THE VIRTUAL TOURIST: Celebrating 9 Years of The Intrepid Tourist--In My Own Neighborhood

A token of cheer placed along a neighborhood walking route in West Los Angeles

The world as we know it has been forever changed by the Covid pandemic. For now, all travel is essentially cancelled, thus making The Intrepid Tourist more theoretical than actual. So, while we all shelter in place, it is an opportunity to be virtual tourists, remembering favorite trips in the past, dreaming about places we might like to visit some day, and seeing our own neighborhoods anew.

Sidewalk art has begun to appear along the streets of our neighborhood.

This week is the 9th anniversary of the launch of The Intrepid Tourist in April 2011. Since then I have posted a new article once a week (usually on Monday), now totaling more than 400 posts and more than 300,000 page views. I am gratified to have found an audience that is enjoying the articles, both mine and those by friends and family.  I especially thank all the guest posters who have widened the scope of the blog, often reporting on places I have never been, whetting my appetite for future travel and providing their unique point of view.

Perhaps this sidewalk artist was inspired by Jackson Pollock!

I hope that it won’t be too long before all of us can enjoy traveling again. Meanwhile, Art and I remain at home, except for a daily walk around our West Los Angeles neighborhood. We try to vary our route each day. Just changing the side of the street, direction, or time of day often brings surprises.

Rays of sunshine decorate this rock.

A week or so ago we began to notice small colored rocks appearing in nooks and crannies along the sidewalk. Like oddly shaped Easter eggs, they were mysterious hidden treasures. Some had messages, others were simply painted with designs.

This colored rock was tucked into the roots of a tree.

Then, in the Easter Sunday edition of the LA Times, a front page article described a similar phenomenon going on in other communities. The headline read “They’re rock-solid in a crisis.” The author told about a group of children in Santa Clarita, inspired by a local artist, who found rock painting a welcome activity during all the hours they must now spend at home.
I don’t know who is creating the painted rocks and sidewalk art in my neighborhood, but they are tokens of cheer that brighten my day and help me stay sane as I weather the pandemic.

RARE BOOKS, PRINTS AND DRAWINGS and More at the Philadelphia Free Library

Entrance to the Free Library of Philadelphia

It may seem like a bus-man's holiday, but as I often do when I travel, I like to visit the local library. On a recent visit to Philadelphia, I stopped by the children’s room in the Central branch of the  Free Library of Philadelphia. I had a delightful visit with the head of the department, who pointed out the series of beautiful N.C. Wyeth paintings that decorate the walls of the room.

The paintings are part of the library's extensive Children’s Literature Research Collection. I was pleased to discover that the research collection also includes quite a few of my books. I returned two days later to meet the curator of the collection and sign some of my books.

Later that afternoon I visited the Rare Book Department of the library, featuring a temporary exhibit called Or Else: Cautionary Tales for Children, where I saw the dummy of one of my all time favorite books, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. Historic books were on display as well examples from more modern illustrators including Munro Leaf ("Watchbirds" cartoons in the Ladies Home Journal and Ferdinand the Bull), Robert Lawson, Maurice Sendak, Tomi Ungerer and Barry Moser. The Or Else exhibit is now closed but the permanent exhibits are well worth a visit.

The permanent exhibits in the Rare Books Department include examples of ancient cuniform writing  (done with sticks on clay), a number of original works by Beatrix Potter, a display of Grip, the pet raven of Charles Dickens and inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", the entire collection of William McIntire Elkins, a Philadelphia philanthropist, and much more. As it turned out, a staff member was giving tours of the Elkins library, and invited me to come along. The Elkins library reproduces the actual library of its donor (chairs, curtains, carpets, shelves, etc.) exactly as it was in his home, along with his huge Dickens collection and other books.

Grand main staircase of the Philadelphia Free Library

I also stopped by a temporary exhibit from the library's Print and Picture Collection. It is called Fur and Feathers: A Cautious Pairing of Cats and Birds and features intriguing prints, drawings, and photographs by Audubon, Dali, Muybridge and others.

For more about my visit to the Children's Collection, see my post for 6/8/16 at my Art and Books Blog.

De Young Art Museum, San Francisco: RICHARD DIEBENKORN, the Berkeley Years

Richard Diebenkorn photographed in his studio, at de Young Museum, San Francisco

Richard Diebenkorn, whose painterly landscapes vibrate with the rich colors of California, was a pivotal figure in American art of the mid-twentieth century and one of my favorite painters of all time.  From 1952 to 1966 he painted in his studio in Berkeley, California. The de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has mounted an exhibit of the paintings and drawings of that period in a stunning show which I went to see a few weeks ago.  (The show will be up until September 29, 2013.)

Figure on a Porch, 1959

The exhibit, which includes 131 paintings and drawings, is arranged chronologically from his earlier abstract period to his later use of figures, interiors and landscape themes. On the day we visited (a weekday during the first week of school) there were relatively few people in the exhibit which allowed both close-up and distant views.  When close-up the richness of color and three-dimensionality of the application of the paint can be appreciated.  Most of the paintings are large and when seen from across the room the overall composition becomes dominant.  Photography inside the exhibit is not allowed, but you can preview a number of the paintings here.  Among my favorites is Berkeley #44--I bought a poster so I can continue to enjoy it at home.

Photography of Rose Mandel, book by Susan Ehrens

We also went to see the exhibit of Rose Mandel photographs while we were at the museum.  She was a friend of Diebenkorn and photographed him in his studio.  Her photographs, mostly 4 x 5 inch black and white silver gelatin prints, include a series called The Errand of the Eye (from a poem by Emily Dickinson), in which she depicts close-ups of nature. In another series she went around San Francisco photographing reflections and graffiti.  The remarkable thing about her photographs is her ability to keep a sharp focus the part that she wants you to look at and let the rest of the picture be out of focus, or blurry.

A trip to the de Young would not be complete without a visit to the Tower to take in the view of San Francisco from nine stories above the ground.  Even with the fog, it is impressive.  We ate lunch in the museum café and afterward took a stroll around the outdoor sculpture garden which includes a giant safety pin, ceramic apples strewn across the lawn like over-size bowling balls, and pieces by Louise Nevelson, Barbara Hepworth and others.

Safety Pin Sculpture by Claes Oldenburg

For information about planning your visit to the museum, click here.
For more about another recent exhibit at the De Young Museum, see my post on the Girl With a Pearl Earring exhibit, June 17, 2013.

Ceramic Apples by Gustav Kraitz