Hurrah for the United States of America - 16 January 2008

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:09:57 GMT

The Music Room at BFA - Ph. by D. Santal

Traveling to foreign countries and exploring different cultures so often, I forget to give the United States the good look it really deserves.

Fortunately, for the holidays, we had two guests from Paris, so we attempted to give them a taste of where we live. As they stayed only eight days, we decided to spend a weekend in Boston, a day in New York (which they had already visited before), and we also showed off Connecticut where we live.

It is wonderful to look at familiar places through the eyes of a foreigner! As the weather was mild, we walked all around Boston: the North End, Quincy Market and Boston Harbor, Beacon Hill, Newberry Street and Massachusetts Avenue... We visited the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), we had an elegant dinner at the Meritage Restaurant, and thus discovered Chef Robert Bruce: we think he is one of the most creative men we know... We shopped quite a bit, although we were disappointed that the original Filene's Basement was closed while being renovated, and Macy's has replaced defunct Jordan Marsh... It was still fun though! There were lots of people in the street, the atmosphere was festive and friendly… a great time was had by all.

In New York, we saw the Martin Puryear retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA): he is absolutely one of the most talented sculptors in the world, and he is an American! We had met him when he held a seminar at Yale University and had a chance to chat with him: a delightful human being, modest, cheerful, and friendly. He seemed surprised that we admire him and had seen his work around the world, including Paris.

In Hartford, we went to the Wadsworth Athenaeum and in New Haven, we visited both the Melon Museum of British Art, as well as the Yale Art Gallery.

It was such a pleasure to see our friends enjoy what we take for granted! They even had a chance to experience the frenzied political process watching the Iowa caucuses with us on television: we found ourselves doing a little research on caucus-states and primary states, so our guests would understand better…

I would like to know the United States Southwest, I have never been there. Our friends suggested that the next time they come to this country, we could all go there together for two or three weeks and roam around to our hearts’ content. What a terrific project to look forward to!

Martin Puryear's work at MOMA Jazz Musicians from the Wadsworth Atheneum collection Martin Puryear's work at MOMA

A memorable visit of Laos

Hurrah for the United States of America - 16 January 2008