to Montreal to see the largest retrospective of the work of John William Waterhouse. I saw almost all my favorites and so many I had never seen before. There were even a few that I didn't even know existed. I gained a deeper understanding of his inspirations ( religion, mythology, poetry), his interest in ornithology (there were so many wonderful birds in the paintings) and his sense of humour that I saw in the way he signed his work often placing it on the fence or one a row of tiles, like graffiti. I don't think I really noticed this before and certainly would never had I only looked at his paintings in books or online. I was unable to photograph the paintings but here are a few images of our day.
The lady of Shallot riding the bus.
I think that bronze horse is falling under the siren's spell.
Dressing to match the artwork.
Some images from the museum's windows.
Leonard Cohen's hometown.
Under construction. Even the art is wearing hard hats.
Looks like John William is not the only bird lover in town.
Lovely bunny.
Amazing scarf at Simons.
They have some of the most handsome and talented young chefs.
Even the drive home was a work of art.
We are already planning our trip back in the spring to see the exhibit of Louis Comfort Tiffany but we might have to go to see the Waterhouse exhibit one more time before it leaves Canada.
Welcome home my friend :)
Glad to read you had a safe trip to and back from Montreal, and that you had a blast there. Thank you so much for sharing these lovely photos with us !
Good luck for this week, I keep you in my thoughts. xoxoxo
Posted by: Sonia | November 02, 2009 at 04:47 AM
Thank you for telling us about these two famous artists.It was a great chance to see their work on line and be reminded of the beauty of it.I went to an exhibition on Sunday called "Miro of Majork".It was marvelous too.Ariadne from Greece
Posted by: www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawn_wQ8DSe02Gw2CW9Vp66YSDwTmymetXJo | November 02, 2009 at 09:23 AM
Jealous! I love Waterhouse. Nothing nifty ever comes to Roswell, NM.
Posted by: Jessie Hansen | November 02, 2009 at 10:15 AM
that looks to be an amazing exhibition. what a great expedition for you and your daughter! i would love to visit montreal one day. my sister was there recently and loved it.
Posted by: melissa | November 02, 2009 at 05:29 PM
I love Waterhouse. I saw his Lady of Shallott in London, and almost cried.. I had so long admired this artist.
The 'feature' of signing name in masonry is actually something artists of the pre raphaelite and neoclassical era did, because they believed that everything should belong to the same 'space' and slapping a signature on as if it were floating was bad taste. So they integrated it into the actual painting.
If you love Waterhouse you may also love Alma Tadema. I personally adore both.
Posted by: Lisa Falzon | November 03, 2009 at 07:59 AM