Masterpieces

Visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art which has one of the greatest collections in the world.

I didn’t know this Claude Monet piece of pine trees at sunset, but I found it mesmerizing.This Cubist masterpiece by Lyonel Feininger reminded me, specifically, of the cover art of the Foundation trilogy paperbacks my father had on his bookshelf when I was growing up.I was disturbed, as intended, by this Marcel Duchamp work.  A closed door with a hole in it.  Peering inside, you see the exposed, naked body of a woman.I found it much more provocative than his famed Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2.
Cy Twombly‘s abstract series inspired by The Iliad drew my attention.Looking out from the museum, down the museum steps, to the Washington Monument and the Philadelphia skyline beyond.Cathedral archways and entire chapel courtyards had been reconstructed indoors.As well as Japanese homes.And Buddhist temples.The museum’s grand staircase.Saw one of my favorite Van Gogh’s.Peering up at the museum from outisde through the branches and bramble.A statue of Chief Justice John Marshall stands out front of the museum’s northern approach.