This weekend I finally managed to see an exhibit at my local art museum, American Moderns 1910-1960: From O'Keeffe to Rockwell, which I had been looking forward to well before it even opened. It was so good, I had to buy the exhibit catalog and plan on going back as soon as I can. This is probably my favorite period of art and it included a number of works by Stuart Davis, of whose work I am a great fan. And I have added a few more artists to the list whose work I have only just discovered--Milton Avery, Rockwell Kent, Marguerite Thompson Zorach and Loren MacIver. I don't think, however, there were any works in the show that I didn't like.
For me art is like books--how could I live without them? There is something soothing to spend time in a gallery filled with beautiful, interesting, provocative (well, fill in the blank since there are as many types of works as their are stories in books). I need a break--some sort of mini vacation, but as I am not about to have one soon, looking at art is almost just as good since it takes me outside of myself for a little while.
I spent a little time in the gift shop as well and came across their display of upcoming reads for their Visualizing Literature book club. I attended one of their meetings last fall and was hoping to continue on but they no longer meet in the evenings and only in the mornings when I am at work, which is such a pity as I really enjoyed the discussion. I can still take advantage of the books they select and maybe read along on my own. In May they are discussing The Other Rembrandt by Alex Connor, which sounds like a fun thriller. In September What Are You Looking At by Will Gompertz (and which I think I may have to buy after reading about it) is their choice and in November Tara Conklin's The House Girl, which as you see I brought home with me along with the exhibit catalog.
The Conklin novel will come in handy as I am working on a few summer reading plans (I'll be telling you about them soon), and The House Girl will fit in nicely.
I do plan on attending a lecture later this week that sounded interesting, The Coming Storm: The Civil War and American Art, which happily is taking place in the evening. Something to look forward to. A little perk of being a member is being able to attend all of their talks and events for free.
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I just discovered that Downton Abbey is now filming season six, which is to be their last season. While there is much to be said about knowing when it's time to leave the party, I will be sad to see it end.
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I wonder if there will be another season of The Great British Bake off (or Great British Baking Show as it was called here)? I'm not generally a fan of cooking shows, but I sat glued in front of my TV (also a rarity for me) every Sunday night.
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Last night the first episode of Wolf Hall, which is based on Hilary Mantel's books (as yet unread by me) aired. It looked good, though I was trying to finish other things so I only watched with half an eye and ear and missed much of the detail. I had wanted to read the books first in any case, but I suspect it won;t really matter if I have seen the TV adaptation before reading the books.
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I'm afraid it is going to be another busy week, and I feel like I am starting it off already tired (shouldn't weekends be all about resting and catching up on real life? What happened!). A vacation day or two might be in order soon. A lazy day filled with books. If you saw the state of my reading pile, you would understand just what an understatement that is.
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One more question. The absolute last thing I need to even consider is picking up a new book, but in anticipation and thinking about new reads is really okay . . . Can someone suggest a good book that has romantic elements, a love story as part of the plot but isn't a Romance? I don't tend to read Romance novels, but I am very much in the mood for a story along the lines of something that Clare Chambers, or Chandra Prasad or Eva Rice has written. I could just reread one of these authors but it is always nice to discover new stories.