Leah called me around 11:00, saying she was out on
foot on account of she’d dropped her car off at the mechanics – amazingly
convenient across the street from the kids’ school, the place they got their used
Vauxhall van in the first place – Smallbone & Son. Ever since meeting up
with the Wards in Grimsby, one of the rear doors has been stuck shut. Today
Leah decided she’d put up with it long enough! Up to that point I’d been
spending the day working on getting caught up on my writing. Did I want to join
her? She had her sights on a nice long walk, all the way up to Harborne – where
there’s a shop for everything.
We determined we would meet in about a half hour’s
time (I hadn’t eaten or gotten dressed up to that point), on Bristol Road near the south gate entrance to the
university. By the time I got there Leah had been doing a little calculation in
her head: ‘you know, by the time we walk all the way up to Harborne, it will practically
be time to turn around and come back.’ The kids get out of school about 3:15,
and she needed to be there to collect them. As we were standing right at the
bottom of the hill that leads up to campus (very similar rise to the slope
leading up to BYU), I said how about if we go up there? I’ll treat you to lunch - I know a good place
(in the student center where Amanda and I had eaten just last week; wow, how
time flies – and here I’d been thinking it’d been a couple weeks already!). So baby-in-pushchair
in tow, that’s what we did – Leah and I balancing the stroller up all the
flights of stairs. I’m sure we were an inspiring sight to all the carefree students
we passed along our way: ‘Yeah, where do I sign up to get one of those cute
things to change my idyllic single life – forever!’
Had a great ‘your choice of four salad sides,’ topped
with a single helping of what is termed a ‘protein’ serving (any number of meat
or meat substitutes with sauce, deli kind of things). Hit the spot, for sure –
generous helpings. After that I suggested we spend some time at the Barber (probably not what you might have thought!) - The Barber Institute of Fine Arts. At the present they are
highlighting an exhibit called In Front of Nature – the European Landscapes of
Thomas Fearnley – of British ancestry but born and brought up in Norway. (Very
nice – I like landscapes a lot, as some may attest.) I’ve been inside the building before, that first trip to campus for my inaugural visit to professor
Philip’s class, but have never been back to view the art. Just waiting for a
nice day like today!
The hubbub of students all around us, poor little
Ella was SO distracted she could hardly get a bite down. Felt very much like
the CougarEat, and looked like it, too – ‘cept for the long haired/bearded young
men and the mini-skirted/short-shorted, purple-blue-and/or-green haired young
women. Nice kids.
The Barber was founded in 1832 by Dame Martha
Constance Hattie Onions Barber in memory of her late husband, Henry, an
original subscriber to the endowment fund set up by Joseph Chamberlain to
establish the University of Birmingham. Before dying somewhat unexpectedly, the
couple had discussed establishing a permanent contribution to Henry's home
city. Four months after doing so, Martha, childless, followed her husband in
death. Housed in an Art Deco building designed by Robert Atkinson, the Barber
Institute of Fine Art was officially opened by Queen Mary (aka Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline
Claudine Agnes {Oh, man, Andrew Colin, to whom I wanted to add the names
Christian and Albert, I always KNEW you never got your fair share of names!} – informally known as ‘May’ by her family,
after her birth month) in 1939. The bounteous endowment has resulted in
what has become known as ‘one of the finest small art galleries in Europe’ – artists
represented including Bellini, Botticelli, Holbein, Veronese, Stom, Baschenis,
Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Poussin, Gainsborough, Turner, Delacroix, Ingres,
Rossetti, Whistler, Manet, Degas, Monet, van Gogh, Rodin, Gauguin, Picasso,
Matisse, Magritte, and Schiele – to name a few.
Photos_
1- what I see across the street as I come to the
main road (Bristol) from my house – the south gates of the university
2- The Barber Institute of Fine Arts - exterior
3- The Barber Institute of Fine Arts/The Barber
Gallery – interior
4- Mrs. B - by her favoured artist, Nestor Cambier
5- Sunrise in the Wengeralp (current exhibit: In Front of
Nature - The European Landscapes of Thomas Fearnely)
6- A Young Woman Seated – Renoir (as you can no doubt see, next to landscapes, I do love Victorian portraits of beautiful women!)
7- Countess Golovine – Marie
Elisabeth Vigeé-Lebrun, apparently the best-known female artist of 18th century
France
8- Symphony in White - Whistler
9- Landscape in Flanders – Peter Paul Rubens
