Getty Villa with Penny and Tom on Monday

After a great breakfast at Back On The Beach and hanging out at the Marion Davis Guest House at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica, we made our way to the Getty Museum in Malibu.

The Architectural Tour given by a great docent introduced is the Villa and the life of the Romans at their summer home on the Bay of Naples in Herculaneum.  Herculaneum and Pompeii were buried by 60 feet of mud and ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  The Getty Museum was designed to replicate a villa that was excavated beginning in the 1700's.  The excavation continues today.

The docent identified the key architectural elements of large villas of the day and described the life of the rich and famous.  The property is pristine especially after a major renovation a few years ago.

The museum has an amazing collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysus and the Theater, and Stories of the Trojan War.

A mosaic fountain in a side garden

Detail of the floor and walls of what would have been the family's dining room.  Romans dined on couches propping themselves up with their left arm.

One side of the main garden.

The villa from the main garden

Venus (Aphrodite to the Greeks) in all her charm is carved from marble found in Rome A.D. 100-200

Head of a Man made in Turkey about 1 B.C.

The garden pool may have used to keep fish on which the residence dined.  The Romans were proud of the food that they grew in their gardens and on their estates and served them to impressed visitors.

Victorious Athlete crowned with an olive wreath, Greek 200 B.C.

The Lansdowne Herakles, 125 A.D. One of J.Paul Getty's most prized possessions.  The marble statue represents the Greek hero Herakles with his lion skin and club.  It was discovered near the villa of the Roman emperor Hadrian (ruled A.D.127-138 at Tivoli, Italy

The Lion Attaching a Horse, Greek 325-300 B.C. restored in Rome in 1594
The equine torso and the feline head and foreparts are all that remain of the original work - the horse's head and both animals missing limbs and tails were restored in a smoother marble during the Renaissance.
This piece is in the atrium of the villa and covers a small pool. It is on loan from the Roma Capitole Museum.

Another view of the interior courtyard

Cycladic female figures may have represented concubines meant to accompany deceased males to their graves.....Perhaps 2700 B.C.

Youth as a Lamp Bearer, Roman, 20-10 B.C.; found in Pompeii, bronze, copper and glass.  It was discovered in 1925 in a well appointed home in Pompeii now known as the House of the Ephebe.

Another view of the interior courtyard

Huntington Gardens' Mausoleum

Colleen and I enjoyed attending the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens' annual Ball held on the grounds around the mausoleum of Henry and Arabella Huntington in San Marino on Saturday night.  The mausoleum was designed by John Russell Pope to resemble a Greek temple.  The classic circular peristyle (double colonnade) and dome reminds you of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. Pope used the mausoleum design in the construction of the memorial to Jefferson.  There are four panels sculpted by John Gregory that represent the four seasons of life and nature.

The beautifully lighted Mausoleum, trees and grounds made a dramatic setting for a beautiful party.  Thank you Stan and Judith for inviting us.

Norton Simon Museum Thursday

I love the ambiance and the great art at this Pasadena jewel. The large Rodin bronzes great you walking toward the entrance. Then you are pulled to experience the gorgeous gardens straight on or to the galleries to the right and left. I chose the European paintings from the 1600's to the 1800's and found these paintings that have special meaning for me.

"Evening in the Meadows", mid-1650s,  by Aelbert Cuye (iDutch, 1620-1691)
This vivid painting depicts the serene simple life of rural life in Holland with the beautiful massive cows, diligent milk maid, the reflective river with sail boats with an amazing sky.

"The beautiful Country Woman," 1732 by Francois Boucher, French, 1703-1770.
The artist beautifully paints the simple life of a French women and her three "scruffy children."
The description states " Boucher has rendered a Dutch-inspired still life of copper pots and plump root vegetables to underscore the association between peasant life, simplicity and closeness to nature."

"The shoemaker's Shop", Quiringh Gerritsz van Brekelenkam, Dutch 1620-1668
The artist was known for his paintings depicting shoemakers, tailors, and other tradesmen in the seventeenth century Holland.  Again this artist displays a still life of furnishing and objects.  One can imagine approaching this shop from the street and bringing shoes to be mended or making an order for new shoes through the window of the shoemaker and wife's quarters.

"St. Ignatius of Loyola"1620-1622 by Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640
Rubens was a prosperous painter for the churches and religious of Europe.  I have visited his studio and home in Antwerp, Belgium where he had several assistants helping him produce impressive works.  I think of him as a painter of angels, heaven and other celestial objects in a very detailed style.  In this painting of St. Ignatius, he displays his skill in the flair of the Saint's brocaded chasuble.  The description next to the painting states that Rubens created an artistic language fully adapted to the Counter-Reformation movement, which stressed the heroic, emotion and ascertic aspects of the saints' lives.  This was painted for the mother church of the Jesuit order in Rome Il Gesu.

Horace Bernet's "A Soldier on the Field of Battle, 1818.  The painter was French and lived from 1789-1863.
This was painted a few years after the French defeat at Waterloo and Napoleon's exile. It strongly depicts the horror of war.

Roaming in Redondo Beach on Wednesday

After a great lunch at Kincaid's restaurant on the water with friend Judy, I found a small gallery row on Francisca Ave.  Cannery Row Studios is at 604 N. Francisa and 608 Gallery is next door on a small alley like street just off of Catalina Ave.  Both were closed, but the owner let me into the delightful 608 Gallery.  It features local artists with frequent shows of their work.  I particularily enjoyed the work of artist Eve Pericich from San Pedro but originally from Croatia.  After a long career in education, she is now focusing on her creative life.She uses acrylic collage to create vivid, intricate portraits and scenes.  Her colors "pop" and I was very tempted to buy at least one of them.

The Beach

Cave Near Terranea

The Cliffs

Memories of Haiti

My Lunch

The Artist

Russians and a Pole are Coming

Twenty-nine year old Polish conductor,  Krazysztof Urbanski, led the L.A. Phil in an all Russian evening of music. Urbanski was born in Pabianice, Poland in 1982.
The first half of the concert featured Russian pianist, Denis Matseuv.  The thirty-seven year old Matseuv was born in Irkutsk, Russia where he studied music before moving to Moscow when he was 15 with his parents to continue his studies.  The orchestra and Matseuv performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major.  This was followed by Matseuv performing alone on Stravinsky's selections from Petrushka including the Russian Dance and Shrovetide Fair.

Michele Zukovsky, Principal Clarinet, was featured.

The second half of the concert was Shastakovich's Symphony No. 10 in E minor.

Nathan Cole, left, is the First Associate Concertmaster

Catherine Ransom Karoly, Associate Principal Flute and Ariana
Ghez,  Principal Oboe

Denis Matsuev in his vigorous performances of Russian music.  He was given a standing ovation and he gifted an on core performance.

The clarinets with Whitney Crockett, principal bassoon.

"Searching for Sugar Man"

This documentary movie tells a compelling story about a lost Detroit musician who was "bigger than Elvis" in South Africa. I was moved and highly enjoyed the movie.

Moonlight over the Bowl

On Sunday, Colleen, sisters Bridgette and Noreen, and I enjoyed a tribute to Paramount Pictures' 100th Anniversary.  The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by David Newman played memorable film score to an array of Paramount's most famous pictures.  Jason Alexander hosted and guests included composers.  The films were projected on a big screen above the orchestra.  They included "Breakfast at Tiffany's" ,"The God Father", "Titanic", "Indiana Jones", and others.  Twas a beautiful evening.