The Other MFA

 In my visit to the MFA, with Susan, Barbara and Bill, before our tour of the Quilts exhibit, I wandered around with my I phone taking pictures of things that took my fancy.  There is an entrance to the European collection off of the New American Cafe, and it is a very rewarding room, specializing in ceramics, and I go back there often.  Here is a blog on all of the stuff I enjoyed beyond the amazing quilts. 

Wilhelm de Grogg
"Max Emanuel II, Elector of Bavaria"  
Marble, 1714

Cornelis Boumeester
"View of Rotterdam" 
1700-1720

Hochst manufactory, Germany
"The Dogs Wedding"
1755

The Netherlands
Miniature dining room
1680-1809
Silver

Agostino Ramelli
"Varied and Artful Machines" 
Published Paris, 1588

Bottle, France, mid 16th. century
Inscriptions:
"All for Love", and "Who loves well is slow to forget"

Cabinet of Curiosities
Palermo and Trapani, Sicily   1671-73
There are two of these incredible cabinets, each about five feet wide.

detail of above.

Marten Ruckaert
Flemish  1587-1631
Mountain Landscape

Clock
Augsburg, Germany   1625-50

And from the "New Light: Encounters and Connections" exhibit  (Gallery 155, 158)

which is found right before descending down stairs to the Garden Cafeteria, 

a varied collection from the MFA's many objects not usually on view. 

Judith Schaechter,  born 1961
"Cross Pollination"   2019
Stained Glass in a lightbox

Jas Knight   born 1977
"Lumumba's Harp"  2012

Stephen Hamilton   born 1988
"Joseph Lewis as Eze Nri"  2018

Nick Lenker   born 1982
"Disembodied Gazer"  2019
(miss-labeled, perhaps (?) surely this is Medusa)

Lois Mailout Jones  1905-1998
"Glyphs"   1985

The great Quilts exhibition at the MFA

 Susan and I met Barbara and Bill at the Museum of Fine Arts, with our primary goal of seeing the exhibit on quilts.  Bill and I both agreed, it was so much more than we expected, and very rewarding.  Pictures (all taken with a I phone) can give an idea, but I strongly suggest that if you can see it in person, you will be very glad you did. 

The exhibit is strongly influenced by the MFA trying to throw off decades of white, conservative views of the world, and it succeeds very dramatically, although some might say it is overselling the issue.  But it is an overwhelmingly great example of curating with the greatest possible flair.  Bravo!

There were 50 quilts, and all were worthy of a space in this blog, but I wondered about a reader's patience. So, I hope I've done the right editing. 

Enjoy.

Irene Williams
American (active in Gee's Bend, Alabama
Vote (Housetop Variation) 1975

,

Unidentified Maker
American (probably active in Indiana)
Hoosier Suffrage Quilt, before 1920

Florence M. Cowden Peto
American (active in Tenafly, New Jersey)
Pot of Flowers with Wild Geese, early 1950s

Unidentified maker
American (probably active in the Connecticut River Valley) 18th. century

Unidentified maker
Probably active in England
Quilted bedcover, late 17th or early 18th century

detail of above

Unidentified maker
Active in Mexico, 17th-18th centuries
Embroidered cover (colcha)

Unidentified maker
Indian, 17th-18th century
Quilt

Eunice Dennie Burr
American (active in Fairfield, Connecticut)
Corded bedcover (detail), about 1790

Unidentified maker
American, active in Baltimore
Album quilt, 1847-50

detail of above

Celestine Bacheller
American, active in Boston
Pictorial Crazy Quilt, about 1880

detail of above

Carolyn L. Mazloomi
American (active in Ohio)
Strange Fruit II, 2020
depicting the great Billie Holiday and her most courageous recording

.,

Sanford Biggers
American (active in New York)
A Deeper Form of Chess  2017

C. Winne
American, 19th century
Crazy quilt, 1885

Agusta Agustsson
American (active in Massachusetts)
Blanket of Red Flowers  `1979

detail of above (well, didn't you want a closer look?)
There was a group of teenagers gathered around this, pointing and giggling, and I was tempted to
say, "And you thought museums were all collections of dusty relics" but then I remembered what one
of Don's grandchildren said to him, "Grandaddy, don't be creepy!" so I refrained. 

Virginia Jacobs
American (active in Philadelphia)
Krakow Kabuki Waltz  1986
(the title is so great for this sphere, easily 6 feet in diameter)

Susan Hoffman

American,active in Boston, New York

Coastline, 1975

detail of above

Carla Hemlock
Haudenosaunee, Kanienkahaka (Mohawk)
Active in Kahnawake, QC, Canada
Survivors, 2011-13

detail of above

Sylvia Hernandea
American (active in Brooklyn)
#howmanymore, 2018

designed by Edward Larson (American, active in Liberty, Illinois
Quilted by Fran Soika (active in Novelty, Ohio)
Nixon Resignation 1979

Richard H. Rowley and probably Louise Rowley
Americans (active in Chicago)
A Century of Progress   1933

Revisiting old photos

 Getting more and more excited about March and Costa Rica, I pulled out the old memory cards I had saved from Peru (2014) and more recent trips to Costa Rica (2017, 2021) and adding some background, something I rarely did before.  So here are a few shots I treasure, not necessarily because they are great shots, (well, I think some of them are!) but because of the incredible excitement I felt upon seeing them, and being is the environment they were in. 

Red-throated Ant-tanager
Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica
Rancho has a light that they leave on to attract moths, which in turn attracts
unusual birds such as this rarely seen Ant-tanager.

 

Barred Ant-Shrike
Asa Wright Nature Center, Trinidad
Very sadly, news has come of the closing of the Center

Rufous-vented Chachalaka
Tobago

Rufous-crested Coquette
Amazonia Lodge, Peru
We arrived after sunset, so only a few photos were possible before the light was gone. 
Someday, with the crest up, maybe.
  

Slaty Flowerpiercer
Manchu Pichu, Peru

Black-capped Flycatcher
Savegre Lodge, Costa Rica

Yellow-faced Grassquit
Savegre Lodge, Costa Rica

Hoatzin
Amazonia Lodge, Peru
I remember my jaw dropping experience, seeing this amazing "punk chicken" as
Barbara calls it.  

Red-legged Honeycreeper
La Paz Waterfalls, Costa Rica

Volcano Hummingbird
Batsu Gardens, Costa Rica
I spent hours my first trip trying to get a good photo of this tiny, and
uniquely Costa Rican hummingbird.  Then last year, at Batsu Gardens, 
they were everywhere.  The flower supporting this beauty looks like
a woman's hand.

Volcano Hummingbird
Batsu Gardens, Costa Rica

Jabiru
Madre de Dios River, Peru
Photographed from a speeding river boat, and very early in the AM, there wasn't much I
could do to improve this photo, but what a great, great opportunity to see one of
the rarest, and the largest stork in the world.  What a remarkable bill!

Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Trinidad
Jacamars are hummingbirds on steroids.  

White-necked Jacobin
Asa Wright Nature Center, Trinidad
One of the most common of hummingbirds in South America, and still one of 
the most strikingly beautiful. 

Southern Lapwing
Manu Wildlife Center, Peru

White-collared Manakin
Asa Wright Center, Trinidad
I looked at the original  photo and suddenly discovered a second(!) Manakin at the bottom of the frame, not found in the cropped photo as originally printed. 
Incredibly hard to see, these are the only ones I have ever photographed.

Black-throated Mango
Tobago
The nest, built along a power line, is about the size of a walnut.

Red-breasted Meadowlark
Trinidad

Baltimore Oriole
Batsu Gardens, Costa Rica
Probably on his way to Middleboro, in full mating plumage.

Blue-headed Parots
Clay Lick, Peru
One of the great birding experiences is to be at a blind across from a clay lick, where
thousands of parrots gather to eat clay to counter the effect of all the acid in their diet.
It is a sight one should see at least once, as a birder. 

Horned Screamer
Very rare, endangered, a huge bird and, I suspect, good eating. 

Yellow-chinned Spinetail
Trinidad

Red-collared Tanager
La Paz Waterfalls, Costa Rica
This is one of the rarer Tanagers, a lucky shot. 

Flame-colored Tanager
Batsu Gardens, Costa Rica
Not rare at all, but still a treat to see. 

Silver-throated Tanager
Asa Wright Center, Trinidad 

Inca Tern
Lima, Peru
He seems to be grinning at you.  I photographed this bird sitting across a
table in a restaurant on a pier on Lima's beach, with nephew Carl Humm.

Green Violetear
Savegre Lodge, Costa Rica
 One of my favorite birds, very common, very tame. 

Flame-throated Warbler
Savegre Lodge, Costa Rica

Spot-crowned Woodcreeper
Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica
Amazing what Photoshop can do with almost a black photo, taken
before sunrise.

What pleasure these birds, and others, have contributed to my life. I hope and pray that
opportunities continue to present themselves to me, as there are so many more
great species to see in the world.