Chaletmomma

Hello friends I do love to share my visits to The Metropolitan Museum of Art I was there with my sister to view Sargent & Paris during the members preview.

Our first stop was The Charles Engelhard Court—South End in the American Wing to view the Tiffany Garden Landscape Widows.

Before entering European Paintings on the second floor we stopped at Gallery 704 and I love anything George Washington - so I snapped this image.

I loved the dress in this painting by Elisabeth Louise Vigee La Brun entitled: Comtesse de la Chatre 1789 in Gallery 632

We enjoyed a delightful lunch in the Balcony Lounge before heading to view the amazing Sargent & Paris.

This amazing exhibit examines the career of painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925). He arrived in Paris in 1874 at age 18 through to his painting of the scandalous Madame X in the mid 1880’s. During this time Sargent cemented his career as an accomplished portraitist. He also experimented with different styles of painting.

Self Portrait, 1886 age 30

This painting In the Luxembourg Gardens has a luminescence - the water sparkles. Both my sister and I were smitten and made sure we picked up notes cards with this image at the end of the exhibit.

This lady is: Madame Ramone Subercaseaux and every detail is magic!

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit draws you in by the sheer size.

This work A Gust of Wind has an other worldly quality. Sargent was so talented he could paint in a multitude of styles. This reminded both my sister and I of Monet.

This video installation showing what is was like for Sargent to exhibit in the Paris Salon - Art hung floor to ceiling regardless of the subject. This was really cool - the pictures populate, disappear and finally show in full color.

An entire room is dedicated to Madame X - filled with paintings, photographs, and studies/sketches of young socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. The detail on the right shows the fallen shoulder strap which was the original design. The painting itself was scandalous; so much exposed skin. This work was not a commission. She intrigued him. Her mother asked Sargent to please repaint the strap. Sargent eventually did repaint the strap and he kept the painting for thirty-two years.

From the Met: On January 8, 1916, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) offered to sell his masterpiece Madame X to the Met. Writing from his home in London to his longtime friend and Met Director Edward "Ned" Robinson, Sargent explained, "my portrait of Mme. Gautreau is now . . . at the San Francisco exhibition, and now that it is in America I rather feel inclined to let it stay there if a Museum should want it. I suppose it is the best thing I have done. I would let the Metropolitan Museum have it for £1,000."

A Photographic Study.

Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast, 1882-1883. I knew this work was familiar - we viewed it last summer in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau

Claude Monet was a great friend and here you see he and his future wife Alice in Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood

This is of artist Ernest-Ange Duez. I knew I’d viewed the work before because it’s part of the permanent collection of the Montclair Art Museum.

I always try and grab an image overlooking the Petrie Court.

The weather was glorious on our way to our next stop.

We headed to Bemelmans Bar. Nothing better than a Pisco Sour and live music surrounded by wonderful artwork to close our our fabulous day in the City.

The Met had this book which I already own Sargent The Masterworks in the gift shop of the exhibit. It’s a wonderful book filled with tons facts and amazing images. I highly recommend. It’s a coffee table book and more!

I’ve listed past articles about the Met below. Til next time friends be well and I’ll see you on Instagram!

As I shared last week my sister and I took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, VA. in September. I wish I lived closer it’s truly a special place. Our Dad Jim loved it there and so do his girls!

We arrived Thursday September 19th and in part 1 I shared days 1 and 2. This week I’m sharing days 3 and 4 of our visit. On Saturday morning we drove directly to Colonial Williamsburg bypassing the visitors center - knowing we could park our car behind Christiana Campbell’s Tavern where we were dining that evening. There are streets that allow car traffic.

It was fabulous being on Duke of Gloucester Street so early in the day.

Since we’d already toured the first half of the street yesterday - we started our day at the Robert Carter House. We met the docent on the side porch. We ended up having a private tour when no others showed up. Colonial Williamsburg is using the Carter home for research by studying the constructions and renovations of the structure. Look at this door - one side is 6 panels on the interior room side and the other side facing the entry hall is 4 panels. They were married with nails to each other. Another interesting fact carpet looms produced 27” wide width of carpeting. So these pieces were bound together to make full rooms width and for many years this was the method for creating wall to wall carpeting.

Oh the wonderful George Wythe House it’s filled with colorful wallpapers and beautiful furnishings. I took this same image from this same position when I was in Williamsburg in 2008 with my husband.

After the Wythe house we popped back over to the Governor’s Palace so my sister could walk through the Boxwood Maze.

After lunching outside at Chowning’s Tavern Garden we toured Bruton Parish Church.

The Church was established in 1674. In 1678, Colonel John Page,a wealthy colonist, donated a plot of land about 144 feet by 180 feet and £20 sterling for building a brick church and for the surrounding churchyard. That structure was undersized for the need of the community and Governor Alexander Spotswood drafted plans for the structure: a cruciform-shaped church (the first in Virginia)75 feet long, 28 feet wide, with 14½-foot long transepts (wings.) Construction began under the watchful eye of James Blair, rector from 1710 to 1743 and also president of William and Mary. The present structure was completed in 1715.

Next we stopping at the Courthouse. We enjoyed the most marvelous talk. The docent shared so many interesting facts. The courthouse once housed two separate court systems, one being the James City County Court, responsible for carrying out county cases, and the other, the Hustings Court, responsible for the city of Williamsburg’s cases. The courthouse was where Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence aloud on July 25, 1776, after it arrived from Philadelphia. (I wished I had a photo of the docent!)

We walked back across Duke of Gloucester Street and walked around an open market. We weren’t able to tour the Magazine because it’s under major restoration currently. But, we were able to visit the guard house. The young soldier in the photo below gave the most incredible talk. He spoke about the expansion of the Colonies and America and how during the Revolution we always thought the Colonies cut off ties with England and didn’t receive goods. But, that was not true. America was in no way fully manufacturing items to sustain daily life.

The Magazine was constructed in 1715 as a storage facility for arms and ammunition dispatched from London for the defense of the Colony.

The delightful docent in the Weaver Shop is originally from New Jersey. She advised the length of time it took to weave even the smallest piece of fabric therefore during the Revolution the colonies were in fact still importing fabric from England.

We shopped at: Tarpley, Thompson & Co., William Pitt Store, Prentis Store and John Greenhow.

Of course we stopped in at the Williamsburg Inn Restoration Bar for a yummy cocktail before heading to Christiana Campbell’s Tavern for our 7pm dinner reservation. The meal was delicious in a marvelous setting and because we drove we were able to truly relax and enjoy dinner.

On our final full day we visited the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. We enjoyed historic furniture, folk art, ceramics, pottery, as well as a great side by side slide show of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1920’s prior to the Rockefeller led restoration. We enjoyed lunch in the cafe. before walking to The Wren Building on the campus of William and Mary and then popping into some of the Market Square Shops.

We walked over to The Wren Building on the William & Mary campus and into some of the Merchant’s Square Shops before heading back to our Air BnB to relax and change for dinner.

Our dinner at the Fat Canary was brilliant. Our server recommended wine pairings to complement our dishes. If you’re in the area enjoy this exceptional experience for yourself!

I didn’t bring home much but I love a few postcards for my collection (I have from almost everywhere I go). I have a new key-chain with the Williamsburg crest on it and I bought a Christmas ornament. I love these apothecary jars Once home I scoured Etsy and came across a Colonial Williamsburg booklet for the entire campus and one for the Governor’s Palace as well as the book A Window on Williamsburg. All three of these items were in my house growing up. I don’t know what happened to them - and I’m thrilled to have found these replacements. I also sewed two pillow slipcovers for my sister from fabric she purchased from Tarpley, Thompson & Co. which is part of the Colonial Williamsburg Collection.

To say this was a marvelous trip is an understatement. I love spending time with my sister and I am blessed to be able to enjoy many adventures with her. Til next time friends I’ll see you over on Instagram be well.