2024 Portugal

My husband Rich and I had a 3-week vacation planned for touring Portugal from April 16-May 5, 2020, which included 5 days in Lisbon, 2 days in Sintra, 3 days Porto and a 9-day driving trip across the Douro Valley.  Our trip was carefully researched, scheduled, booked, and paid for when COVID19 shut down all travel in mid March and canceled our plans.  We waited as long as we dared while we watched the situation grow more and more dire, then reluctantly pulled the plug on our excursion.  Luckily, we canceled early enough so that we received full cash refunds for just about all our expenses including airfare from Air Canada, hotels, tour bookings, etc.  Shortly after, realizing the huge debt that it was racking up, Air Canada stopped offering cash refunds and would only issue travel credits.  Since the pandemic, we have been slower than most to ease back into air travel.  Between 2020 and 2021, we made road trips all around Ontario, visiting many beautiful little towns within 2-3 hours of Toronto that we would not have previously prioritized.  In May 2023, we booked our first flight in almost 4 years when we resumed our regular trek to New York City to watch Broadway plays.  By then, I had totally forgotten the rules and regulations of air travel and made several rookie mistakes.

Back in 2020, we were amongst the first out of all our friends and family to consider visiting Portugal.  Since then, just about everyone that we know has taken some version of the trip that we had so meticulously planned.   Now in September 2024, four and a half years since we canceled our initial plans, we have finally rescheduled our trip to Portugal with some modifications.  On this revised trip, we decided to forego the drive through the Douro Valley and concentrate on the cities, spending 5 days in Porto, 3 days in Sintra (the castle and palace town) and 7 days in Lisbon.  As a general rule, I prefer visiting fewer locations and staying longer in each of them rather than having to pack up and relocate every day.  I also like to explore each new city that I encounter in great detail, looking for quirky, off-the-beaten path sites and experiences beyond the general touristy highlights.  Having more time in each city and town would allow us the luxury to do this. And lastly, we had been frightened off by tales of how expensive car rental has become since the pandemic.  We will fly into Porto via Air Transat, take the CP national train when we head from Porto to Sintra, a suburban train to get from Sintra to Lisbon, then fly out of Lisbon via Air Transat.  We chose Air Transat because it was the only airline that had a one-way direct flight to Porto in late September.  In retrospect, this was fortunate considering there was a threat of an Air Canada pilots’ strike.  Even though the strike was resolved before our trip, it was nice to not have to worry about it at all.

In 2019, we acquired a new BMO Infinite Mastercard that gave us travel bonus points, 21-day travel health insurance and 4 free airport lounge passes per year.  Since this is our first overseas travel since the pandemic, this will be our first opportunity to take advantage of the lounge passes, or at least try to.  There was an article in the Globe and Mail recently about how airport lounges were becoming overbooked and started turning overflow people away.  Given that we have a late redeye flight to Porto, hopefully this will not apply to us.

It used to be that each time we landed in a new country, we would look for the local cell provider to buy a physical SIM card to have data access on our cell phones.  Since 2023, we switched to electronic SIM cards (e-SIMs) provided by the Airalo app and used them successfully in the United States for a fraction of the cost of the physical SIM and without the inconvenience of hunting down a physical store.  Now we will buy e-SIMs for Portugal and will load up on data since we expect to be using Google Maps quite a bit to find our way around the windy streets.  As we are away for 16 days, we decided to go for the biggest allocation of data which is 20Gigs for $44.50 Canadian.  It is slightly cheaper to go big than to incrementally top up as you run out of data.

For our accommodations at each of our three destinations, we tried to pick an apartment hotel as close to the train station as possible so that we would not have to lug our luggage that far when we arrived.  An apartment hotel is perfect for our needs since we get more living space than a hotel room and most importantly a kitchen where we can store fruit and breakfast fare for the days when we need an early start.  But it also has a hotel concierge service that can help us with luggage storage if we arrive before check-in time, and in the case of Sintra, hopefully the attendant can help us call for a taxi to bring us to the gates of the palaces prior to the start of bus service. Unfortunately, none of the places that we selected had washing machines, but at least there are drying racks and irons for some make-shift laundry in the sink.

In Porto, we will be staying in the Baixa area, just a 3-minute walk from the beautiful Sao Bento train station, which is supposed to be a tourist attraction in its own right.  During our 5-day stay in Porto, we would be visiting each of the major areas except for Bonfim, which is mostly residential.  Within Baixa, there is beautiful architecture, shops and restaurants within steps of our apartment including the large Mercado Bolhao, a bi-level food mart that is just a few minutes away. South of us is the area called Sé where we will tour major cathedrals including Bolsa Palace, Church of Sao Francisco, and Cathedral of Se.  Continuing further south to Ribeira, we will explore the waterfront shops and restaurants on both sides of the Douro River at Cais Ribeira and Cais Gaia, as well as do some port tasting in Vila Nova de Gaia where I also want to ride the funicular.  Traveling west to the BoaVista area, we will take the bus to the Serralves Art Museum and then on the way back to the hotel, stop by the Cedofeita district to walk along neighbourhoods featuring Art Nouveau buildings including Livraria Lello. On our last day in Porto, we want to stroll along the beaches in the Foz Do Douro area.  Hopefully the weather cooperates.

While at the Porto Airport, we will buy the Andante card which is Porto’s version of Toronto’s Presto card and costs less than 1 euro.  Porto transit works on zones with the cost of a ride increasing depending on the number of zones being crossed. From the airport to Sao Bento covers 4 zones so this is the ticket we will initially load on our cards.  You can only load one type of ticket (# of zones) on your card at any time.  After that, all of our trips within Porto will span 2 zones, including the final trip to get from Sao Bento to Campanha Train station where we start our trip to Sintra, so we can load the rest once we arrive at Sao Bento.

To get to Sintra, we will take the national train Comboios de Portugal (CP) from Porto Campanha station to Lisbon Oriente station, which will take just under 3 hours.  Once in Lisbon, a suburban train can take us to Sintra so we can buy the Navegante card from the Oriente train station.  Lisbon’s Navegante transit card is more encompassing than the Andante, as it covers all subways, buses, suburban trains, trams, funiculars, elevators and ferries.  There are many ways to load or use the card.  You can purchase single tickets and top up as required, buy a day pass for infinite rides on all modes of transportation within 24 hours, and other passes.  But the cheapest way to ride seems to be a term they call “Zapping” where you load some amount of money (minimum 3 Euros or increments of 5 Euros up to a maximum of 40).  The Zapping method reduces the fares of some types of rides almost by half.  If you can plan out what you may need to spend, this is the way to go.  We will try this as I want to ride on elevators, funiculars, ferries and possibly a tram in addition to the buses, subways and trains.  With zapping, you don’t need to worry about what type of tickets to load or how much it costs.  The reader will just deduct the appropriate, discounted amount when you flash the card against it.  Because the Navegante card covers suburban trains, we can use it to travel from Lisbon Oriente to Sintra and then return from Sintra to Lisbon Rossio station near where we are staying.

We have 3 days in Sintra with the first being partly a travel day where we hope to arrive from Porto by early afternoon.  This will give us enough time to check into our hotel apartment (350 metres from the train station), orient ourselves, visit the National Palace of Sintra, check out the shops in the town and have a leisurely early dinner.  For the next two days, we plan to visit Pena Palace and Grounds, Palace of Monserrate, Quinta da Regaleira and Castle of the Moors.  At this writing, all these places are closed from Sept 15-19 under threat of rural forest fires.  This would be a major blow to our plans if this remains the case during our stay 3 weeks from now, so we are busy making contingency plans just in case.  Fingers crossed that this will all be resolved by the time we arrive.  Whereas while we are in Porto, I am hoping for sunshine especially on our beach day, I wish for Sintra to get plenty of rain before we arrive!

Our 7 days in Lisbon will be filled with a wide variety of activities and modes of transportation as we plan to explore beyond the usual tourist areas.  We will be staying in Chiado at a hotel apartment a mere 350 metres from the Rossio train station, as the crow flies.  Unfortunately, we are not crows and the “short walk” involves a steep climb up multiple long flights of stairs, raising 113 metres in elevation while carrying all of our luggage!  We have been in training for the past few weeks by taking stairs whenever there is the opportunity. The area around Chiado and neighbouring Baixa are full of unique shops, restaurants and beautiful squares or pracas to explore.  We will be transiting to districts further afield including Alfama to visit St.George’s Castle, Marvila to check out the Tile Museum, Areeiro to tour the Calouste Gulbenkian Art Museum, Alcantara where we will explore the Prazeres Cemetery, Berado Art Deco Museum and LXFactory, a hip art and shopping district, and of course Belém to visit the Jeronimós Monastary and Belem Tower.  I also want to take a ferry across to Cacilhas on the other side of the River Tagus, ride the Santa Justa elevator, the Bica Funicular, and if it is not too crowded, the historic #28 Tram.  Finally on our last day of Lisbon, we will be taking a 3-hour street art walking tour that will wrap up our trip.

We are excited to finally be heading to Portugal.  Should be a great vacation if weather cooperates.

2024: Art Of Ideas Gallery in St. Mary's, Castle Kilbride in Baden, Ontario

My husband Rich and I visit Stratford, Ontario most years to watch one or more shows at the Stratford Festival. Often this would be a day trip where we have lunch or dinner before a matinee or evening performance respectively, then drive home after the show.  Occasionally we would try to watch more than one show on the trip and would stay overnight at a bed and breakfast or rental apartment.

In 2022, we brought our bicycles to Stratford and combined our theatre experience with a cycling tour of the city that allowed us to visit more areas and sites than we usually could on foot.  This brought us to Gallery Stratford and Confederation Park for the first time, as well as allowing us to ride through some residential neighbourhoods where we found older, historic homes.

We also checked out the nearby town of St. Mary’s, just 20 minutes South-west of Stratford by car.  While we were there, we spotted a postcard advertising a very eccentric-looking house that was called “The Art of Ideas Gallery”.  We did not have time on that trip to go see it, but I did make a note to research the details for a future visit.  I found out that the Italianate-styled mansion was built in the 1880s for wealthy grain merchant George Carter, who gave it to his daughter Charlotte and her new husband Henry Rice as a wedding gift.  The exterior of the red-brick mansion includes Mansard roofing, wrought-iron windows, ornate gingerbread-styled decorations on the veranda and a widow’s walk on the top of the central tower.  The house changed hands multiple times through the centuries with each new owner taking care to preserve the architectural and historical aspects of the home.

The current owners, visual artist Eugen-Florin Zamfirescu and his partner Elena Dumitru, bought the house during the pandemic, and have turned it into a museum, artist studio and art gallery which they called “Art of Ideas Gallery”, displaying Zamfirescu’s works on the walls and giving tours of the public spaces.  They live in a few rooms at the back of the house, which originally were probably the servants’ quarters.  I found out that we could get guided tours of the house including regularly scheduled 90-minute tours on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays for $25 per person (maximum 10 people).  There was also the option for a privately arranged tour on other days, with a minimum of 4 people, or a payment of $100 for a group smaller than that.

This year, my husband Rich and I bought 2-for-1 tickets to watch Something Rotten on a Tuesday night with our friends Yim and Murray joining us. Our plan was to attend the evening show, stay overnight, then stop by Castle Kilbride in Baden (a community within the Township of Wilmot) on the way back to Toronto.  This left the afternoon before the show free and gave me the opportunity to arrange a private tour of the Art of Ideas Gallery in St. Mary’s.  Not reading all the details, I did not realize that there are usually two types of tours.  The first one titled “Echoes of Elegance: Tracing Timeless Treasures” describes the history of the house plus the background of some of the cool pieces of antique furniture found in each room.  The second is named “An Unexpected Journey” and focuses more on art works on the wall.  When we showed up, we had not specified which tour we wanted but were told it would be the one about the history of the house.  Luckily, this is the one that we wanted anyways.

While it was interesting to view Zamfirescu’s art in passing, the most impressive part of the tour was getting to see the stunning architectural details inside the amazing house.  Intricate woodwork is found throughout the home, in the patterns of the original hardwood flooring, and carved in the archways, entranceways, and staircases. The wooden shutters, with a ridiculously large number of extremely narrow slats that run floor-to-ceiling, date back to 1881 and must be impossible to keep dusted.  Persian rugs found in several of the rooms also date back to the 1800s. Stained glass windows found on the landings of the stairwell were added by the new owners.

To complement the beautiful house, the owners have scoured antique stores to find unique pieces of furniture that align with the historical era and architectural significance of the home.  The items fit in so well that I initially thought the pieces came with the house.  One particularly impressive item was a buffet hutch that seemed to fit perfectly into a built-in niche against the far wall of the dining room.  Our tour guide Elena explained that they fell in love with the item and bought it without properly measuring the space, just to find that it was a bit too narrow to handle the edges of the buffet.  Ingeniously, Zamfirescu cut a narrow strip into either side of the wall space at just the right height to slide in the hutch.  Had she not mentioned it, we would not even have noticed. Additionally, they have filled the spaces with interesting sculptural art pieces, antique navigational and scientific instrumentation, and art pieces made by Zamfirescu himself.  

It was quite the experience to be able to tour The Art of Ideas and hear about the history of the home, its past owners, the furnishings, and sculptures found throughout.  If you haven’t already visited, this is a hidden gem that should be added to the itinerary of any trip to Stratford.

Located in Baden, Ontario (about 30 minutes East of Stratford), Castle Kilbride is yet another Italianate-styled mansion, similar to the “Art Of Ideas” house that we saw the day before.  Built in 1877, this was the home of flax and linseed oil magnate James Livingston, his wife Louise and their twelve children.  One of the most prominent features of the house is the central belvedere or rooftop lookout that rises above the peak of the hipped roof.  Stairs from the third floor lead up to the belvedere where double windows on all four sides provide panoramic views of the surrounding areas.  Livingston used to survey his flax fields and mills from here.  Viewed from above, you can see that the front lawn was designed in the shape of a heart, as a tribute from James to his wife.  At one point, the third floor was used as storage.  Today, it is sparsely furnished with some old games on display including a Skittles and Top game where you wind string around the top and release it to spin through an obstacle course of skittles in an attempt to ring the bell at the other end.

Castle Kilbride was named after Livingston’s birthplace in Scotland.  It is known for the elaborate fresco murals painted on the walls and ceilings in Renaissance Revival style, which was popular in the late 19th century.  Several paintings are created using the trompe l’oeil technique, used to fool the eye into thinking the renderings are 3-dimensional when they are in fact flat paintings.  In the front hallway, a marble sculpture flanked by columns and a beautiful vase of flowers sitting on a ledge are prime examples of this. Additionally, one of the downstairs rooms has a mural on the ceiling that appears to be augmented by dangling orange trimmings hanging from decorative crown molding that encircle the room.  You can even see the shadows that the trimmings create, but all of this is done using paint. In the passageway between a sitting room and the dining room, we saw the same extremely intricate lace-like carvings in the archways that we had noticed in the “Art of Ideas” House and marveled again at the skill and craftsmanship that was required to produce this.

Castle Kilbride retains many of its original finishes including plasterwork, hardware woodwork, marble fireplace mantles in the principal rooms and hand-carved mahogany valances.  The central hallway features a grand staircase with a beautiful sculptural light fixture atop an intricately carved newel post.  Situated on the second floor are the bedrooms for the family although there did not seem to be enough rooms to house twelve children!  The basement level has been turned into a toy museum, featuring toys from different eras.  An interesting feature on the property is the unique double-room brick privy or outhouse, designed in a similar Italianate style as the main house with the green and red corbels and hipped roof.  Each outhouse stall has two holes, one large and one small for adults and children respectively.  Instead of dug pits to contain the waste, bins are used which were retrieved and emptied daily via small doors at the back of the structure.

The Art of Ideas Gallery and Castle Kilbride are two great side trips that can be added to any trip to Stratford.  They are fun to experience if you like architecture, art or history.

2024 Detroit Road Trip: Ann Arbor Art and Dining

For the eight days that my husband Rich and I were in the United States touring Detroit, Dearborne and Toledo, we stayed in a hotel in the outskirts of Ann Arbor, MI and used that as a base for day trips. It made sense for several reasons.  First, we were a bit leery about being in Detroit after dark and could not find a downtown hotel that was both affordable and had secure, onsite parking.  Given that Ann Arbor was about halfway between Detroit and Toledo and the Ann Arbor Regent Hotel met our cost and parking criteria with the extra bonus of including daily free breakfast, this seemed like a good option. It also gave us the opportunity to explore Ann Arbor and particularly, yet another art museum.

Having extensively toured the Detroit Institute of Art and the Toledo Museum of Art, in comparison, visiting University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) was much smaller in scale and scope, but it still had a few interesting exhibits.  Another of Jaume Plensa’s large-scaled sculptures of the head of a young woman is on display outside.  Lately, it seems like every art museum that we visit has one.  Titled “Behind the Walls” (2018), this one is unusual in that a pair of hands (cut off at the wrists) cover her face.  The building currently housing the art museum was originally designed in 1909 as a war memorial for the university’s fallen alumni who died in the American Civil War, then used as administration offices before officially becoming an institutional art gallery in 1946.  Designed in classical styles, Doric columns are found outside while Ionic columns hold up two levels of the oval-shaped inner courtyard/lobby, which is topped by a large skylight. Works of art line the walls of the two levels and a pair of marble sculptures sit on the ground floor including “Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompei” (1861) by Randolph Rogers. Given the limited space of the museum, many smaller decorative art pieces are kept in an Open Storage gallery which features floor-to-ceiling glass shelving containing American, African and Chinese decorative arts, pottery, glass, woodwork, folk art and more.

An interesting exhibit called “Unsettled History: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism” displays contemporary creations along side of 17th to 19th Century European and American art to recontextualize these works and their traditional historical narratives. The highlight of the exhibit is Titus Kaphar’s “Flay (James Madison)” (2019) where Kaphar paints a portrait of American Founding Father James Madison, then shreds the bottom into strips which are folded up and pinned above the work.  Most telling are the strips that come out of Madison’s mouth.  Usually depicted as a heroic figure, the painting and its mutilation draw attention to Madison’s ownership of hundreds of slaves.  Even more provocative is Tyree Guyton’s “Bird cage (relynching)”, created circa 1980-2010. A paint-splattered metal bird cage stand contains a tattered American flag, and the replica of a human penis hanging upside down and painted black.  The art piece references the history of the horrible practice of castrating black men accused of rape before lynching them.  Betye Saar’s “Lullaby” (1999) consists of a framed photo sitting on a wooden serving tray.  The photo depicts a black servant caring for three white children while an image of her child sits in the left corner of the matte surrounding the photo.  The physical separation of the mother and child in the work and the lyrics around the photo highlight how enslaved mothers are forcibly absent from their families and community.

On display on the second floor of the UMMA are items designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, that come from the opulent home of sugar magnate Henry O. Havemeyer.  The interior view of the massive front doors of the mansion feature honey-coloured wooden frames surrounding ornate copper panels that are imbedded with iridescent Favrile glass designed by Tiffany, and warm-coloured stones. Even more stunning is the chandelier that once hung in the Havemeyer library.  Made from bronze and more Favrile glass, golden half-globes of glass blown from molds are laid out in a circular pattern around a large central globe to form a flower-like design. Ornate metalwork with embedded green baubles surrounds the outer circumference of the chandelier, which is attached to the ceiling with a beaded central pole. A peacock mosaic was in the entrance hallway of the house over a fireplace. It used a variety of glass including translucent, opaque, gem-cut and cabochon glass to create the pair of peacocks facing one another with their tail feathers spread out.  The peacock is one of Tiffany’s signature motifs.  The Favrile glass in a window panel from the dining room is made with gold, amber and brown glass that forms a scrolling leaf pattern and looks gilded from afar.  A translucent fire screen designed with gilt metal and opalescent glass would be backlit when the fireplace was operating, forming a lilac glow.  Based on these magnificent pieces, one could only imagine the splendor of the Havemeyer mansion.

German Expressionist artist Max Pechstein’s set of twelve woodcuts with hand colouring depict the text of the “Lord’s Prayer” (1921) in German (“Das Vatar Unser”) with accompanying images that look frightening and demonic as opposed to charitable and Christian.  Pechstein had a “distinctive style of bold, dark colours, angular forms and emotional intensity”.  The image of God is said to be influenced by South Pacific, African or Oceanic sculptures.  He created these works just after WWI, when the German society was dealing with war guilt, economic hardship and political unrest.  His images reflect the human wretchedness and need for spirituality felt by the German people at that time.

The Asian Gallery has a poignant sculpture titled “Apsara Warrior” (2004) by Cambodian artist Ouk Chim Vichet. The figure is of a woman in an iconic pose from a Cambodian dance tradition, where “aspara” means “celestial dancer”.  But looking closer, you can see that the dancer’s form is made from parts of AK-47 and M-16 rifles taken from former fighters of the Khmer Rouge, a far-left Cambodian Communist party.  Pieces of gun barrels, nuts and bolts, cartridges, hammers, levers, magazines, muzzles, and triggers were welded together to create this form.  This juxtaposition of a cultural dance with the weapons of violence is jarring.  But the dancer’s raised hands are grasping a rifle which she has broken in two, perhaps leading to the hope for future peace.

In addition to the museum, we did a quick walk around downtown Ann Arbor and as usual, we looked for interesting architecture and signboards.  We saw examples of Art Deco in the State Theatre, a historic 1942 movie palace designed by C.Howard Crane (who also designed the iconic Fox Theatre in Detroit), as well as a sign of the former Ann Arbor Bus Depot, built in the Streamline Moderne style in 1940.  Today, only the Art Deco façade and marquee of the former bus terminal remains as the frontage for a Marriott hotel.  The ornate door at 313 Slate St. reminds me of architecture designed by French architect Hector Guimard. We liked to vintage look and atmosphere of the Fleetwood Diner which was the first sidewalk café in Ann Arbor when it opened as the Dagwood Diner in 1949.  There were some cool signboards in front of buildings and restaurants in the downtown area, including HopCat, a popular craft beer bar and restaurant.

But the most impressive building that we found was the Michigan Theatre, another historic movie palace that was opened in January 1928 and designed in Lombard Romanesque style.  We were initially attracted to the magnificent marquee and the pretty blue and green terracotta pattern on the façade.  On a whim, we wandered into the front doors hoping to get a glimpse at the interior and were overwhelmed by what we found.  The lobby has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, Romanesque columns, gilded arch decorations, wood paneling, wrought-iron balcony and staircase railings.  An original 1927 Barton Theatre Pipe Organ is used for live performances and special events.  The Michigan Theatre screens independent films, hosts live stage productions and musical concerts.  The Ann Arbor Film Festival and performances by the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra also take place here.

We found some fun shops in the downtown including BonBonBon (good candy in French?) which sells these delightful handmade chocolates called “Bons” that come in a tiny paper box.  Most of these treats consist of a chocolate shell with some sort of flavoured ganache inside, although a few like the lemon comes with a different flavoured shell.  We decided to buy six to try, but had the hardest times choosing since they all sounded so good, and all had quirky names.  We finally settled on two of the Cherry Lux (maraschino cherries and dark chocolate ganache) since we both wanted our own, then shared a Lemon Bar None (shortbread crust, lemon custard ganache, sugar dust); Coffee and Donuts (dark chocolate shell, coffee and donut ganache, sprinkles);  Hazel-What (Milk Chocolate shell, toasted hazelnut and flaky salt), and Mustachio (Dark chocolate shell, Moscato caramel and pistachio gianduja).  They were all amazing!!  At Cherry Republic, we found Cherry flavoured Hot Fudge sauce and bought two jars to take home.  The store was closed but we had fun looking in the window of the Robot Supply & Repair store, which had signs touting the “Robot Revolution”.

Because our hotel was in Ann Arbor, we also did most of our evening dining in that city and its surrounding areas.  One of our first meals was in the neighbouring town of Ypsilanti at an upscale local restaurant named Bellflower, which was known for its seafood options.  Going along with the restaurant’s strengths, we concentrated on seafood for our meal, starting with Matiz sardines served with feta, toasted almonds, Castelvetrano olives and freshly baked bread.  For our mains, we had the cornmeal trout filet with mashed potato with green garlic, spring sauteed cabbage, lemon button, and the Masala catfish fried in beer batter with chili, turmeric, ginger, and milled grits.

We returned to Bellflower on our last day in Ann Arbor, lured by the promise of Oyster Poboy sandwiches, which I love.  Unfortunately, there was no oyster on the menu, so the closest I got was the oyster shell wallpaper in the bathroom.  Instead, our choice of grilled sandwiches was either catfish or shrimp.  We opted for one of each to share.  There did not seem to be much else to see in Ypsilanti, except for the giant water tower that appeared to be shaped like a phallic symbol! (I’m not imaging, right?).  The tower was built in 1890 and was the only supply of water for the town until 1956.  A levy of $5 per tap was charged for residences with an extra $2 for a private bath.  Saloons were charged $7 for the first tap and $3 for each subsequent.  Each cow owned cost another $1 in water fees.

Our first meal in Ann Arbor was at Gandy Dancer, a trendy restaurant which is situated in the historic Michigan Central Railway Depot.  It was built in 1886 in the Richardson Romanesque style and features stained glass windows, red oak ceilings and French tiled floors. This was a bustling train station until in 1960s when rail travel declined.  The restaurant opened in 1970.  Artifacts of the train station still remain including a model train, photographs of a railroad crossing and rail tracks, the plaque for Baldwin Locomotive Works 346, as well as a sign indicating the distance from Ann Arbor to Detroit (38miles), Buffalo (289miles) and Chicago (249miles).

We selected this restaurant partly for the cool atmosphere, but the food was quite good as well.  Continuing with our seafood theme, we started with calamari fritti, and then had Ora King salmon with broccolini and Mahi Mahi with crab topping and asparagus as mains our mains.  Both dishes came with a tasty side of coconut ginger rice.  We ordered an extra side of seared scallops which we shared.  For dessert, we shared a slice of key lime pie made from real key limes.

We dined at Aventura Spanish restaurant where we drank a pitcher of sangria and shared a bunch of tapas.  These included the cod croquettes with potato and pinenut in a lemon aioli; grilled prawns with garlic, pepper, parsley and olive oil; seared wild mushrooms with garlic, lemon, truffle oil and parsley; Brussel spouts with green apple, shallot, crème fraiche, honey and pistachio; Iberico pork shoulder with sherry, cabbage, spring onion, apple and hazelnut; crispy potato with salsa brava, garlic, aioli and a fried egg; tuna tataki with shallot, ginger, chili, sherry vinegar and olive oil.  For dessert, we shared churros with pots of delicious chocolate sauce.

Our next two eateries were chosen more for the quirky dining experiences as opposed any expectations of fine dining.  Even the name “Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burgers” and the logo and imaging of the eatery’s mascot white polar bear is fun, as is the stuffed polar bear and all the bear imagery that line the walls.  During the winter, snow sculptures are made of the beloved mascot.  Blimpy Burgers was founded in 1953 by eponymous Jim Shafer but he sold the business in 1969 to Richard Magner who initially worked there as a student.  Richard developed the bear mascot because it was easier to draw than a cow.  Blimpy Burgers is known for its customizable burgers with numerous unique combinations of toppings such as grilled salami and fried egg, or blue cheese, mushrooms and black olives on a pumpernickel roll, triple burger with provolone cheese, or preset items such as the Pepper Steak Bullet which consisted of a triple burger on an onion roll with grilled onions, peppers, provolone and bacon ranch sauce.  Ordered cafeteria style, the burger joint’s gimmick is its regimental ordering procedure where you are required to answer the questions from the serving staff in strict order: # of patties, kind of bun, grilled items, cheese? Condiments?  Do not try to bypass the order or there may be “No burger for you”, ala Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi schtick.  Not wanting to make a mistake in the ordering process, I just went for the Pepper Steak Bullet since it sounded great anyways.  We also ordered some delicious non-greasy deep-fried vegetables, cherry cola and root beer.

The other over-the-top eatery was Zingermans, which is also a large specialty grocery store with a deli counter.  Zingerman’s is known for its Reuben, smoked meat and corned beef sandwiches and offers free refills at its soda pop fountain which has unique flavours such as Rhubarb Lavendar or Blueberry Acai mineral water, black cherry cream soda, Pomegranate lemonade or Pink Grapefruit soda.  Fun paper mache figures, painted bright green with facial features to resemble animated pickles, hang from the ceiling.  The online order kiosk shows cartoon images of the meat options that you could select from for your sandwiches.

Bright, vibrant cartoonish drawings line every inch of the walls in the indoor and outdoor seating areas.  I especially liked the drawing of the Mama pickle pushing her baby pickle in a stroller while they walk past the State Theatre, which we saw ourselves during our tour of Ann Arbor’s downtown.  It was a nice day, so we opted to sit outside near a large colourful mural featuring grinning animals including an octopus, fish, other sea creatures and a cow wearing an underwater scuba oxygen tank.  Our grilled sandwiches came with bags of pickles (choice of crunchy or “cucumber”) which all went to Rich, since I don’t like pickles.  Instead, I ate more of the bag of chips that we bought to augment our lunch.

Our final restaurant was one of our favourites and we came across it by pure luck.  While we were visiting the Henry and Clara Ford House in Dearborn, MI, we had a brief chat with one of the volunteer gardeners who were working on restoring the gardens to their conditions during the Fords’ lifetimes.  During our conversation, she recommended that we go to Miss Kim, a hipster Korean restaurant in Ann Arbor that offers traditional Korean cuisine with a modern twist.  We started off with a French 75 (gin, lemon juice, champagne) cocktail for Rich and a pear-ginger cider for me.  We were given complimentary kimchee and other pickled vegetables which again, I left mostly for Rich.

We ordered a series of small shareable dishes including deep-fried smashed potato tossed with chili flakes; broccolini in an anchovy caramel sauce with cashews and cilantro; lightly battered Korean fried chicken in chili dry rub with a soy glaze; potato noodle salad with mixed mushrooms, sauteed seasoned vegetables, sesame and soy; and steamed rice mixed with a butter soy sauce.  To finish off the meal, we shared a chocolate rice flour cake with miso caramel topping.

We liked our meal at Miss Kim so much that we returned for a second time to order some items that we agonized over but ultimately passed on, in favour of other dishes the first time. For this second visit, we had the Korean fried mozzarella cheese balls; baby back pork ribs with a sweet chili glaze, sesame and scallions; Miso butter asparagus tossed with a soft-boiled egg, cashews, scallions; and a peppery spice and crispy roasted duck breast with a sweet/vinegary bulgogi sauce served with arugula salad.  Miss Kim ended up being one of our more memorable eating experiences.  We enjoyed not only the innovative dishes but also the fun décor including bright modern art and whimsical cartoon characters marking the entrances to the restrooms and on the windowsills.

2024 Detroit Road Trip: Toledo Museum of Art

Having traveled to other former “Rust Belt” cities including Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit to tour their world-class art museums, the last stop in our current road trip was Toledo, Ohio, to visit yet another internationally recognized art institution.  Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) has a collection of over 30,000 works stored in 45 galleries within a 280,000 square-foot museum designed in Greek Revival style.  Completed in 1912, the museum was founded by Edward Libbey, president of Libbey Glass Company, who was known as the “father of the glass industry” in Toledo.  TMA sits on a campus that spans 40 acres and includes a large outdoor sculpture garden dedicated in 2001 as the Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden.  Alexander Calder’s “Stegosaurus” made from welded steel painted in his signature “Calder Red” is positioned in front of the museum’s main entrance, acting as a harbinger to the sculptures to come.  

In recognition of the museum’s exceptional glass collection that reflects Toledo’s historical significance in glassmaking, a separate Glass Pavilion was added in 2006 to highlight and showcase these important works.  Situated across the street from TMA, the pavilion adds an additional 74,000 square feet with over 5000 glass works from ancient to contemporary.  Also found on the campus is a modern addition for the Centre for the Visual Arts, designed by star architect Frank Gehry and completed in 1992.  While part of the University of Toledo as opposed to TMA, the Visual Arts building’s proximity to the museum and pavilion on the campus makes for an interesting juxtaposition of architectural styles.

The three parts of the Toledo Museum of Art are each such distinct experiences that it feels like you are visiting three separate museums.  We decided to tackle them from the smallest to largest collections and therefore started off with the sculpture garden.  

Running along the main TMA building’s Monroe Street façade, there are 25 sculptures nestled within greenspaces, trees and landscaped plants. A series of animal sculptures include “Gorilla”, a bronze of a seated gorilla by Daisy Youngblood (1996) that looks almost abstract when seen from a certain angle, a bronze horse sculpture titled “Second Daughter” (1989) by Deborah Butterfield that appears from afar to be created with tree branches, a marble polar bear bench (2000) by Judy McKie, and Barry Flanagan’s bronze leaping hare (1982) on a stainless steel triangular pedestal.  Behind the hare is another one of Jaume Plensa’s colossal, elongated heads that seem to appear at most art museums.  This one titled is “Paula” (2013) depicting a young woman with her eyes closed and a calm demeanor.

Jim Dine’s strange bronze sculpture titled “Vermont (The Autumn)” (1984), consisting of two partial, legless figures and a hatchet, seems like something out of a Surrealist painting.  A headless female holds a tree branch while the male figure gestures with his right hand while a cloth is draped over his forearm. No explanation has been given for the meaning of these figures or how they relate to the title of the work.  Josiah McElheny’s Moon Mirror (2019) is a crescent-shaped work made from pressed blue prismatic glass mosaic tiles that glimmer and reflect the light, changing colours as you move around it. Albert Paley’s steel structure “Continuum” (1995) is said to be inspired by a sculpture of a Roman youth, but it looks more like a musical instrument to me.  A bronze carving of naturalist John Burroughs by Italian sculptor Cartaino di Sciarrino Pietro, which was donated to the museum in 1918, is probably one of the oldest sculptures in the garden.  Joel Shapiro’s blocky bronze sculpture of a gesturing figure (1991) reminds me of the cartoon character Gumby.

Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz used burlap to make a hollow human form that is standing on a trunk with wheels created with wood, She then cast in bronze to create her sculpture that she aptly called “Figure on Trunk with Wheels – Big” (2000).  Mark di Suvero’s “Blubber” (1980) is a Calder-like steel beam structure with a rubber swing attached to it made from a split tractor tire.  It seemed to invite people to sit and swing, but I was scared off by the nearby sign indicating that the area was monitored by cameras.  Jaume Plensa’s Spiegel (German for “mirror”) consists of two gigantic figures made from painted stainless steel.  The figures are seated and hugging their knees while facing each other.  Coming up close to inspect the figures, you see that they are made up of a series of letters from eight alphabets—English, Greek, Latin, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese and Chinese (Kanji).

It is quite fitting that the Toledo Glass Pavilion is a masterpiece in glasswork in its own right.  Designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from the firm SANNA, the building incorporates large panels of curved glass to create a series of interconnected glass rooms where large, open-plan exhibition spaces as well as artist studios and demonstration areas with glassblowing demos and workshops can be found.  Natural lighting flows through the glass façade to illuminate the pieces.  Out on the grounds surrounding the pavilion, a stunning glass sculpture by Pinaree Sanpitak titled “Hammock” features 700 large glass orbs held together with steel.  The piece was created during Sanpitak’s artist residency with the glass museum in 2014.  Hammock for evokes thoughts of rest, comfort and cradling of a body, aligning with her interests in depicting womanhood, femininity and the female breast.

We saw so many beautiful works from different time periods, created with different glass making techniques. Some older pieces in the collection from early to mid 1800s include an aquamarine creamer and pitcher that are examples of blown glass that is tooled to create patterns on the surface. A purple amethyst glass compote dish from the same era is one of several examples of machine-pressed glassworks, where glass is pressed into molds to create objects of uniform size, shape and design with complex patterns.  No glass collection would be complete without a creation by Dale Chihuly, whose massive white chandelier at the pavilion’s entrance is magnificent.  Named “Campiello del Remer Chandelier #2” (1996) after its original installation location in Venice, it consists of 243 unique crystal vessels, each with intricate designs etched on them. Karen LaMonte’s magnificent life-sized cast-glass, sandblasted and acid-polished “Dress Impression With Train” (2007) retains the shape of a human figure without depicting the wearer.  The ripples on the bodice and train make the dress look so realistic.  Venetian artist Lino Tagliapietra created “Dinosaur” (2006) from blown, tooled, ground, polished battuto glass which melded colours into a delightful teardrop design.  Judy Hill clothed her raku-fired ceramic figure of a young girl with a “cire-perdue cast” glass dress that simulates a lace pattern in a work called "Lace Dress" (2001).

Robert Kehlmann created his “Composition #55” (1979) using traditional stained-glass techniques, but his resulting works are more like abstract drawings in glass, using lead appliqués to create unusual patterns.  French jeweler and glass designer René Lalique is represented in the museum with several pieces including a pressed and acid-polished, turquoise Tourbillons vase (1925) that was inspired by the movements of a fern, a mold-pressed glass dragon fly (1930) and a Greek-inspired female figure (1924) that was originally designed as part of a fountain for the 1925 Paris Exposition.  Two staunch competitors in the period of the early 1920s were Frederick Carder who founded Steuben Glass in Corning, and Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Stunning Art Nouveau pieces by these two designers are on display in the museum including glassware that look like flowers.  Created probably by a Bohemian glassmaker in the 1600s, a gorgeous Cobalt Blue Jug is made from blown glass that was gilded and enameled.

A Royal Flemish vase with a medallion depicting a dragon (1894) has a tall narrow neck decorated with a floral motif and bulbous body made from machine mold-blown glass then covered with gilding and enamel.  Although made by the American Mt. Washington Glass Works company, the design looks exotic and European.  Several glass pieces have designs that tell a story.  A drinking beaker named “Revenge of the Hares” is decorated with transparent enamel drawings of hares armed with lances capturing and hanging a hunter.  Probably from Germany around late 17th Century, the images critique on political tyranny through satire.  An Italian Jug (late 15thCentury) made from opaque white glass called lattimo was painted to depict a mythological scene of Gods and sea creatures while its handle resembles a snake.  A mold-blown, cut and polished green base is painted with opaque polychrome enamels and gold paint (circa 1925-30) depicting the Greek myth of Polyphemus (the one-eyed cyclops son of Poseidon) discovering Acis, son of Pan and his love, the sea nymph Galatea. Cleverly using the transparency of the glass, the artist paints Polyphemus on one side of the vase, looking through the glass at the lovers on the other side.  Reverse painting on a mirror is a technique where paint is applied to the back of a glass surface, creating an image that is visible from the front.  A reverse mirror portrait of Elizabeth Graham was created in China (1736-95) as commissioned by Captain John Lennox who was enamoured with her.

While we were visiting the Toledo Glass Pavilion, a special exhibit called “In A New Light” featured Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and other art works of various medium taken from the TMA’s collection, displaying them along side glassworks from the same period.  Displaying these pieces within a space that is made totally of glass literally shines a new (natural) light on them.   Some beautiful works of glass were set aside to be displayed in this exhibit.  Two gorgeous vases by Emile Gallé included an opaque yellow Vase with Irises (1900) made from blown and cased glass with acid-etched decorations and cameo glass, as well as a see-through Vase tinted gray/yellow with polychrome enamel depictions of blue dragonflies and flowers (1890). René Lalique was also represented with a pair of stunning vases. Serpent Vase (1928) was made from red-brown glass that was mold-blown and acid polished with the coils of the serpent winding around to the top of the vase where its opened mouth is found.  His Vase Marisa (1927) design consists of grey semi-lead glass with polished raised surfaces depicting fishes swimming upwards.  Another animal-themed work was Henri Bergé’s Tray with Chameleon (1920), made with a technique called pâte-de-verre (“glass paste”), where finely ground glass is mixed with a binding agent to make a paste, color oxides are added, then the paste is shaped in a mold and fired in a kiln.

Some of the non-glass works in the exhibition included unique ceramics vases from early 1900s, a forged iron, steel and bronze gate by Louis Majorelle gate and items from Tiffany including one of his iconic lamps and a pair of stained-glass windows that came from mausoleums.  Edgar Degas’ dancer sculpture and a fireplace by Hector Guimard were also on view.

A set of paintings compared three different depictions of rain by painters from three different countries around the same timeframe.  Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print (1857) depicts a heavy afternoon shower as pedestrians cross the New Ohashi bridge, sheltering themselves with small umbrellas and bamboo mats while a boatman is seen in the background on the Sumida River.  Frenchman Henri Rivère’s woodcut “Funeral under the Umbrellas” (1891) also shows people under umbrellas in heavy rain.  It is obviously influenced by the earlier work but has a definitive European as opposed to Asian feel to it.  Finally American artist Childe Hassam’s oil on canvas painting titled Rainy Day, Boston (1885) depicts a similar topic, but is totally different in technique, look and feel and perspective.  It was very interesting to see the three works side by side.

Our last stop was to tour the main building of the Toledo Museum of Art.  The artists and works found in the European and American collections were quite similar to ones we have seen in other art museums, so we spent less time in those galleries and concentrated on the others.

We found some amazing pieces in the Africa Unmasked exhibit including one of the highlights of the museum.  This was The Seated II (2019) by Wangechi Mutu. I found this bronze sculpture of a regal African woman seated on her throne to be absolutely stunning and took multiple photos of her from many angles. Standing around 7 feet tall and over 840 pounds, the figure is dressed in a long robe made from bronze coils and wears a polished bronze disc at her forehead, meant to reference African jewelry.  Her pursed red lips, half-closed eyes and hands over her knees give the impression of power, dignity and reflection.  Romauld Hazoumè's work titled “Made in Porto-Nova” (2009) depicts a jazz quartet of instruments including a saxophone, double bass, trumpet and drums made out of discarded oil cans while the masks on the wall made pay tribute to fuel traffickers who risk their lives to bring petroleum to local communities.  The “Queen Mother Head” brass sculpture from Nigeria (circa late 19th Century) follows a tradition of Benin kings who commemorate their mothers by placing such a piece on an ancestral altar.  This head features a peaked hairstyle known as the “chicken’s beak”.  A reliquary figure from Gabon made of brass, copper and iron (early 20th Century) and a Crest Helmet or headdress from Tanzania made from wood, antelope skin, palm fibre, bamboo, clay and pigment (early 20th Century) each are supposed to have two faces representing male and female, but in each case, I could only see one face  The other face might have been on the reverse side which I did not know to look for.  The one from Gabon was used as a handle for a sacred basket of bones, while the headdress was used in serious ceremonies such as funerals.

The items in the Asian Gallery were also fascinating, starting with the provocative “Donkey Sofa” (2019) from Seoul, created by South Korean performance artist Gimhongsok.  The piece consists of a life-sized plush donkey costume lying prone on a blue velour bench with a sign behind indicating that a 40-year-old peasant, who escaped from North Korea and is now an illegal immigrant, is being paid $8 USD a day to occupy the costume and lie there as part of performance art.  This immediately invokes uneasy discussions about whether there is actually someone occupying the donkey suit here in Toledo, if this really happened in South Korea, or is it all just art meant to draw attention to political and social issues around migrants and cheap (slave?) labour in Korea and around the world?

Another fun work is Zhang Hongtu’s complete set of 12 Chinese Zodiac animals (2014), created as Earthenware coated in a three-colour (amber/brown, green and white) glaze as was done back in the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD).  Hongtu updates the traditional figures by attaching the Zodiac animal heads to the body of Chairman Mao, rendering the clothing (Mao suits) and poses (hands clasped behind their backs) of each figure to reference Mao Zedong’s appearance. A Funerary jar decorated with a dragon (1127AD) is made of stoneware with a celadon glaze that makes the piece resemble jade.  From around the same time period of early 1100’s is a Cambodian sandstone sculpture from Angor Wat depicting a Garuda (an eagle-like divine bird in Hinduism and Buddhism) fighting off three Nagas (cobra-like creatures).

TMA has a Medieval Cloister Gallery that includes three Medieval arcades or arches made up of columns and capitals (top-most parts of the columns) from different monasteries in southern France.  In particular, the St Pons Capitals (mid 12th Century) have carvings which taken together, depict scenes from the Old Testament and important episodes in the life of Saint Pontius, patron saint of the Sant-Pons-de-Thomières monastery.  The Cloister and adjoining Classical gallery exhibit an impressive collection of works from the Middle Ages as well as classical items of ancient Greek and Roman art.  The museum also has a Peristyle Theatre, added during a 1933 expansion, which features a Greek agora-inspired theatre with 28 Ionic columns surrounding the main seating area that holds 1750 people.  A 2-story lobby is decorated with a painted Greek frieze and the ceiling can create effects ranging from bright sunlight to a starry night. Unfortunately, the theatre was closed to prepare for a school graduation ceremony and so we were unable to view it. 

There are some interesting and eclectic works in the Contemporary Gallery. Viola Frey’s "Man and World" (2003), a monumental ceramic work depicts a businessman in a suit and tie seated in front of a globe, as if turning his back on the world.  Julian Schnabel’s "Portrait of a Freedom Fighter" (1984) portrays Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas who was persecuted and exiled for his homosexuality.  Approaching the work, you can see that Schnabel painted the image on fragments of broken ceramic plates.  A humorous and unique sculpture by Deborah Czeresko titled “Oh God/Martina 59/9” features a trophy of a female tennis player being swallowed by flames made of neon lights while atop a barbeque grill that is “heated” by briquettes made from blown glass. The title of the piece refers to lesbian tennis phenom Martina Navratilova and her 59 Gland slam appearances including 9 wins at  Wimbledon. The piece is a critique on gender inequality and gender wage gap as the female trophy is being burned by the ultimate male-dominated cooking device.  An untitled triptych (1980) by Robert Longo made from forest-green tinted lacquer on cast aluminum bonding depicts three images of snapshots in time of a twisting, gyrating male in a business suit.  The work is related to Longo’s Men in the Cities series that reflect on the “tension and alienation of urban corporate life”. To me, it recalls Hans Solo imbedded in carbonite in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

We were so lucky to discover that the feature exhibition running during our visit was a comprehensive retrospective of the art produced by 60s’ Venezuelan pop artist Marisol (nee Maria Sol Escabar - 1930-2016) whose drawings, paintings, collages and sculptures are whimsically satirical, cuttingly critical and political in their messages.  Her works commented on America’s obsession with celebrity and pop culture, as well as issues of identity, gender roles and norms, women’s roles in society, interpersonal violence, the immigrant experience, our interdependence with oceanic life, and other societal topics.  Ironically as much as she mocked celebrity, Marisol became a celebrity in her own right due to her exotic beauty, reclusiveness and frequent silences.  She became known as the “It Girl” and the “Latin Garbo”, hobnobbing with celebrities and artists like Salvador Dali.  One of her earlier carvings was “The Hungarians” (1955), depicting a persecuted family that stand on a rolling cart, suggesting the “immigrant experience of mobility, vulnerability and displacement”.

The opening piece of the exhibit is a painted bronze sculpture titled “Mi Mama y Yo” (1968) which depicts Marisol as sullen, scowling child standing on an ornate bench while shielding her smiling, seated mother with a patterned parasol whose design matches the bench.  This is both an homage and perhaps a critique of her beloved mother who committed suicide when Marisol was just eleven, causing the traumatized girl to stop speaking for several years.  Some of Marisol’s drawings include pages from a sketchbook (1958) where she pasted cut-out faces of women onto painted bodies. For her lithograph in two colours titled “Diptych” (1971), Marisol oiled her nude body and pressed it against two lithograph stones before transferring the image onto paper, inspired by the Japanese tradition of pressing fish against paper to document a catch.  In 1975, she drew “An Elastic Face Man” in coloured pencil on paper, showing a man stretching the two sides of his face.

As intriguing as her works on paper are, what I really liked were Marisol’s giant sculptures, often made by decorating large blocks of wood.  Baby Girl and Baby Boy (1962-63) depict two gigantic (journalists described them as “monstrous”) infants. The seated Baby Girl is 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide, 4 feet deep, meaning that she would be 10 feet tall standing.  She is wearing a painted white dress with a bow at the collar with actual lacy frill pasted at the bottom.  The dress was a copy of the one that Mattel’s recently released Midge doll wore.  Baby Girl is holding a doll that has Marisol’s own face imprinted on it.  Using her own image would be a repeated motif in Marisol’s work, reflecting her exploration of identity. The size of the baby may comment on the overwhelming demands that infants place on women who care for them.  Standing at 7 feet tall, Baby Boy has a more political reference.  He is symbolic of America and US imperialism—a young but powerful and irresponsible bully with potential of causing great damage.  The boy also holds a doll with a photograph of the artist’s face pasted on it.

Three Women with Umbrella (1966) depicts three adult female figures with emotionless expressions on their faces, standing upright while wearing stylish hats and dresses.  The woman on the left has a bluejay calmly perched on her hand while the one on the left holds a parasol and has a cast of Marisol’s nose and mouth as part of her face.  The most interesting is the woman in the middle whose dress depicts a replica of a 1965 photo from Life Magazine depicting two distressed Vietnamese women clutching their children in midst of destruction during the Battle of Dông Xoài.  The contrast of women and children’s terror versus the demeanor of the figures and the calmness of the bird comments on the lack of understanding and empathy that Americans have over the devastation of the Vietnam war.  

Self-Portrait (1962) is composed of seven heads atop a single woodblock segregated into four body parts (one with breasts) with the middle two bodies each possessing two legs, while the outer bodies only have one leg each.  Walking around the back of the sculpture, we see five bare buttocks distributed across the block.  The multiple heads represent different sides of a personality with different expressions, hair or head gear on each of them.  Self-Portrait is influenced by Marisol’s exploration of self-identity and her exposure to American folk art.

In the late 1960s, Marisol concentrated on sculptures of political and cultural figures. Marisol created a sculpture of her friend Andy Warhol.  "Andy" (1963) depicts a seated Warhol with his face and body drawn on two blocks of wood, both in front and side views.  The sculpture includes casts of the Marisol’s own hands and Warhol’s actual shoes to give the work a personal touch. Warhol also often used shoes in his artwork.  "LBJ" (1967) is a satirical depiction of Lyndon B. Johnson during his unpopular presidency in midst of the Vietnam War.  He is represented with a block head and a coffin-shaped body, perhaps a reference to all the killing in the war. Three wrens perched on his left palm, bearing the faces of his wife, nicknamed Lady Bird, and their two daughters.  "John Pope XXIII" (1961) is a political commentary on the Roman Catholic Church’s patriarchal, male-dominated structure.  It depicts the Pope riding a wooden hobby horse with Marisol’s own face incorporated in the work.  The hobby horse, which is a child’s toy, points to the perceived childishness or absurdity of the Catholic Church’s authority and traditions.  "Ruth" (1962) refers to Marisol’s friend, American abstract painter Ruth Kligman, depicted as three heads with thick wavy hair and pink lips, and three corresponding sets of legs protruding out of a barrel.  Artificial fruit was used as breasts attached to the barrel and casts of Marisol’s own hands painted with red nails also protrude from the barrel.

One of Marisol’s larger works, “The Party” (1966) is a collection of 15 figures at an elegant event, separated into smaller groups mingling at a cocktail party.  Each figure has a version of the artist’s face, whether carved, photographed or cast in plaster or rubber, as well as casts of her hands.  Almost predominantly female, the guests all have different hairstyles, are dressed in elegant gowns, some bejeweled and one central figure wears a crown. Most of the clothing is painted on but there is one real dress that is attached to its block figure.  A figure in the back has a cast of Marisol’s nose and mouth only, while the eyes are represented by a small TV screen.  There are two service staff, a maid dressed in an apron holding a tray, and a butler who is the only male figure.  The mood of the party is somber as none of the faces are smiling,  those with eyes have them closed and they all seem isolated from one another.  This may reflect Marisol’s own feelings about parties and large gatherings where she did not feel like she fit in and did not want to.  Marisol rebelled against conformity and critiqued on the shallowness that she felt in some forms of social interaction.

The Kiss (1966) consists of three repeated faces in a yellow semi-transparent resin, each cast from Marisol’s face.  The faces extend out from a lightbox where the light glows through the work.  The two inner faces are directed at each other with lips pursed in a kiss.  The third face is positioned facing away from the middle one and its lips are also puckered waiting for a passerby to kiss it and complete the image.  Ironically, the sign describing the work has lips with a line through it, warning the viewer not to actually touch or kiss the piece.  An entire room is devoted to Marisol’s oceanic themed works including Fishman (1973), a wooden sculpture with a humanoid body with a protruding painted white fish with glassy eyes for his face.  He is holding a fish in his left hand which has Marisol’s face.  Beside him is a small green birdlike creature also cast with Marisol’s face, in the act of consuming a red fish.  All around the rest of the room are videos of sea life as well as more sculptures of mutant fish, again cast with the artist’s face.  This is her commentary on man’s affect on oceanic life, referencing horror movies where radiation and nuclear fallout transform natural figures into horrific ones.

The last room in the exhibition had several impressive pieces that represented Marisol’s later works.  "Funeral" (1996) depicts the iconic scene where three-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr. saluted as his father’s American-flag-draped casket passed by.  The funeral procession is rendered to resemble a sequence of toy soldiers.  Marisol was commissioned to design a public memorial honoring John A. Roebling, his son Washington and daughter-in-law Emily for designing the Brooklyn Bridge.  The memorial was never constructed due to lack of funding but the models for her design remain. John died before the completion of the bridge and Washington fell ill so Emily acted as a go-between with the construction foreman and her husband to keep the work moving along.  Marisol’s sculpture titled "John, Washington and Emily Roebling Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge for the First Time" (1989) marks the moment where Emily rode a carriage across the bridge, carrying a chicken as a symbol of victory, but adds John and Washington to the work, in honour of their contributions.  Finally, and fittingly, the exhibit ends with a sculpture of Marisol’s father, simply titled “My Father” (1977) as a bookend to the start of the exhibit that began with the sculpture of Marisol with her mother.

Given that I love large-scaled sculptures and satire and commentary in art, being able to explore the Marisol exhibit was right up my alley.  This was the perfect way to finish our visit to the Toledo Museum of Art, which in my opinion stands with the best of the Rust Belt art museums that we have toured in the past.