I had two goals for today. One was to make creamed eggs on toast for breakfast, as is the Easter tradition in my family. The other was to visit the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and see "In Line With Al Hirschfeld" before it closes. Because the exhibit closes today, hubby-Eric and I pretty much had to see it today if we could.
The first goal went well. I had pre-hardboiled some eggs, and mixing the traditional margarine, flour, and milk into a standard sauce is cooking that even I can handle. Eric had to help with the egg peeling and toast-making, and I mistimed it by a bit, but it was pretty good anyway. I suppose I would be better at making it if I tried it more than once a year.
Because the museum opens at noon on Sundays, we decided to drive out a little early and bring some reading material so we'd be sure to find a parking spot. What we weren't counting on was that the museum is right next to St James Cathedral... and it is Easter Sunday after all. We ended up driving around the block a few times before we found parking, as even the free lot reserved for visitors to the Frye only was filled up with pious church-goers' cars. We eventually found street parking in a spot that was only slightly less difficult to get into than a tight pair of jeans from college that you haven't worn in ten years.
Admission to the Frye is free, and we wandered in and located the important spots quickly. We decided to visit all the other galleries, then return and check out the Hirschfeld room. There was a Wyeth Family exhibit, and "Path of the Sun: The World of Teng Chiu" was fascinating for his odd painting style that seemed blocky and forced close up, but looked fantastic when you stood back. There was an exhibit called "New Temperaments" which showcased artists who work in tempera. Most of them didn't impress me, but I instantly liked the work of William Patterson.
The standard gallery was mostly neat stuff, but only one painting reached out and grabbed me by the throat. That painting is currently on the Frye website, listed as Dániel Somogyi, View of Königssee, 1878, oil on canvas, 46-3/4 x 59-1/2 in. The image on the website simply does not do the painting justice. It practically jumped out at me from the wall. It said, "I know you recognize me, even though you've never been to Munich." and I could only stare at it. It made a little lightning bolt connection to my soul, and it is an image I won't be forgetting soon.
Ok... coming back down to earth, now. We then wandered over to the Hirschfeld exhibit. The early works were all new to me, with lots of realistic sketches that I'd definitely never seen. I read every one of the little cards on display, and learned a few things about Hirschfeld that I'd either never known or had forgotten. I didn't realize he spent time in Russia, nor did I know that he started indicating the number of "Nina"'s in each work after a desperate fan begged for some indication. Many of the people viewing the exhibit with us were counting "Nina"'s, which was fun for a bit. But there was so much more to see and read, I didn't concentrate too much on Nina.
Getting back home from Pill Hill was more interesting. Traffic was mighty heavy for a Sunday afternoon. But we got home safe, and it's turned out to be a pretty good Easter.
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