Leighton House Museum London

Dear Art Lover,

    Thanks to painter Vicki Sullivan in Australia, I was told about the Lord Leighton House/Studio and Museum in London.  Frederick (Lord) Leighton lived from 1830 to 1896.  He is probably most famous for his painting Flaming June, which consists of a sleeping curled-up young woman in a flowing semi-transparent orange gown.  I would include the image here, but I already have one image for each letter of the alphabet in this post!  Perhaps you know the work already: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_June

     As logistics would have it, I ended up exiting the tube (subway/metro) at Holland Park and thought that I would walk south to the museum.  I do not know much about London and it was a lovely day for taking a walk anyway.  Holland Park is a charming little getaway when one needs a Nature fix.  And they have a pretty good public sculpture collection started that enhanced my stroll.
    

     I must say that I found it difficult to locate street signs in London.  However, sometimes I missed “the obvious” because the signs were large and low, so it very well could just have been my training to look up.  However, on this pair of signs shown, I must ask you, which side is the actual Abbotsbury Road?
    

     I have also decided that the Lord Leighton House just might be one of London’s best kept secrets.  It was a little difficult to find (my map was too simplified and I do not own a smart phone with GPS or online access).  More than half of the locals I asked for directions as I neared had no idea of what I was asking about.  The two who did told me that it was worth the search.

     Allora, as you enter the ground floor (after paying a seven British Pound fee, there are five rooms, one being a square sort of corridor that houses the wide staircase and shows off a stuffed male peacock.  Beyond that is a “red room” that appeared to be a possible dining room [no photo here].  A large and fairly empty room with an out-jutting area for sitting.  I actually do not remember seeing a kitchen.



     The main attraction on that floor is the chapel.  Or Turkish bath?  Anyway, you can tell where the artist’s taste lies.  It is pretty impressive and I wondered what it was like to live with such a space…fancier than any place that I have ever lived.

      To the left of that gorgeous room is a more English-looking study.  I love sketches and was thrilled that this image turned out.  [No photos are permitted at all in the home.]  You may see the figure for the Flaming June on the back left.  I love sketches.. in fact, I often like the preparatory sketches better than the final painting.  I have yet to pin down exactly why, but in general, the sketches seem more touchable.

     Once up the stairs, this exotic sitting space overlooking the Turkish room is the first one you see. And having lived in Florence, Italy, so long, it is impossible not to know who is the monk Savonarola.  However, I had no idea that he has a chair named after him!

    To the left is another sitting room with a fireplace (and peacock feathers sit in front of it).  I especially enjoy this circular composition by Frederic Leighton, Boy Saving a Baby from the Clutches of an Eagle, c. 1850-1852.  I found his slightly odd play of shadows over the figures interesting and I enjoy how the boy and the eagle fill the space with sort of parallel diagonals.

     The bedroom is sparsely furnished, but I am not sure if it is because this is not the original furniture and they kept things minimal or if the artist truly lived this simply.  The Web site says that Lord Leighton lived alone in that huge house, so that may explain the single bed as well.  No need for clutter in a space that large for only one man.

     Looking back into the stairway, one sees some truly lovely paintings.  I was especially enchanted with the one of the old bearded man (father, doctor?) hovering over a reclining boy.

     And finally we move into the studio.. how grande!  And I love the warm colors.  Most of Lord Leighton’s art is NOT in this house anymore.  I guess that is one of the perks of being famous.  However, I still enjoyed my visit. 

     I was intrigued by the ceiling window.  It looks as if there are various configurations possible up there for having or not having a certain light enter the room.  I wanted to know more . . .  Note also at the end I show you two snapshots of the large lawn in the back of the house.  I do not know much about London, but I suspect that is some costly real estate!  When I left, I walked along the Kensington area and took a bus down to Trafalgar Square… but likely I will write about my visit to the National Gallery in my next art newsletter (go to my site http://BorsheimArts.com to sign up for THAT subscription).

To read more about the Leighton House and Studio, as well as connected museums, check out:
https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum/aboutthehouse.aspx

 

     I am not above taking a donation.  Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog.  Thank you.  [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]

Peace,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Winona Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Dear Art Lover,

     I hope that you do not mind these “flashbacks.”  There is so much I have wanted to share with you over these past several months, but life just kept going full speed.  However, my home in Italia is not ready yet.  Sadly, my future landlord’s wife died from cancer several weeks ago.  So, you might imagine that he did not have an enjoyable summer and, of course, repairing a house was not a priority.  As I wait in LimboLand, with few art-making tools with me, I write.

    During my travels this summer around the USA, I stopped in the familiar town of Winona, Minnesota.  My Aunt Carole was anxious to show me an amazing new museum and we had a wonderful time there, before joining up with my Uncle Alan for lunch and more visitations.  This museum is called the Minnesota Marine Art Museum [MMAM].  You may find them at http://www.mmam.org

     There is such a lovely layout of the grounds along the Mississippi River that includes lots of xeriscaping plants.  We passed a student classroom being fully utilized, as well as the obligatory gift shop.  This gift shop featured more original local art than most I have ever seen and if I had not been luggage-challenged already, I would have bought some art. 
    
     The museum inside is spacious with cozy colors and even a reading area that is not segregated from the art, as is often the case with most museums.  And they are taking care of their surprisingly good collection with tastefully done safe doors.  I say surprisingly because my godparents raised their family in this town and I have spent many a summer as a youth coming to Winona.  We never imagined the city hosting an art museum of this caliber. 

     While they have changing exhibitions (such as The Wood Engravings of Winslow Homer), I include only one artwork from them in this blog post.  They appear to be focusing on American and some European artists and, naturally, a water-based theme.  But let us face it:  That hardly narrows the subject matter a lot! 

     And since [George] Washington Crossing the Delaware was touted as the pride and joy of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, I included several snapshots of it here.  Oh, and pardon the crooked images.  I was lucky to have safely broken the rules this many times.  The George Washington painting is one of several versions floating around in the universe and therefore must have had a very public appeal.  So, without further ado, here are some of the paintings that most appealed to me.

The Brook, 1894, Daniel Ridgway Knight [pardon reflections]

Water Lilies, 1917, Edward Henry Potthast 

Water Lilies [detail], 1917, Edward Henry Potthast [reminds me of J. Sorolla] 

Formerly exhibited in the West Wing of the White House:  Washington Crossing The Delaware 1851, Emanuel Leutze

Formerly exhibited in the West Wing of the White House:  Washington Crossing The Delaware 1851, Emanuel Leutze

Washington Crossing The Delaware [detail] 1851, Emanuel Leutze

 More art below...

     I am not above taking a donation.  Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog.  Thank you.  [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]

Peace,
Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Winslow Homer, 1873

Little Caldwell’s Island, 1940, Andrew Wyeth

The Warning, 2007, Jamie Wyeth

The Warning [detail], 2007, Jamie Wyeth

William Frederick de Haas, 1879

Vincent Van Gogh, 1882:  unexpected!  

Alfred Stevens, 1884, from Belgium

Pescia Italy Gipsoteca Libero Andreotti Sculpture

Dear Art Lover,

     Last spring while still in Italy, I house-hunted a lot.  I asked all of my Italian friends for information and visited several in order to see potential homes for my fall return.  In the process, I got to visit some nearby cities in which I had spent little or no time.  Pescia was one such town.  Pescia lies in Tuscany, halfway between Pistoia and Lucca.  It is about an hour and ten minutes by train from Florence.

     My friends and I found a parking space, crossed the River Pescia and walked pretty much straight into the Piazza del Palagio, which houses the Palazzo del Podestà.  Inside, one will discover the Gipsoteca, a collection of plaster sculptures from the studio of the late Libero Andreotti.  The building dates back to the 12^th century, but the renovation is well done and the plaster sculptures feel right at home there.
     The lower level is used for changing exhibitions and we were fortunate enough to see “Passio XTI – la Fede rappresentata”  There were thirty three works of art (2-d and a few 3-d), representing the passion of the Christ.  I must say that I was very surprised to see this small town and museum have TWO xylography works (woodcuts) by Albrecht Dürer!  There were many other lovely Christian works there, but I have so many images to share today of the sculpture …

Albrecht Dürer from 1519

Albrecht Dürer from 1503

     Allora, there was so much sculpture to see that, really, I was thrilled by this surprise.  As we entered the top floor via the staircase, I saw this portrait bust of a young boy… hung from a shelf attached to the ceiling!  What a greeting!


     I really enjoy the movement in the greyhound dogs.  The work of Libero Andreotti feels very human to me and captures simple, but often profound, moments in our lives.

     Bas relief sculpture is so difficult to do well.  I have found and show my students that the lighting during one’s work is necessary for success.  Relief sculpture is not just “puffy painting” (as I once told my workshop instructor Eugene Daub).  It is compressed form.  But even that will not work, if the lighting is not well done and specific in the creation and exhibition.  Eugene knows this better than most:  he carved coins and such, as well as many other sculptures.

   
     However, I was charmed by bas relief when I saw the story-telling applications possible.  I especially enjoy mixed relief levels, such as on the Gates of Paradise in Florence:  Flatter, more coin-like levels (true bas [low] relief) and as the foreground advances, it becomes more high relief.  Sometimes the figures in front are totally realized in the round!  But, I digress . . . as I do.  I hope you enjoy these images and can go see this collection in Pescia.  There is so much more than I was able to show here.

For more information, including open hours, visit:
http://www.comune.pescia.pt.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/63
[There is an English section if you scroll down the page.]


     I am not above taking a donation.  Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog.  Thank you.  [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]

Peace,
Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com