the camera, and even managed to get a bunch edited down. Since there were a lot of them, and they sort of fall into themes, that is how I will be presenting them to you. If you don't like it, and were expecting a chronological tour of my time in Philly, too bad. (Actually, if you do want such a thing, I'd be willing to show them to you after dinner some time, the way my father used to show slides to dinner guests when I was a kid. I promise not to get mad if you fall asleep, the way both my grandmothers used to do.)

One thing Philadelphia has a lot of is statues. They are everywhere - downtown, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (the above statue actually has multiple copies - one downtown and one on the campus), in the historic district, and even above the entrance to a parking lot, like this one.

This guy was one of a pair in the Chinatown area, guarding a rather nondescript parking lot. Well, nondescript apart from the twin dragons. Our parking lots in Little Rock are rather less distinguished.

There are, of course, many statues of famous people, like Benjamin Franklin (who lived a good portion of his life there, and did lots of civic-minded things for the city):

Looking down on the students from a high pedestal

Both of these statues are on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, although I am sure there were others that I missed in the city itself. I rather like Benjamin Franklin (and it has nothing to do with the fact that my husband's grandfather is Benjamin Franklin Rider). He was intelligent, civic-minded, curious, and must have had a wicked sense of humor.

Franklin with pigeon (also a statue)

I'm sort of sorry I was alone when I took this picture, because it would have been neat to have a picture of me sitting with him (no, not in his lap! What kind of person do you take me for?)

And of course, what would a trip to Philadelphia, cradle of the Declaration of Independence et al, be without a statue of George Washington? Here he is outside of Independence Hall. The guide on that tour (you'll have to wait until I get to the "historical sightseeing" theme for those pictures) pointed out that there are no statues of John Adams (my distant relative) anywhere in Philadelphia, and sounded a little bitter about that. Hmm.

Tomorrow - more statues, and Rocky.