A little culture is always a good thing

I frequently watch the grandkids on Fridays and today I had decided that I was going to take little Jack (3 yrs old) to a museum that has had a Monet exhibit in San Francisco that I didn't want to miss.  I'm happy to say that he found the objects in the paintings interesting, which is perfectly fine with me!  The collection of paintings is quite different in that it includes paintings I've never seen before in any of the larger museums.  I think there were many paintings from smaller facilities and maybe even private owners!

I find that looking at paintings  often inspires me to see different color combinations.  I wanted to share with you some of the Monets I saw today.  This is not a great representation of the exhibit since it was pretty crowded and I wasn't able to get in front of the more famous paintings.  But I figured that many of you would nevertheless be excited to see any Monet painting!  I certainly am!


One of my favorites.  What was so interesting about this painting was that apparently Renoir did the same picture at the same time.  They had a photograph of Renoir's version on the description.  


This is so clear  It really almost looks like a photograph.







I then took Jack into the porcelain room to see the china from Sèvres, which I just love.  Several years ago when Bonnie and I went to Paris together, we went to the museum in Sèvres with Caroline (Brussels) and Valerie (now near Chicago! She owns The Quilt Merchant, a fabulous quilt shop!).  I find the colors of their china to be so brilliant!


It's hard to believe that all these designs were hand painted!  But that blue is spectacular, in my mind's eye!








This fabulous little museum (The Legion of Honor) also has a great collection of Rodin sculptures.  This great one sits in front of the museum and I thought a picture of Jack in front would be adorable.  A wonderful woman asked me if I wanted her to take a picture of both of us.  Jack is actually quite excited, even though he looks like he's ready to cry. We were going to the fountains out front next!

I'm going to tell you a very personal story about this sculpture, going back 40 years when I traveled in Florence with my brother.  I think I was 21;  he was 18.  I have a vivid recollection of taking a picture of him, sitting next to this sculpture in a pose very similar to The Thinker.  What's so special about this to me is that my brother was killed in a small plane crash when he was 31.  I have the photograph somewhere but it's one that is etched in my memory.

Anyway, I don't mean to be melodramatic.  I wanted to share a personal story with you and explain why this sculpture is so special for me.

I hope you enjoy looking at these Monet paintings even though they aren't quilt related.  I certainly enjoy them and feel incredibly lucky to be in such close proximity to such amazing works of art.  I'm happy to share them with you and I hope you enjoy them!