Gallery day

I believe in walking out of a museum before the paintings you've seen begin to run together. How else can you carry anything away with you in your mind's eye?

I fritter away the morning, before heading to the Allentown Art Museum at noon. It’s a sunny day and the museum is spacious and airy. There was some sort of cultural jamboree on here last night, and some parts of the museum are still not back to normal.

There’s an exhibition of Hudson River School art. A bit pastoral and bucolic for my tastes, but elsewhere there are a few gems. Kline’s rescued mural of Lehighton is impressive. There’s a figurative rendition of steam trains chugging through the mountains, painted on a scrap of tin. And there’s this John Singer Sargent portrait.

I visit their café for split pea soup and pear, walnut and Gorgonzola salad. Very nice. Then a sunny drive through Pennsylvania to Phoenixville and the familiar comfort of Keith’s AirBnb house.