9 May - Culture, culture, culture

It was a lovely sunny day and the forecasters promised temperatures in the high 60s. A bit like Seattle, you have to be thrilled with a sunny day here and take full advantage. So off we went on the bus to Cambridge. We had the same bus driver I had on Tuesday, named James. We made the short walk from the bus station to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The building itself is very majestic.

Once inside, it's so impressive, even before one takes in the art.

The featured exhibition is the art of William Blake. I acknowledge that my education is lacking; I knew William Blake as a poet, but had no idea that he was also an artist. So off we went to find the exhibition, and were delighted to find wonderful art along the way. Here are some of my favorite pieces.

Zipperah (2002) by Barbara Walker:

The Twins (1876) by John Everett Millais:

The Honorable Richard Fitzwilliam (1764) by Joseph Wright (It was he who founded the museum):

An Eighteenth Century Family (2022) by Joy Labinjo:

The Dog Rose (1910) by Glyn Philpot:

La Place Clichy (1880) by Pierre Auguste Renoir:

Emilie Cosmann, known as Milein Cosman (1985) Hans Keller:

Amadeo Modigliani (1915) Portrait of a Young Woman:

Rachel de Ruvigny (about 1638) by Anthony Van Dyck:

Bust of Queen Victoria ( around 1887-89) Alfred Gilbert:

Springtime 1886) by Claude Monet:

Design attributed to Owen Jones, made by Jackson & Graham, London (about 1871-75):

The Dream II (2023) by Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum:

One of the things I love about this museum is that except for the special exhibitions, they show art from different eras and of different genres side by side.

One current special exhibition entitled Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyke features drawings by these three as well as other Dutch artists. Due to the way in which they were displayed, it was very difficult to photograph them. Here are a few:

Lucas Vorsterman (about 1631; black chalk on paper) by Anthony Van Dyck):

A view of Spa looking east from the market square (1612; pen and brown ink, grey, green & blue wash) by Jan Bruegel the Elder:

The Musical Party (1629, black chalk and sepia wash non paper) by Esaias van de Velde:

A Path Bordered by Trees (about 1615-18, pen over black chalk on paper) by Peter Paul Rubens:

Finally we came to the William Blake exhibition. One of his famous quotations is

Love seeketh not itself to please,

Nor for itself hath any care,

But for another gives its ease,

And builds a heaven in hell's despair.

That "hell's despair" was amply demonstrated in the exhibition. It is supposed to be a response to war, revolution and political turbulence and is meant "to explore Blake’s boundless imagination in the context of wider trends and themes in European art including romanticism, mysticism and ideas of spiritual regeneration." That sounds pretty interesting to me, but there's also this warning posted on the website: William Blake’s works of art contain themes and imagery that include some depictions of suffering, sexual violence and enslavement.

Most of the illustrations are based on myths and the bible. Here are a few examples:

The Circle of the Lustful, Paolo and Francesca (1827)

Preludium (a fiend drags two men toward their doom):

A bat-winged Pope with two angels:

There were more rooms to explore, but I was feeling a bit of sensory overload, so we left the Fitzwilliam and headed to a pub Bruce had found to have lunch. There was a wonderful vegetarian dish on the menu (one) but, of course, they were out of it so we wandered a few doors down to Brew Dog, a favorite of Bruce's and had lunch there, because they serve a couple of salads. After lunch we walked over to the Cambridge Arts Theatre to pick up the tickets I had ordered to see "The 39 Steps", a farce based on the old Hitchcock film of the same name. That done, we had an hour or so to kill before the curtain so Bruce headed to the pub that lacked the vegetarian dish and I wandered around. I found the open air market I remembered from our last visit and kind of wished we had had lunch there. There are many stalls with international foods that smelled heavenly. Next time. I stopped at a little shop for a wonderful gelato and did some window shopping. We met at the theatre and headed to our seats. Lots of grey hair in the audience, it being a matinee, along with a school group who were under threat of bodily harm if they misbehaved. The show was great fun. Four actors play 139 roles. It was silly and fun a great diversion. There's a great video about the show here. Scroll to the bottom of the page.

After the show let out we headed for a shop where I had seen a couple of things I really wanted to buy but didn't want to carry into the theatre. That accomplished we headed back to the place where I had enjoyed the wonderful gelato and got an assortment of gorgeous little pastries packed in a lovely box with a magnetic lid, and meant for keeping. (Will there be space in my luggage?) Yes, there's one missing but I say willpower is highly overrated.

Making our way to the bus station, I found more giraffes!