If you have read or followed my blog for any considerable length of time, you may know that I am in a (losing?) battle of playing catch-up with my photos and related writings of the last several years. I remain undeterred, so without further ado—this, the latest installment of my blog backlog.

In late July 2017, I was visiting my parents and we went to the Brandywine River Museum to see "Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect," a show in honor of the artist's 100th birthday. I have always loved the Wyeths and for fellow Wyeth-lovers, the Brandywine River Museum is an essential museum experience. The museum is built in an old mill on the Brandywine River in Chadds Ford, PA and the modern museum architecture has multi-story panoramic windows looking out over the river. A summer visit to the museum is incredibly lovely, with the lush greenery of the gardens outside and along the riverbanks. Standing on an upper story of the museum, you can look out directly into the treetops and watch as boaters on kayak or canoe pass by on the waters below.

When I was in high school, my art teacher, Mrs. Mortimer, did the most incredible job of connecting and interrelating so many artists and periods of art history, including a great deal of local artists. In hindsight, I see how amazing our class field trips were—we visited the Brandywine River Museum, saw the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and visited the Delaware Art Museum after studying the PRB (Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood) and Dale Chihuly (an installation of his "Persians" is on view there). In her class is where I learned about and fell in love with the work of Maxfield Parrish (that Parrish blue!) and so many other artists.

Back to the Brandywine—the museum features the works of three generations of Wyeths—N.C., Andrew, and Jamie. N.C. was part of the contingent of artists and illustrators in the area during the "Golden Age of Illustration." Among them, Howard Pyle and Maxfield Parrish were others from the Philadelphia region and some of their work is included in the museum's holdings as well. My favorite pieces by N.C. are the monumental illustrations for books like "Treasure Island." My family has a copy of "Treasure Island" with Wyeth's illustrations and the endpaper is so menacing and perfect. I remember my Aunt Julia visiting when I was a kid and she read aloud to us from "Treasure Island" and we pored over the illustrations together. It is fascinating to walk through the museum and see the original paintings for the book, which are enormous and filled with incredible texture, use of color and light, and detail. It is also amazing to see the artistic influences passed from father to son and to note where there are obvious overlaps in the Wyeths' technical training and subject matter. Of the three artists, I certainly have a fondness for N.C.'s work, and it is always interesting to consider that Jamie was a contemporary of Andy Warhol, but Andrew Wyeth remains my favorite. His landscapes and scenery are spare but rich with texture and detail. I bought several postcards from the exhibit and have rotated them through among my art hanging on my bedroom walls. Following, some of my favorites from the exhibit, in photos.

The painting pictured above is titled "Goodbye" (2008) and was Wyeth's last painting before his death in 2009. The text panel below shares more details of the painting, depicting one of the Wyeth's familiar Maine locales. 

The painting above is titled "Hoffman's Slough" and is a view of a Brandywine Valley landscape familiar to and frequented by Wyeth. The horizon just barely dips below the top of the frame and once again, I am stunned by Wyeth's landscapes and the enveloping presence he imbues them with. The detail shot below illustrates further the dramatic sense of scale at play here—the only apparent structures being a tiny house and barn just below the horizon near the top edge of the painting. I love the light from the unseen sky reflected in the water of this shadowy landscape.

My postcard souvenirs from the exhibit feature the paintings above and below. <3

I think another of the reasons I love Wyeth's work so is that so much of his subject matter resonates in its familiarity and nostalgic qualities. Because I grew up so near to where he lived, his subject landscapes and structures carry such a feeling of home for me.

so much gorgeous texture and light in this exterior photo of the museum. I love the warm red brick juxtaposed against the greenery. Rustic vernacular architecture with its use of found stones remains one of my favorite types.

"Trodden Weed," which has something of the ethos of Albrecht Dürer's "Great Piece of Turf" (another piece which was the subject of my high school art class's study).

The millstones from the mill's operational days are embedded in pavement and stone walkways throughout the museum complex. The museum's logo also features one such millstone and I love it so.

above and below: the gardens outside the museum, ft. cosmos and sculptures

the lace curtains!! and worn roller shade! So exquisite.

This is the view of the river outside the museum. It's such a beautiful valley, and Terrain and Longwood Gardens are both very closeby!

above: a beautiful stone barn located near the museum. My dad obligingly pulled the car over so I could get out and take a photo, as I am wont to do.

It's been so long since I have been to the Brandywine (my last visit was in late August 2019) and I hope that I get to visit again soon (post-pandemic, naturally), as it remains a longtime favorite. If you ever find yourself in the Philadelphia area, I promise it is well worth the trek outside of the city to see it.

. . . . 

on a related note: this 2017 piece in the NYTimes Arts & Design section (written at the time the retrospective exhibit opened) is a fascinating read on Andrew Wyeth's treatment of race in his art. I think the ethos of the piece is really important—Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, an art historian and professor, sought to identify and acknowledge the power dynamics and disparities at play in Wyeth's work. I think this is a very important perspective to consider when viewing art (of any kind) that addresses race and considering the creator or writer and what claims they have, or don't, to making such depictions, as well as whether their representation is clouded or colored by an imbalance of power or authority. An interesting read with so much practical implication as well.

The eternal city—mi manchi già. I could spend an eternity there and never tire of it, probably. As long as I could bring a lifetime supply of Reese's peanut butter cups with me. In all honesty, though, Rome is one of the most enchanting places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, twice. On this particular visit, our time was a perfect blend of new and old, time spent exploring new corners of the city and plenty of time revisiting museums and monuments in time-honored tourist tradition. We also made plenty of time for wandering cobblestoned streets, eating gelato, and ordering all of the pasta.

This post feels a little jumbled and haphazard, but no matter—just consider it a whirlwind tour of this beautiful, dazzling—and a little gritty—city.

Gelato all day, every day—twin-melone cones here. 

On our scooter tour, we visited a park overlooking the city and it was beautiful. The light in Rome has a very nearly magical quality to it.

For reference, the best gelato in Rome can be found at : Old Bridge (pictured), Giolitti, and Frigidarium. You heard it here.

I studied Italian in college (language, culture, literature, history) and Emily studied art history, so naturally our trip had plenty of 'did-you-know?' moments.

An early-morning visit (obviously; to beat the crowds) to the Fontana di Trevi. Below, the cute vicolo where we stayed. It was the perfect location, right between the Piazza Navona and the Tevere (Tiber). I adore the Piazza Navona with its Bernini fountains and traipsing through it multiple times a day was lovely. The video below is a snippet of the dazzling play of lights on water and stone by night.

A few highlights of our Roman Holiday:

• learning some Roman slang from our vespisti—'nnamo,' an elongated nn- prefix, for 'andiamo'. 

• At lunch just prior to this botanical garden visit, our server told me "i tuoi verbi sono perfetti"—my verbs were perfect! We chatted for a few minutes and he asked where I learned to speak Italian. He complimented my perfect grammar and use of the subjunctive, which is THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT. I told him I had studied Italian in college and he said he could tell, because I had perfect grammar. I wanted to cry because that was such a kind thing to say and it validated the many years I had spent learning Italian and drilling myself on verb tenses and prepositional phrases and everything else. Also, that my Italian was still in good shape despite then-5 years having passed since I graduated from college was gratifying. I was and am so grateful and learning this language remains one of my best life decisions, to date.

I loved our visit to the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Roma "La Sapienza." I wished we'd had more time to explore all the areas of the grounds, but we had timed tickets at the Villa Borghese, so it was a sacrifice we were willing to make.

I love this enormous variegated octopus agave and the abundant prickly pear cacti.

Also—can we talk about this monstrosity of a monstera?!?! And the enormous cacti pictured to Emily's left? This interior shot gives you a sense of the scale of these plants—the photo below is an exterior shot showing this same greenhouse-vestibule; if you click on the photo to zoom in, you can see how the space is filled by these towering cacti. It was rather impressive. I also loved that the metalwork and framing of the glass panes in all the greenhouses were green; it almost made the glass enclosures seem to fade away amongst the plants filling them.

cacio e pepe—my favorite Roman dish. <3 below: bruschetta e burrata, insalata con finocchio (fennel), and ravioli or another type of filled pasta with fresh basil e formaggio. Not pictured: PIADINE (which we ate on the riverfront)!

Perhaps the next section of photos need no explanation, but nevertheless—some shots from a twilit walk through the city. The first, from Piazza Navona, and others from architectural vignettes along the river, as we zigged-and-zagged back-and-forth across the bridges in our meandering route. The bells ringing at St. Peter's were mesmerizing in the last golden hours of daylight.

Obviously we made a pitstop at the Pantheon. It will never not blow me away with its architectural genius. It is so unassuming from the exterior and inside, it has such a distinctive feel—the coolness of the open air in the shaded cupola. Below, some of my favorite works from the Villa Borghese. Having not been able to secure tickets when I visited Rome in 2011 (as that was a more last-minute trip), visiting the Villa Borghese had been high on my list. It was amazing.

classic Caravaggio. Nothing has ever made me want to eat grapes more than how delicious they look here, rendered with his painterly hand. (The previous photo features another Caravaggio in the lower half).

This mosaic work! The artist is Marcello Provenzale.

Bernini is an absolute master. It was his work that I most looked forward to seeing at the Villa Borghese. He is possibly my favorite sculptor, though rivaled in my esteem by Michelangelo Buonarotti. I have many favorite contemporary/20th Century sculptors, but I consider them as a separate category. I think the contrast between his Davide (pictured above) and that of Michelangelo are fascinating—while they were not contemporaries, their respective styles certainly illustrate interesting elements of Baroque and Renaissance art, respectively. I do love seeing Bernini's David in action, poised in the critical moment before he releases his sling.

The tulipped bouquet pictured here is the work of Jan Brueghel the elder! I don't know that I had ever seen still-lifes of his, let alone floral ones! But given that he is Dutch, the subject matter seems fitting. <3   (the color in this photo is a little off as the gallery was shadowy and brightening and lightening the photo loses some of the lushness and contrast present in the original work)

I love Botticelli and this circular vignette of Mary and baby Jesus captures so many of Botticelli's finest qualities.

On our departure from Rome, we caught an early train to Napoli and passed by the Spanish Steps in the wee hours of the morning. It was stunning by night, with the light reflecting from the cobblestones and completely emptied of crowds. Roma, magari che ci vedieremo presto.