Last Part of the Delaware Visit

We spent some time dining with the relatives. Here is cousin Cathy.

We had a wonderful breakfast with cousin Cheryl and here is Don's Mom too.

Here is Don with his cousin Cheryl.

We went to see the new Michael Moore movie with Don's Mom. I thought it was excellent. I have always been fascinated by the rich colors of the Cinema there near Chalfonte.

It is huge and they have this whole Oscar motif thing going!

We did more than attend th cinema arts. We went in for fine arts too! Here is the Delaware Art museum.

Behind that upper bank of windows is the Chihuly bridge. Here is a blow up of the image above - you can see some of the glass behind the reflection of the trees.

The museum website has a better view of it and from the inside.

There is a lovely sculpture garden in front of the museum. The trees were beginning to turn, so it was a very pleasant place to stroll.

Unfortunately I did not write down the names of the pieces.

This kinetic sculpture was twisting around rapidly because we had so much wind on the day that we were there.

The museum is best known for its collection of Pre-Raphaelite work. It has quite a few Dante Gabrile Rosetti paintings including Lady Lilith below. (All images are linked from the museum's web site).

This is by Edward Burne-Jones and is called The Prioress' Tale.

This is Rosetti's Veronica Veronese. He painted it in 1872.

This is Rosetti's La Bella Mano painted in 1875 in conjunction with a sonnet.

This Edward Hopper piece (Summertime) was absolutely fascinating and I'm not sure why. I think it relates to the fact that the white-clad woman dominates this image of summertime despite her diminutive size. The gauzy quality of the skirt that allows the viewer to see her right thigh somehow resonates with the curtain nearby and suggests a summer breeze.

The museum has a large exhibit on illustrators such as Norman Rockwell and Howard Pyle. The one below is called Sylvia's Troubles. Pyle did it in 1882.

Pyle started a school for illustrators and one of his students was Ellen Bernard Thompson. She ended up marrying Howard's brother Walter and had a good career working for the Saturday Evening Post. Below is a detail of a painting she did using her sisters as models.

Here is a portrait of the artist. They have a wonderful exhibit on her.

This is one of her covers.

I'm not positive, but i believe this is also one of Ellen Pyle's pieces.

I enjoyed the contemporary exhibit the most of all. There were a couple of really great pieces. One was Swan Motel by George Segal. It is a very dark piece with a sculptural woman with a black bag slung over her shoulder. Tiny electric lights simulate the traffic and lights of the big city. This was his last piece dating from 1999 (He died in June of 2000).

Another completely fascinating piece was by Richard Cleaver and is called Queen's Closet. It is a wardrobe covered in nails and pearls. It comemorates the wives of Henry the Eighth. On the back is written: Divorced Beheaded Died Divorced Beheaded Survived.

Here is a detail.

After the museum we drove home through some pretty old and interesting neighborhoods.

A goodbye dinner was held at Harry's a favorite local place. There are all kinds of large plastic (but mostly tasteful) animal heads on the walls. We always enjoy going there.

The next day we would be up early and loading ourselves and things into the car in preparation for our trip home.