The Collectors

Thank you, Idiosyncratic Fashionistas
Two of the most stylish and energetic fashionistas on the planet, Valerie and Jean took time out of their fashiony schedules to attend my Open Studio. And they bought two of my Helmet Hats! I must say, they looked terribly daring in them. Their blog this week features the visit, and you can see it here.

Jean and Valerie, The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas

A Luminous Painting
Two of our dear friends collect art. He is an artist and she is an executive with a major hospital in New York City. This past year they purchased at auction, a painting by Jerome B. Thompson who lived between 1814 and 1886.

The painting was put up for auction by a well-known Pennsylvania family who had it in their possession for many years. The name of the painting is unknown but it is dated 1864 and is similar in several ways to a 1858 Thompson painting in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The painting by Jerome Thompson purchased by our friends. 

Jerome Thompson combined majestic landscape vistas, as seen in paintings of the Hudson River School, with rustic scenes of everyday life, or "genre" scenes. As seen in the painting above, the mountains, perhaps the Berkshires, present a luminous vision, while the little party of summer sojourners enjoy the pleasures of the shoreline in their small boat.

In this detail one might imagine that the figures in the center, so charmingly portrayed, are a married couple, and the other two figures, perhaps a brother and sister. Everyone looks very happy, and who would not be happy in that magical, beautiful place. I particularly love the woman's red dress, simple bonnet adorned with poesies and the shawl draped over the gentleman's arm. And is it not the sweetest look on the face of the woman on the right? 

This is the painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Jerome Thompson.

 It's called, "The Belated Party on Mansfield Mountain".

In this detail of the Met's painting, the man in the lower right-hand corner is looking at his watch. It is getting late, and the party must descend the mountain. But enthralled by the scenery and the company, no one seems inclined to leave. I think the title, "The Belated Party," refers to the late afternoon hour.

A detail of the picnic basket. Thompson was known to spell it Pic Nic.

Our friends' painting by Jerome Thompson installed in their house in the country.

The Flower Girl

"The Flower Girl" by Charles Cromwell Ingham, 1846.

Who can resist a flower girl? Not me. While strolling the Met's American Wing, I came across this painting by the Irish-born painter, Charles Ingham. He portrays a young girl hawking flowers in the streets of London. She offers a potted Fuchsia, a gesture emblematic of the Roman goddess Flora. 

A rose in the Jefferson Market Garden in Greenwich Village.

A sepal, petal, and a thorn,
Upon a common summer's morn,
A flash of dew, a bee or two,
A breeze
A caper in the trees --
and I'm a rose!
Emily Dickinson

My father, Sam, stands behind my sister, Susan (on left)

 and me at my Aunt Peggy's wedding in Tonawanda, New York.

 My grandmother, Kate Keleher, hand tinted the photo.

The dresses were taffeta.

My grandmother, Kate Keleher, a wild Irish rose.

Richard with Nathalie, another flower girl and a hostess at The Standard Grill. 

Paolo Alavian, owner of Savore, corner of Spring and Sullivan, Soho, NYC.
Paolo is always dressed impeccably. Note the violet jeans.
 This is where we had lunch for Mother's Day, at an outdoor table. Heavenly.

I am Archerie
A walk in Soho finds us at a new store, Archerie at 98 Thompson Street.

"I am...inspired by a time when wearing jeans was not an option. When being a woman meant wearing dresses, dresses that were easy to live in and work in. My line is dedicated to my daughter, archer. I am Jillian Grano." 

 Some very sweet dresses redolent of a simpler time.

 And because too much sweetness is cloying...

In the time-honored tradition of rearranging the wet paint signs in the subway, I submit this original example that I am sure no one ever thought of before.

An Open Letter to Mr. Joe Lhota, Chairman and Chief Executive of 
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, New York

Dear Mr. Lhota,
Do you give one iota Mr. Lhota? Since you are committed to providing quality service to New York City customers, why do you waste time repainting the columns on the subway platforms when the rest of our East Broadway subway station looks like THIS?!?

Hey, a bientôt mes amis,

and if you catch un rat dans le métro, 

dites bonjour, monsieur le rat
parce qu'il est rat de ville!