Museum of Fine Arts, a Must to see in Boston, Massachusetts

Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts
www.mfa.org

We visited the MFA soon after Christmas to see two new exhibits. One was closing soon, French Pastels, and the exhibit Ansel Adams In Our Times had just opened. Photos of some of my favorite paintings and photos are shown below.

Dancers Resting (above) and Dancers in Rose (below) both by Edgar Degas and were in the special exhibit French Pastels, Treasurers from the Past.

This exhibit is probably my 3rd or 4th that I've seen over the years. The first one was in 1978 in Yosemite, California.  One special one was in 1979 in Washington, DC, where I was able to get two autographs, and position him in place so I could take his photo. See blog to see autographs and my photo at: https://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2014/02/happy-birthday-ansel-adams.html.

The exhibit had only been open for two weeks when we went, and it was too crowded. Practically every picture I took is a disaster because they have shadows of visitors or exit lights. I hope to go back on a non-vacation day and retake these. My husband and I love this museum, and since it was the 2nd visit in 11 months, we decided to become members, so the rest of 2019 visits are free.

Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937.

I especially love this photo because it is of my 4th cousin once removed, Georgia O'Keeffe and her guide. This photo was high up on a wall, so much so, I couldn't look straight at it, thus, no shadows.

A favorite photo, below I did a closeup, but of course you see shadows of people.

I loved this photo, but you can all see the reflections of the people looking at it.

Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer by Edgar Degas.

Interesting view 11 months earlier.

Hanging Head Dragonfly table lamp by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Peonies Blown in the Wind by John La Farge, Parakeets and Gold Fish Bowl by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Butterflies and Foliage by John La Farge.

Boston Common at Twilight by Childe Hassam, 1885.

The Drummer Boy, abt. 1862 by William Morris Hunt.

The Buffalo Trail, abt. 1867 (above) and Valley of the Yosemite, 1864 (below) both by Albert Bierstadt.

Paul Revere, 1768 by John Singleton Copley.

Washington at Dorchester Heights, 1806 by Gilbert Stuart.

Watson and the Shark, 1778 by John Singleton Copley. (The young boy was bitten by a shark, and lost his leg.)

 Monet Room.

 

Mary and Elizabeth Royall, by John Singleton Copley, 1758.

I wrote about their historic house, Royall House and Slave Quarters, in Medford, Massachusetts. https://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-royall-house-and-slave-quarters-at.html

Maria Bockenolle (Wife of Johannes Elison), 1634 by Rembrandt van Rijn.

Winter Landscape near a Village, abt. 1610 by Hendrick Avercamp.

I have a lot of Dutch ancestry and was interested in all the masterpieces the museum has. I took plenty of photos, and hope to put them together in another post.

In the Loge, 1878 by Mary Stevenson Cassatt.

Houses at Auvers, 1890 by Vincent van Gogh and shown below if:

Dance at Bougival, 1883 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Museum Epiphany III, 2012 by Warren Prosperi.

The little girl is being told something about the statue. The statue is shown below behind my husband looking at the above photo.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882 by John Singer Sargent.


Second floor, rather interesting to see people flying above.

From Google, you can see the MFA on the lower left side.

Flyer from my 2005 visit to the MFA.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Mansion, Woodstock, Vermont

Front view of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Mansion
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
54 Elm Street, Woodstock, Vermont

Wikipedia site

Three sided veranda, with lots of white wicker furniture.

Last month, I visited three historic homes on my "bucket list." This mansion and a castle, both in Vermont were toured the same day. The other house is about 35 minutes away from me, and you can read and see photos HERE.

Three families had ties to this house. George Perkins March (impressive biography, probably America's first environmentalist) built a smaller house on this propery. Frederick Billings bought the Marsh family farm in 1869, and the Billings lived here for three generations. Mary French, a granddaughter of Frederick Billings, married Laurence S. Rockefeller.

Front hall, above and below.

"Cathedral Rock, Yosemite" by Albert Bierstadt, 1870, purchased by Frederick Billings in 1871.

Dining Room, above and below.

Tiffany window. Too far for me to read, but fortunately, on July 4th, the facebook page for this park posted an enlarge photo, shown below.

"Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night, become the touches of sweet harmony."
William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

Both fireplaces are trimmed in glass made by Tiffany and Company. When the fireplace is lit, the colored glass glow.

Large living room. Both fireplaces with the Tiffany design are to the right.

Beautiful Library, on first floor. Photo of Julia Parmly Billings.

Tiffany glass above. Since I couldn't get closer, I took the photo below, of a puzzle, with great photo and explanation. 

Second floor hallway. Our guide went 45 minutes over our tour, by treating us to the 3rd floor. The seven of us didn't complain!

I believe this is the room Lady Bird Johnson slept in, when she was an overnight guest.

Children's Bedroom. 

I love these fire places.

From their facebook page, July 2, 2018, "The white building pictured below is our Belvedere.

This space functioned as: A pool house, a bowling alley and a Fallout Shelter.

Built in 1872, the Belvedere was designed as a bowling alley and rest area, to escape hot and/or rainy days.

In the 1930s, a pool was built abutting the Belvedere - soon the white building doubled as both bowling alley and pool house.

Then at the beginning of the Cold War, Mary and Laurance Rockefeller created a Fallout Shelter in the basement - a space large enough to hold 40 people! The shelter was designed to act as a retreat, in the worst case scenario of nuclear fallout drifting into Woodstock, VT."

Since I have Rockefeller in my tree, I was curious about Laurence's line. He was the brother-in-law to my 3rd cousin, 4 times removed, Almira Goodsell
Rockefeller.

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