art – Stylish Heath

Two weeks ago a few of us popped up to Philadelphia by way of Amtrak from DC, which in itself is a wonderfully civilized way to travel by not dealing with the I-95 corridor on a Friday. The City of Brotherly Love is a hybrid of classic and cool, along with being less than 2 hours from home. You can’t help exploring the city’s land-marked buildings and cobblestone streets, along with checking out the booming food scene. Our first stop was in the midtown village, where we had dinner at a vegan restaurant called “Charlie was a Sinner”. It’s a swanky cocktail bar that serves meals on “small plates” with a menu that showcases a variety of cultures, such as Mediterranean, Korean, and Italian. We ordered a few plates to share and ended up taking a few items back to the hotel.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a must, outside of seeing the “Rocky” steps. You have to check out the adjacent Rodin collection, it’s the largest public collection of the sculptor’s work outside of Paris and when you walk into the gallery the first item to view is a copy of Rodin’s The Kiss. Carved in marble in 1929 the artist focuses our attention on the couple’s heads, while using their hands to convey the sensitivity of the moment.

Don’t forget adding The Barnes Collection to your itinerary. They have a stunning assemblage of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modern paintings by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso.

Travel stylishly,
Kathleen

_{Depiction of a scene from Dante’s Inferno the Gates of Hell and the bronze sculpture The Thinker [La Penseur].}

I stumbled upon this post drafted two years ago after our return from Paris. A month later the city was shut down due to the pandemic, and the world developed the routine of “working from home”.

Paris in winter is a wondrous experience, walking under the gray skies with matching gray buildings adds to the illustrious charm of this city. While perusing the sites we came across the Musée Rodin which opened in 1919 to house the works of French sculptor Auguste Rodin. We had the opportunity to view many drawings, paintings, photographs, as well as objets d’art, which Rodin donated to the French State on the condition, they turn his villa into a museum. In the collection were works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh. A room was dedicated to the works of female artists- Camille Claudel a longtime associate of Auguste Rodin. Her sculptures are most impressive.

After viewing the art my focus went to the gardens around the museum. There is a small lake in the back of the villa where you may sit and enjoy the grounds. I took out my sketch pad and began to draft a few ideas for the gardens at Heath.

View the Musée Rodin online.

Enjoy,
Kathleen