Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

A fanciful Schiaparelli design

The Philadelphia Museum of Art was supposed to be having, I thought, a special exhibit on the history of women's underwear, and so The Gryphon and I decided to go.

We were just about to head out the door, and I was checking out their web site to see if there was an additional charge, when I discovered I'd been mistaken and that event had been a one-time lecture.

But they did have a temporary display on women's fashions from the 1950s and 1960s, which sounded interesting, and we figured we could also finish viewing some of the wings we hadn't seen before.

Then the idea was to go see the American wing, of which we had only seen part before. On the way to the American wing, we stopped in a reproduction of a late 18th Century room, which had all sorts of mirrors and decorative flourishes. I love those room reproductions, because it gives you a real sense of what it was like during that time period.

On the grand staircase, we ran into some friends, a couple who were there to see a visiting masterpiece, a pre-Renaissance triptych. So we all walked up together to see it.

I mentioned that we'd seen the Elsa Schiaparelli exhibit about a month ago and had forgotten to write about it. Our friends wondered what I thought. The exhibit was fascinating for two reasons: one, because it really chronicled a time in American history when women's role in society, and consequently the fashions, were changing drastically. Elsa Schiaparelli designed from the 1940s into the 1960s.

She was groundbreaking for her unconventional use of fabrics, using nontraditional fabrics because of their practicality more than tradition: for example, a wool evening cape, instead of the traditional satins and velvets.

The other interesting aspect was the fanciful, artistic aspect of her work. Schiaparelli was friends with Salvador Dali, who inspired her to produce such items as hats that look like shoes, gloves with fingernails painted onto them, or a dress with a large lobster on the front.

The Gryphon and I enjoyed the Americans section. Specifically, they featured a lot of work by an artist, Thomas Eakins, who lived and painted in the Philadelphia area. He's best known for his masterwork, . He also did a lot of portraits, especially in his later years. Many of these were on display and were reminiscent of Dutch Renaissance portraits: with the subject emerging in stark lighting out of a dark background.

Seeing those portraits made me think it would be a great project, for someone who has artistic ability, to paint formal portraits of every day people in modern clothing. Instead of a portrait of someone, say, with a book open on their lap, they could be in front of a computer, checking e-mail.

After the museum, we ate at a place called Tavern on Green, which wasn't too far away. I had the Mahi-Mahi, which was absolutely delish. They even had artwork by local artists on display. The current featured works seemed to be montages of painted studies of pinups and calendar girls.

Then it was back to my place to watch "A Mighty Wind" and "Punch Drunk Love." I'd seen "Punch Drunk Love" before, and watching it again made me wonder about my theory, that it was all a dream. It does seem to follow dream logic.

"A Mighty Wind" was another great movie by Christopher Guest and his usual team: Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara. Many of them are alumni of the Second City Players, which is an improvisational troupe based in both Chicago and Toronto.

Nothing like a little culture and a little comedy on a lazy Sunday.

Other thoughts on the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

January 14, 2003 - Museum Hijinks

April 15, 2003 - Dance Dreams of Degas

June 2, 2004 - Impressions of the Sea

Copyright 2003 by Alyce Wilson

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