Returning Home
In late April I returned to my hometown (Oakland, California) to visit my Aunt Marge who was about to turn 100.
I grew up living a block from my aunt and grandmother and would see them almost every day when I'd stop by after school to walk grandma's dog Pierre. I'd collect a coin and a slice of my grandma's fresh baked bread for my efforts.
My family roots in the Golden State date back to the gold rush. To say my grandma was indomitable would be an understatement. She was born in 1897 in Sacramento. When asked she could recall what she was doing the day of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake (she was 9). It made a real impression on her when family friends, who'd gone to San Francisco for the day, never came home. She could also point out exactly where Sacramento's opium dens once thrived. Her toughness came in part from experiencing the trauma of abandonment when her father left for the Alaskan Klondike when she was just 3 or 4. A few years later an adored boyfriend did exactly the same thing. Loss was a hallmark of her life.
Now in 2023, Aunt Marge is nearly the last of our family to call California home. At 100 she is alert and quick to point out she has all of her own teeth. Marge was stunningly beautiful. She adored going to movies, never missed church, wore perfectly tailored clothes (many she made herself) and kept her cars in meticulous condition.
She began working for the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad (the "SP") at a time when American railroads owned the nations transportation network (and when SP employment came with a lifetime pension and health care). Now, tired of paying those benefits, the SP periodically calls to confirm she is still alive.
This trip also allowed me to visit long time friends and indulge in one of my passions; the art of John Singer Sargent. Prior to its closing on May 12 "Sargent in Spain" was on exhibit at the Legion of Honor (what we used to call the California Palace of the Legion of Honor).
The Legion of Honor
The Legion of Honor is a treasure in itself. It was a gift to San Francisco in 1924 from the flamboyant socialite Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (wife of the Spreckels sugar magnate).
Stunning Golden Gate Views From Lincoln Park
The museum design came when the French government gave Alma permission to construct a precise replica of the French pavilion from San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. The pavilion at the Exhibition was a faithful 3/4 replica of the Paris' Palais de la Légion d'Honneur. I find it amazing how many of our most iconic national landmarks (the Space Needle, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry etc.) are the direct result of participation in Worlds Fairs. An interesting aside, the US gave up eligibility to host future worlds fairs thanks to President Reagan who stopped paying our annual dues to the Bureau International des Exhibitions (BIE).
Museum construction was delayed during WWI and, when opened in 1924, was dedicated to California's soldiers killed in the "Great War".
Interestingly enough, the museum was built in Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park has its own odd history. It was built over the former Golden Gate cemetery and potters field. The City in creating the park in 1909 first had to exhume and move the remains from the mainly Chinese cemetery. The process was haphazard with some bodies moved to Colma and misc. body parts showing up all over the park for years. The Museum is literally built over the dead (during its 1993 renovations they unearthed 700 human remains).
Lincoln Park was named to commemorate it being the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway (the coast-to-coast highway whose eastern terminus begins in Times Square).
Among other masterworks, the Legion of Honor houses a pretty comprehensive amazing collection of sculptures by Rodin (it was built when Rodin's art could be purchased directly from the artist's studio).
I'll always remember the museum from Hitchcock's Vertigo. It was here that Kim Novak went to gaze endlessly at the (fictitious) portrait of Carlotta Valdes.
John Singer Sargent in Spain 1856-1925
The Singer in Spain Exhibition was curated by Washington DC's National Gallery or Art. In January it traveled to San Francisco. The exhibit examines Sargent's time spent in Spain and its profound influence on his art.
The artwork presented emphasizes the influence of Sargent's seven extended visits to Spain between 1879 and 1912. The 140 oils, watercolors, drawings and photographs displayed reflect the early influences of Diego Velázquez (from his time spent in Madrid's Prado) and his appreciation of Spanish Roma life. The Roma works led to his 1882 masterpiece El Jaleo (The Ruckus) displayed in Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I also appreciated seeing his study sketches for the murals in the Boston Public Library.
In his time John Singer Sargent was arguably the world's most prominent society portraitist artist. In 1907 (at age 51) he retired from portraiture and went on to travel with wealthy friends exploring architecture and landscapes.
Although his work was eventually marginalized by the modernist critics, his posthumous rehabilitation is certainly complete. Even Andy Warhol commented that Sargent "made everybody look glamorous. Taller. Thinner. But they all have mood, every one of them has a different mood"
Here are some of my favorite items from the exhibit.
A Falucho
(Port of Palma 1908 Cincinnati Art Museum)
Sargent was intrigued by ships and this painting portrays a working sailing ship at port. The shimmer of the water showcases Sargent's impressionist skills. Note the perfect minimalist brushwork capturing the joy of the two boys swimming below the hull. To me this painting evokes many of the paintings of his Spanish contemporary (and a personal favorite) Joaquin Sorolla. Sorolla's painting "and they still say fish is expensive" in the Museo del Prado literally bought me to tears.
Spanish Roma Woman
(1879-1882 The Metropolitan Museum of New York)
Like so many of Sargent's portraits, Roma Woman stopped me in my tracks. The woman's serene expression conveys wisdom and leaves the viewer knowing that the subject led a rich life. Sargent possessed a genuine affection for the Roma people at a time when they were outcasts in Spanish society.
La Carmencita (Carmen Dauset Moreno)
(1890 The Musée d'Orsay)
La Carmencita Dancing
(1890 Private Collection)
Sargent met La Carmencita in New York and produced the two vivid and rich paintings above. The first is exquisitely formal and the second literally explodes with the energy of flamenco evoking his famous El Jaleo. Notice the hand with two fingers withdrawn to play castanets.
I find it interesting that dancers are frequently portrayed that way. Fred Astaire also frequently danced with two middle fingers withdrawn. While not playing castanets, in his quest for perfection, Astaire withdrew the fingers to de-emphasize his (in his opinion) overly long hands.
Spanish Woman
(1879-1880 Private Collection)
There were no notes on this painting, but the use of shadow, the flow of her hair, and intensity of her gaze is breathtaking.
Street in Venice
(1882 The National Gallery of Art)
So many elements in this painting seem disconcerting to me. The young woman, lost in thought and wearing clothes seemingly in tatters, is being gazed upon ominously by one of the the dark characters leaning against the wall behind her. While not portraying Spain this painting was included as it suggests the influence of Diego Velázquez.
Study for the Boston Public Library Special Collections Hall
(1895-1900 The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
All in all a wonderful trip, topped off by an amazing brunch complete with the best waffles I've ever eaten. Thank you Dorothy!
Roadboy's Travels © 2023
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