Where's the Wedding? --- Day 9/303 & 4

Walk: 1. No, doing CIWT computer stuff  2. Hood

Distance: 1. n/a, Yoga  2. 2.8 miles, 1 hour pedal, Yoga

Hugo van der Goes ((Flemish, ca 1440-1482), The Virgin and Child with Saints,
Oil on wood panel, @43" x 49" panel

Ciwt has mentioned that she has much to learn about how art is actually made* so she was very interested to see the preparatory underdrawing Hugo van der Goes used to guide him while painting the altarpiece above in the mid 15th century.

She doesn't know what then guided an 18th century artist to strip away the Virgin and Child, add another panel and turn the painting into a scene of the wedding of Henry VII to Elizabeth of York.



The altered panel had been suspected as early as 1890 but denied at the time by the then owner.  So the altarpiece came down through the ages as a wedding painting.  This until 1983- 1984 when a restoration was carried out by David Bull. His work was done so meticulously that the underdrawing was kept intact - a feat considered a masterpiece in itself - and an amazing and extremely rare rediscovery of a work by a famous master was made. 


* See Days 9/268 and 9/270

Fragments of Some Past --- Day 9/302

Walk: Presidio and Hood

Distance: 5 miles

Greek oil flask from about 550 B.C. supports the idea that spinning and weaving were primarily women’s work*.

Silly Ciwt is still  trying to get some grip on the history of textiles.  

Of all the art histories fabric (clothing, design, manufacture) is the least accessible, largely because of supply and fragility.  Much is known about ceramics because it is endurable (although usually not in its original, unbroken form).  Even ancient wood objects, while rare, have surprising longevity with one existing Spanish tool fragment assigned by scholars to a range of 55,000 - 13,000 BC..  

But not so fabric. What little ancient material has been found is in tatters and very fragile, needing to be stored in conditions that give scholars very limited access.  And those fabrics give no indication of their original shape and color, ownership (priviliged or lower class), relative quality at the time it was used or worn, manufacture.  There is a fine linen shirt preserved in the tomb of Tutankhamum and now at the V and A Museum that dates from around 1360, but such a survival is extremely rare. 

Much of the early history of fabric is told by art such as the Pompeiian wall paintings which show actual contemporary fashion as well as how fabrics were used as wall, floor and table coverings.  Every great once in a while early textiles have left impressions on corroded metal or clay.  And there are a variety of ancient economic accountings of fabric holdings or trade. Historians (including scientists) grope their way along. Imagine trying to reconstruct the civilization from this 3,000 year old fragment thought to be the first instance of chemical dying in history: 

Basically textile history is essentially obscure until the 1550's. By then more people were econically able to consume, there was (slightly) more leisure, more colonies, more trade routes and mediums of exchange, more artists, more consumers, more more mercantile organizations, more inventions.  Paintings were in demand and through them historians can get an actual look how life was being lived, dressed and furnished.

Jean Francois de Troy,  A Reading from Moliere, 1728

But even then most access is to the aristocratic and ecclesiactical classes who could afford fabrics luxurious enough to last and be saved.  

When demand for fabric really caught on and the economies of countries (such as wool in England), towns and cities were nearly solely based on it, some events read like thrillers.  Weavers were lured to ambitious areas, some  actually kidnapped; citizens were forbidden - often on penalty of death -to wear clothing of fabrics manufactured outside their realm.  Merchants from foreign countries were watched like spies, apprehended and jailed if they traded in forbidden fabrics or disallowed quantities.  Inventions were kept under lock and key.

From the 1550's it was on to the Industrial Revolution (1780-1880) and into the modern era culminating for now with the invention of  elastic, wrinkle resistant synthetics and rumors of 'smart fabrics' which will do things like light up, change colors, harness heat and sound.  All in all, fabric has come a long way, but, really, the four original all-natural fabrics -  linen, cotton, wool, silk - whatever their obscure histories will likely prove impossible to improve on.

* And economically exceedingly important.

Only God Can Make...A Safety Pin?!* --- Day 9/301

Walk: No, Rain 😀

Distance: n/a, Yoga

Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, Corridor Pin Blue, 1999, stainless steel, aluminum and glazed acrylic enamel  (de Young Museum, San Francisco)

So, Ciwt was reading about outdoor sculpture gardens and some of their lovely, harmonious artistic offerings to nature.  Then she thought of our local de Young Museum's sculpture garden which is just off its cafeteria. You buy your food, take it by tray to a table along the greenery,  hear the birds chirp and look out to  view ... a huge safety pin.  

Not harmonious, but that was just fine and had been long before its creation in 1999 with its team of artists, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.  In 1961 Oldenburg wrote in his poem I Am For Art "I am for an art that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum."  And later in the poem 'I am for an art that you can hammer with, stitch with, sew with, paste with, file with. I am for an art that tells you the time of day, or where such and such a street is. I am for an art that helps old ladies across the street....."

By the time he wrote all this Oldenburg was studying art at Yale and totally fed up with the freeform wholly personal meditations on canvas of the Abstract Expressionists.  He was one of several artists in England and then primarily New York and California who felt that art was not something separate and exalted from real life and began to celebrate real life with their "Pop Art" as it came to be called.  They turned to everyday sources, the most famous of which are probably Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup Cans.  

Oldenburg, who later teamed with his wife, van Bruggen turned to sculpture and became known for his huge public works.  Among their creations are 

shuttlecocks in Kansas City  

a clothespin in Philadelphia,

 

and, one of Ciwt's personal favorites, a spoonbridge with cherry in Minneapolis .

Are they as impressive as a tree or just the green grass they sit in or as miraculous as the birds singing around them?  No, but in their ways, they do respect the environments they are set in. There's a grace to their forms and a quietness to their simple designs and minimal colors.  The joy and tongue-in-cheekiness is timelessly fresh.  And from Ciwt's experience giving art tours, they make people happy.

*A nod to Joyce Kilmer's poem, Trees, which ends with the line "But only God Can Make a Tree."

Valentine Flowers --- Day 9/300

Walk: Presidio Pickleball

Distance: 2 miles, 1 hour Pickle, Yoga

So on Valentine's Day Ciwt's mind goes to flowers.

She's reported before that she would surely have tried to corner the market and wound up in debtors' prison during Holland's 17th century tulipmania.  Such is her supreme affection for that flower. 

But she doesn't remember telling you that one of the reasons she makes so many trips to Trader Joe's is for his Alstromerias.  When she gets home with a new bunch it's like Valentine's Day while she loses herself cutting and arranging the beautiful colors. herself cutting. Often she puts anywhere from three to nine stems in a vase, but sometimes just a single one will do.

Either way, the "Peruvian Lilies" are like delicate sunshine, lighting up her home and heart. - and lasting for weeks.

Oh, and they are often known as the "Flower of Friendship" so a perfect way to say Happy Valentines Day to her readers.

Great in the Trenches --- Day 9/299

Walk: T. Joe's, Laurel Village

Distance: 3 miles, small yoga

A little bit of necessary rain out here puts Ciwt in mind of that fashion icon, the trench coat.

You probably have one and look completely smashing in it.

Everyone does - man, woman, even child .  

Except  Ciwt.  When she puts one on she looks like she's wearing an over sized bathrobe. Bad enough, but then when the 'fashion' designers reimagine it, well......

Happy Shots --- Day 9/298

 Walk: Presidio Pickleball, Moscone Convention Center

Distance: 4.5 miles, 40 minutes pickle, small yoga

So the current buzz around San Francisco - or at least among Ciwt's age group citywide - is how the city's mass Covid 19 vaccine site is functioning.

Ciwt is guessing most people reacted like she did when it was first announced there would be one at our downtown Convention Center.  "Oh no, it will be a disaster.  Big crowds, long waits, confusion, maybe worse than the DMV."  Ciwt definitely was going to avoid that site at all costs.

But then she ran into a fellow pickleballer who gave the experience a glowing review.  He got an appointment for the next day, whisked right in, everything was beautifully organized, spacious, as safe as he could possibly want.  Hmm, so Ciwt doubtfully gave the online scheduling site a try. And, yup, next day appointment, whisked right through, beautifully organized, smiling, helpful attendants galore to point you to exactly where you needed to be, no time even to crack open the book Ciwt was sure she'd need during the long wait.  Basically just as described; Better actually.

And the extra nice thing is the wonderful workers who are manning the site are being lifted up by all the thank you's and compliments.  When Ciwt told 'her' nurse about all the good buzz around town, she said "That's what everybody's telling us!  Friends or neighbors or just strangers are encouraging others to "Just Go; it's great!"    

There's another mass vaccine site at the other end of the city.  A drive through at UCSF.  Again, Ciwt thought "Oh no," and again rave reviews from people who have driven over and quickly, efficiently gotten their shots and been scheduled for shot 2.  

So uplifting - and amazing - to have a positive pandemic experience.

Hmmmm --- Days 9/296 & 7

Walk: 1. Stern Grove Pickleball, Hair Appointment  2. Tj's

Distance: 1. 1.5 miles, small yoga   2. 2.5 miles, Yoga

Harder than writing for Ciwt is figuring out what to write about.

Golden Ladies --- Day 9/295

Walk: Hood

Distance: 2 miles, Yoga

Gerrit ter Borch (Dutch, 1617-1681), Woman Writing a Letter, 1655, oil on board, 15 3/8" x 13 7/8"

Johannes Vermeer, (Dutch, 1632-1675),  A Lady Writing a Letter, 1665, o/c, 18" x 15.7"

 

Late in 2017 Ciwt was on her way to the National Gallery in D.C. (or she had her airplane ticket) to see the two Ladies above as well as many more works by the Dutch Masters of Genre Painting.  Then there was a huge East Coast blizzard so she missed her opportunity to compare these Ladies and enter 'the conversation' about which painting is best, whether ter Borch was most original, whether Vermeer's Lady is more timeless.  And other matters Ciwt really can't get herself to care much about.

To her eye and sensibilities both paintings are absolutely gorgeous images that have rightfully stirred viewers' hearts for centuries and, hopefully, will continue to do so for centuries to come.  

Yes, before there was Vermeer, there was ter Borch. Talk about the embarrassment of riches that was the Dutch Golden Age (ca 1581-1672).  Of everything!: trade, science, military and culture which included some of the finest and most beloved artists who ever set up their easels.  The thriving shipping industry which created enormous wealth for the Dutch citizenry in turn stimulated a booming art market.  Scenes of the newly affluent life and leisure appealed most, and artists taught themselves as well as learned from their contemporaries the most effective ways to capture - and sell - that sumptuous tranquility.

Gerrit ter Borch was the first and most influential to turn his talents to genre scenes depicting elegant images of quiet domesticity that also conveyed the inner life of his subjects. This last was particularly inventive.  His subdued lighting was exquisite and his skill in reproducing textures of different materials, especially satin, was astounding.  He was also the first to paint well-to-do ladies lost in letters and contemplative thought. 

Because of ter Borch's innovations, the bustling community scenes favored by previous artists and buyers were almost instantly replaced. His artistic contemporaries took notice of course.  One of those was Johannes Vermeer of all people, and to Ciwt these two geniuses living at the same time in close proximity is what is utterly remarkable.  Along with the fact that there were several other active artists in Holland at the time who created works remarkably similar in style, subject matter, technique and quality.  Talk about a Golden Age.