Yesterday was a town day. Lunch at Whole Foods and a visit to the Museum of Art on Congress Street. Portland is an interesting city with an nice arts district and a lot of history. Many great artists came from Maine or made it their home. The Wyeth family, which now includes three generations of great painters, is the highlight of a trip to the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, up Highway 1 along the coast. I visited it last fall when I was here and had a hard time pulling myself away. "Curtain Call," by Andrew Wyeth, although not showing at the Farnsworth, is a nice example of his work and a favorite of mine. That red coat against the starkness of the interior...
Yesterday, during a visit to the museum in Portland, I was quite taken with a piece by Renoir titled, "Confidences." I love studying certain paintings to see what might have been in the artist's mind as he, or she, made a stroke with their paintbrush, laying down color and line, creating form out of imagination and life experience. I can easily be drawn into the emotions of a piece, the mood, the light, and what it evokes; it invites me to relate to it in a way that feels personal, yet universal. I love the little areas of color that somehow make it come alive for me. The traditional poppies, this time in his female figure's hat, are always a nice touch, but yesterday it was her red shoes that caught my attention and held me there, wanting to investigate every corner, every bit of color he chose. I could have stayed and lived inside that painting for quite awhile. Here is an image, although the shoes do not come through nearly as fetching as they are in person:
After pulling myself away, and before heading home, it was back to the grocery store and a trip through the produce section. It was like an ocean of color, a living, almost breathing, work of art.
A nice day. Food for the body, food for the soul, and a banquet for the eyes.
I must tell you that I worked at WF after leaving Bass Pro. I loved that place, the food, the people, the colors, the fruit, the veggies, oooh...and the breads. I could go on and on... Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteWF is a feast for the eyes, soul, and body. I just wish I had more will power when it came to the bread, yum! Red shoes are my soul's bread. Even when window shopping I'm drawn to them. But I sometimes wonder about this because there's a very, very old European fairy tale where a young girl had to wear her red shoes to church...then considered vanity...the red shoes wouldn't stop dancing...more vanity...only way to resolve the vanity was to have the foot/shoe chopped off. Yipes! I couldn't help but wonder if Renoir had this story in mind when he painted the red shoes...lovely post, Teresa. As always you fed my soul!
ReplyDeleteWF really knows how to display their produce don't they. I'm always standing and staring at it!
ReplyDeleteLove the food pics! Wish we had a Whole Foods closer to us.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I travel I make a point to visit a local grocery store--even in Iceland and England. I remember the gorgeous produce display I once saw while traveling. I had to stop and take it all in even though I wasn't shopping. It makes you wonder--is it beautiful because it's good to eat or do we eat it because it's beautiful?
ReplyDeleteThose veggies are just gorgeous! That green grocer is an artist, too, isn't he/she? It's hard to resist a display like that! Your perspective on Andrew Wyeth's paintings was fun to read.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos and with the art. Wyeth is such a fine artist and his red coat painting has that window that always favored prominently in his work. Very revealing post. You write like you may never come West again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone, for reading and taking the time to comment.
ReplyDeleteKittie, Yes, there's a touch of decadence in those red shoes : )
Jack, the West is in my blood. I will be back...