A low key birthday with Sisterwoman, wine, and art

It’s me on my birthday with Picasso’s Seated Woman, the Museum of Fine Art – Houston.

I love having a birthday on January 2^nd; I start a new year with a new age, it’s like a full cycle. But celebrating in a big way can be difficult. It’s like just when you thought the holidays were over, guess what! People are partied out by January 2^nd. And to travel somewhere sensational is expensive because airlines and hotels are charging New Year’s premiums. And then this year, given the loss of our dear Lisa Benitez and the epic funerary festivities that followed, I was absolutely exhausted both mentally and physically. So this year I opted for a low key birthday with Sisterwoman, wine, and art…

Sisterwoman Julie Boggio picked me up for lunch—I opted to use my birthday bonus gift from Landry’s Select Club and dine at my neighborhood favorite La Griglia. Located in River Oaks Shopping Center, La Grig is a festive trattoria with mural and mosaic covered walls and authentic Italian food. We landed at my favorite banquette in the bar and sipped Estate Grown Chalone Vineyards Chardonnay… it’s $15 a glass but my gosh it is buttery deliciousness! It was perfect with my scallops too.

After lunch we ventured to the Museum District; I wanted sisterwoman to see the Monet exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and I wanted to ensconce myself in fabulous fine art for my birthday. Besides, sisterwoman and I had not been to MFAH together since attending the annual Members Dance years back when the dancefloor was the mezzanine of the Carolyn Weiss Law Building. And might I add that the museum was packed, which I was thrilled to see.

A Bullfight by Jacques Raymond Barscassat, 1855, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, www.mfah.org

I like moving quickly through museum galleries, especially when crowded. One doesn’t have to see every freaking piece hanging on the walls nor read every freaking tag. And here’s a tip, if a painting is surrounded by a gawking crowd listening studiously to their audio tour, skip that piece and go back to it later. I recommend when visiting a major museum to just go until you see things you like!

Of course we gravitated to similar masterpieces. At one point we camped for some time to admire A Bullfight by Jacques Raymond Brascassat, 1855. The painting is huge and the animals are rendered with such drama, animation, and personality. Sisterwoman said that she could almost smell the mud as the beige bull’s hoof gouged the wall of the gulch. And the expressions on all the animals’ faces are priceless–that poor dog is too enthralled to either run or muster a bark!

Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears by John Singer Sargent, 1899, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, www.mfah.org

I also wanted her to see the John Singer Sargent paintings, of which there are several at MFAH. She might have seen works by Sargent from time to time but I wanted her to particularly look from a distance then go up close. The paintings are perfect pictures from 10 feet back, you can almost feel the taffeta of a gown or the petal of a rose; but up close Sargent’s painterly brushwork seems erratic, spontaneous, and fluid. And yes, she was amazed. We kept backing up and walking forward like two morons.

(Detail) Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears by John Singer Sargent, 1899, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, www.mfah.org

Of course the Claude Monet exhibit (See TroysArt post Monet and a river, in Houston November 6, 2014) was a big hit with us both. That particular exhibit was packed; and in the center of final gallery was a grand piano with a crowd gathered as the pianist played. We heard the music but did not realize why or where from which it came, so we barely caught the last song.

As we headed toward the exit to partake in a happy birthday happy hour we stopped to admire a rather large piece by Pablo Picasso. A bequest of Caroline Law, Seated Woman is exactly what you would expect a Picasso to look like in person—sisterwoman snapped a pic of me standing next to it.

I had a special date with an idol for my birthday a few years back. I travelled to Holland especially to tour the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh (or Van Gogh Museum) for my birthday. Little did I know that Vincent also had dates with thousands of others that day. Dead since 1890, Vincent van Gogh was packing in crowds akin to the media circus at the George Zimmerman trial last year. And you’ve got to applaud that kind of star power.

Skull with Cigarette by Vincent van Gogh, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, photo by Minke Wagenaar from Amsterdam, NL [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I marveled at the line weaving through the regimented turnstiles and spilling into the sidewalk. But inside the throng was even more astonishing. The masses seemed to move in unison slowly past each of the paintings. At one point I broke away from the line thinking that I could better see just outside the horde. But the line was too heal-toe for my plan to work (like a duck walk) and the Europeans weren’t well for an American wanting to bust in and out of the fray at will. And when I saw pieces that I had always dreamed of seeing, like Skull with Cigarette, the crowd did not like the idea of me stopping to admire it. (Didn’t anyone care that it was my birthday or that they were infringing on my date with Vincent?) And given that Vincent suffered from a series of complex syndromes and psychiatric dysfunctions, wouldn’t he be claustrophobic at his own exhibit?

To be certain, the Europeans would have been positively apoplectic to witness the way sisterwoman and I went through the MFAH! Anyway, it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon on my birthday.

And then on to happy hour…

La Griglia Restaurant

The Museum of Fine Arts – Houston

The Van Gogh Museum