Last Day in Baltimore

The days excursion took us in the opposite direction, with several stops planned, and we set out early and found the elusive purple bus to take us uptown. The friendly driver provided us tips to find the stops, as well as notifying us when we needed to get off after the long ride to the Baltimore Art Museum, located at the Johns Hopkins University. 

Greeted by what was a guardhouse to the estate, and then a lovely sculpture garden, we decided to walk through that while it was still cool and overcast.  

Titled “Miro” I’m not sure if this sculpture is a replica of a painting, or a tribute to the artist, but it drew me across the garden for a closer look. 

Artist: Mother Nature

The boxing Hare

The Baltimore Museum of Art houses a tremendous collection, including that donated by the independently wealthy Cone Sisters of Baltimore. The sisters knew Gloria Stein, and purchased many of her collected works when she needed money. They also had a close relationship to Henri Matisse, and their donation of 500 works gives the museum the preeminent Matisse collection in the world.  There was a computerized model of the sisters apartment, showing where their vast collection was hung, which Clem enjoyed more than the collection!  He did have to admit, however, it was a very impressive collection, with works of Gaugin, Renoir, Van Gogh and the like. 

This intricate puzzle like dish was only able to be assembled in one way, and Clem said I should make one! 

While we were watching a computer generated tour of the Cone sisters’ apartment showing where the thousands of works of art they donated were hung, this young man sat behind us, and I noticed him sketching something from their mock parlor, and thought it was so neat, I snuck a shot. 

Came upon these other students sketching at another exhibit. Probably a school assignment, but I loved it. 

Matisse himself relaxing in his home, with one of his paintings behind him. 

And the painting from the above scene with Matisse  

One of Matisse’s famous nudes. While it looks simple, it actually went through many variations, each documented by photos by the artist, which he would regularly send to the Cone sisters. By the time it was finished, they were hooked and purchased it. Clever. 

The gentleman at the visitor  center told us not to miss lunch at Gertrude’s at the museum, so we did that,  overlooking the garden. 

While having lunch, with Clem enjoying a Bloody Mary, I discovered we missed the Mosaics and American collection in the older estate building, and went back to see those before moving on. I’m glad we took the time, as the displays were very interesting and the building itself beautiful.  

An aside:  

Publishing now so as not to lose this, as I am typing in the car. One day I did lose it, and thought it was forever gone, and was devastated!  Try as I may, I could not reclaim it, and the help section said basically sorry!  Then magically several hours later I opened another device, saw the draft, and hit publish and it was there! I was relieved beyond words.  

Anyway, more later! 

Well, that was fun! We made a pit stop and I took the next leg, and it turned out to be the GW, etc. Now, I am comfortable driving a 40 foot big rig towing an suv, but city driving gets my stomach in a knot!  

                         Baltimore continued:

For our next stop touring Baltimore,  we took the bus halfway back down and got off near the Walters Museum, one of Americas most distinctive, housing a collection covering 7 millennia. And it was indeed amazing.  

A wine cooler, and extravagant glasses used for entertaining. 

The more recently made sarcophagi, of which I have seen very few before this collection of probably a dozen examples. 

Faberge eggs

We were fortunate to visit at this time for a special exhibit called Majolica Mania. While I was familiar with majolica, I know a bit more about it since taking  up pottery, and was anxious to see it. I had no idea of the scope of popularity, nor the fact that the once very popular form of colorful pottery ceased production because the craftspeople were losing their lives working with the leaded glazes! 

Finding the beginning of the exhibit, I was disappointed to find mostly the tin glaze finished plates of maiolica of the Italians, and only two pieces of the more elaborate English Majolica. But we came across an arrow, leading to another level, and where we found a larger exhibit, and arrows to more!  It was truly mania! Not only for the sheer amount of pieces, but the maze taking us back and forth between two adjoined buildings, in which the first floor of one, was the second floor of another! We had to ask assistance of the many guards about, which may be a good part of their purpose!  The adjoining building was once a mansion , and spectacular in its own right. We had a wonderful, rewarding visit. 

A work commissioned as a tribute to those who died from the creation of the lead glazed majolica. 

The Walters Mansion building, one of the two buildings encompassing the collection, was spectacular. An exhibit in itself! 

A garden bench

Our next visit was to be the Peabody Library, with its 5 tiers of ornamental cast iron balconies and 65 foot high sky light, built in 1878, as much visited for the architecture as the vast collection. Well, we goofed, and it was only open until 1 on Thursday, even though the others were actually open late!  We had spent so much time in the museums, it was now dinner time, and we once again found our Baltimore Connector for the ride back. An amazing system of free transportation around the city, it has proved very handy, as I sure wouldn’t want to be driving, especially in rush hour! 

Shot from an upper window in the Walters, a view of the Washington Monument and a gorgeous old church I would love to inspect. 

We made our way to Little Italy by changing to the orange route, and chose one of the quaint eateries and enjoyed seeing the neighborhood. While it does not compare to the North End of Boston, it still shows it’s colors and culture, and after dinner we stopped at the well known Vaccaro’s bakery for their famous cannoli, which did not disappoint.  

We hopped back on  the bus once again before they stopped running for the night, to make it back to our hotel.    

Near the bus stop, a better view of the Shot Tower, built in 1828,  where molten lead was dropped from a platform at the top of the 234 foot tower into a vat of cold water to produce “drop shot” for muskets. It was the tallest structure in the US at the time. 

Back at the hotel we encountered a little excitement, as yellow police tape and flashing lights barred our way. An officer  directed us to the back entrance to our hotel, as no one was being allowed in front or all the way down the street, as it was a crime scene investigation site!  Shades of NCIS! 

We never did find out what had happened, but apparently had been closed for some time, and additional officers pulled from other districts to help. 

As I feared, we didn’t have time for several things I wanted to see, and had we not been on a time schedule, I would have extended our stay. Guess we may need another visit to Charm City! 

The Bromo Seltzer Tower, a landmark since 1911, holds the largest clock of its type on the world, larger than Big Ben. The plant and a large blue bottle were torn down, but the tower remains and can be visited once a month, and now houses artist studios. 

Camden Yards and the Oriole Stadium, maybe another visit. The B&O RR museum is just beyond, and site of the first commercial RR