How I spent my birthday yesterday

I actually planned it all out myself – took Brigid on a surprise trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Winslow Homer Crosscurrents exhibit, which was marvelous. It closes the end of this month which is why I wanted to get down to it.

A little bit from the website and then a couple of few pictures. ALSO if you hit the link Winslow Homer Crosscurrents  you can see and hear a virtual tour with commentary on a number of the paintings. If you like painting in general or Winslow Homer in particular it’s worth doing the virtual tour.

Renowned for his powerful paintings of American life and scenery, Winslow Homer (1836–1910) remains a consequential figure whose art continues to appeal to broad audiences. This exhibition reconsiders Homer’s work through the lens of conflict, a theme that crosses his prolific career. A persistent fascination with struggle permeates his art—from emblematic images of the Civil War and Reconstruction that examine the effects of the conflict on the landscape, soldiers, and formerly enslaved people to dramatic scenes of rescue and hunting as well as monumental seascapes and dazzling tropical works painted throughout the Atlantic world. The centerpiece of the exhibition is Homer’s iconic The Gulf Stream, a painting that reveals his lifelong engagement with charged subjects of race, geopolitics, and the environment. Featuring 88 oils and watercolors, Crosscurrents represents the largest critical overview of Homer’s art and life in more than a quarter of a century.

After seeing the exhibit we got back to Croton and had a late lunch with the whole family – the four of us – at 105twenty.

The picture in the background of my silly selfie is The Gulf Stream, maybe the most famous of Winslow Homer’s paintings

The guy looking frightened in the middle of the canoe is Homer’s brother Charles. Winslow Homer painted it in 1909, a year before Winslow died.

Brigid, enjoying 105twenty!

Last one, a close up of the Gulf Stream. They didn’t mind taking pictures – I used the office lens scanner on my phone. Of course none of these pictures do justice to the paintings …or Brigid.