Day Tripper 2

Some of the buildings in Balboa Park are very ornate. It's quite normal to see Spanish-influenced architecture in California but usually of a simpler style: adobe walls and red-tiled roofs.

With so many such buildings in one place there is an air of being in a European city.

Another beautiful covered walkway

Islamic tile designs came to the USA via Spanish settlers in California.

A neon yellow Koi in yet another fountain.

My favourite museum was the Museum of Art. The painting below is by the French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau. 

Three years ago he turned up in a biography of Matisse I was reading. Bouguereau taught Matisse painting for a while. Several weeks later, we had our wood floor refinished by one of his descendants.

Sign of the Times

This is my last post about my trip to England last month.


Something I love to do is visit artist's homes or studios. In Provence, a few years back, I was able to visit Renoir's home/studio and Cezanne's studio.
In London I visited the home of the artist Frederic Lord Leighton.

I last visited about 16 years ago and I wanted to see it again on this trip. A bonus was that the friend I stay with in London had never been there and that the house was exhibiting Victorian Visions: Pre-Raphaelite and Nineteenth-Century Art from the John Schaeffer Collection. I missed seeing this in America a few years ago so it was a happy coincidence to get another opportunity to see it.


Go here to see a picture and also a virtual tour of the magnificent Arab Hall at Leighton House which is my favourite room there.

One of the things I like to happen upon when I walk around London are the blue plaques. These are blue plaques placed on buildings associated with 'notable figures of the past'. See more about the scheme here. Some are people I've heard of and some not which can spark some research. Some of these buildings, like Leighton House, are museums and open to the public but many are private homes.


In the same area where my friend lives is a plaque for another artist.

I don't know much about Walter Sickert although I saw some of his work on my visit to Tate britain. He was a member of the Camden Town group. I want to learn more about this group in the coming months.

'Tis the Season: For Sharing

The talented Miss B shared one of my photographs from France on her blog. If you love style, interior design, fashion, and colour The House That Lars Built is a place to go.

http://thehousethatlarsbuilt.blogspot.com/2010/12/door-of-week-aix-en-provence.html#links