A Visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Now, before you come to the conclusion that I'm a philistine when it comes to art, know that I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Museum and encourage you to visit should you find yourself in the area. I even enjoyed some of the works I made light of in the previous three posts.

The building itself is quite impressive.

Starting with the entrance hall.

The scale is massive. And as we wandered the galleries it seemed there was always another hall or room. Almost TARDIS like.

The size allowed for installations of actual sections of buildings (and even entire buildings in some areas), enhancing the feel of the collections. It may not be obvious, but through the center opening in the image below is a temple, showing the carved stone as it would have been, allowing one to walk through and around the artwork.

I almost want to go back just to photograph the structure.

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One current exhibit, that I enjoyed much more than I had expected, was that on Victorian Dress and Dolls.

The exhibit was very well done presenting not only the fashions and toys but also the context, captured well by this quote (one of many such throughout).

A different time. Although perhaps one we aren't completely removed from.

The dolls and their accessories such as this curious fly pin* were both for play, and to teach young girls the proper ways of fashionable society.

As with Lady's dress, the dolls had items for every social occasion.

While these social norms were developed in England, they traveled across the pond to the United States. But as the US was expanding, the expectations were a bit different, as seen by this quote from a rather curiously named source.

I can certainly agree with such sentiments.

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One exhibit that did not resonate with me was the Fabulous Fashion display. But I did see this item for sale in the gift shop.

Perfect for next years Winter Solstice gathering.

But don't get to close to the fire!

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A few other items that caught my eye.

My plant geek friends will appreciate these two.

Amelia Bergner, Five Botanical Specimens

Philip Taaffe, Nephrodium dicompositum

Look closely and you'll see Patty's reflection in the ferns.

And you'd expect me to like this one, no?

Crimson-Horned Pheasant, unknown Indian artist

The statue below and the pheasant above are both in the extensive Oriental art collection.

Jina Seated in Meditation, unknown Indian artist

The statue is approximately one thousand years old.

Also in this collection were several Japanese scrolls, including this one.

Nishimura Shige, Fireflies over a Stream

Behind plexiglass shields they were difficult to photograph; you can see my reflection in the image. I quite enjoy this style of work.

Noguchi Shohin, Mountains in Autumn

Here's another, showing the plexiglass shield.

I'll end with this one:

Pieter van der Heyden, The Stone Operation, or the Witch of Malleghem

Which dates from 1559. What was Mr. van der Heyden smoking?

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While I've been to other museums in far away lands, this was my first visit to my 'local' museum. And I liked it so much it won't be my last.

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* We were joined in our outing by our friend Jenn, and and when I noted I might blog about our museum visit, she questioned how this would fit in to my "nature blog". This fly is for you Jenn! And really, a fly pin? Not the first insect that springs to mind when thinking fashionable elegance.