Overwhelmed

A morning trip to Reading Terminal Market to buy some flowers and to explore.  The place was buzzing and the queues were out the door for food and coffee so, as I was on a tight time, I had to go elsewhere for breakfast. Down a side alley was this recent sculpture.  Very dramatic.
 
Then on to the Barnes Foundation.    The largest collection of Renoir in the world (181 paintings and drawings).  The walls were dripping with paintings from Cézanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, Goya, Modigliani, Seurat, Soutine, Prendergast, Miro, Durer and many others.
 
Dr Barnes apparently made his millions from co-developing a drug to tackle gonorrhoea.  From 1912 he avidly bought a range of modern paintings - now totalling 900 and worth some $25 billion.  They are laid out as he had displayed them with a mixture of art from China and America alongside German ironwork.
 
I have never seen such a concentration of work and after a while it was a bit overwhelming.  They have a QR code that takes you to a system that recognises what painting you are scanning and then provide a description (there are no notices alongside the objects).  You can then get emailed to you the list of what you have scanned.  Heaven help you if you don’t have a smart phone.
 
An added attraction was the exhibition of Native American art.  Much from the Navajo and Hopi nation villages but also from other groupings.  Interestingly there was on display a geometrically designed bowl from 870-950 BC:  and some modern jewellery such as a bracelet entitled "Beauty Within".  See extras.
 
I had the fortune to manage a brief visit to meet my nephew's wife and family later afternoon and to meet her in person.  Which was moving.
 
Then back to the hotel.  Any plans to go out as a family for a meal before we go our separate ways was scuppered by a torrential downpour that lasted hours.  The on-site hostelry (Con Murphy's Bar) was full inside (no surprise) but we were able to eat in the outside section (covered but airily fresh) with the rain drumming down on the roof.  All our extra layers were on us. A memorable meal.

PS. Being on holiday I have lost track of days and have just been reminded that I have been blipping for 9 years (the 9 year consecutive blipping anniversary arrives in a few days time).  That in itself is a bit overwhelming.