It was a little 'dream vacation' and Hyla and Kathy enjoyed serving them tea as the morning light and bird sounds from our balcony created a day–dreamy atmosphere and our back to back couches had never served their purpose so well.
The exhibit at the Norton Simon was the second of a two part show. The
first part , which we saw many times, focused on the Blue Four artists (Paul Klee, Vasily Kandinsky, Alexei Jawlensky and Lyonel Feininger). This exhibit, Galka Scheyer and the Avant–Garde. featured
twenty other artists whose works Scheyer collected, some favorites, and others
we did not know. Here is a work we liked especially, by Kurt Scwitters, Erfurt, a collage
with pasted paper, cloth, watercolor, and pencil on paper.
At the Getty Museum, we were anxious to see these incredible Flemish manuscripts, displayed beautifully. The ornamentation with gold leaf and especially the natural images of animals and flowers were especially inspiring.
The lofty setting of the J. Paul Getty Museum in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains brings to mind our climb up the mountain in Tehran. (The museum does have a restaurant, but only one, though.) And there is a shuttle train that one takes up the hill. One reads that it is possible to walk, but we did not see where to walk at the time. We'll try that next time.
Here from the heights, one looks down on the city of Los Angeles. A maze seems the appropriate Los Angeles symbol!
The stone squares that cover much of the Getty center are travertine, delivered in 100 freighter voyages from Bagni di Tivoli, Italy. Romans used travertine from the same quarry to build the Coliseum.
The other exhibit that we were happy not to have missed at the Getty, focused on
European images from nature (1400–1800). What began as fantastic decorations on illuminated manuscripts became the center of the artist's eye.
This is one of Hyla's favorite paintings. Still Life with a bowl of Citrons, late 1640's, tempura on vellum. It is by a woman artist
of that time, Giovanna Garzoni (Italian, 1600–1670).
We continued our conversations while we looked and sketched. It was a beautiful and memorable experience to share.
Hyla and Tracy enjoyed our guest suite. Here they are packing up, getting ready to go home, but what should appear...
A happy visit, and many smiles later, it's time to drive back to Santa Barbara.
