The Glackens exhibition, FT Lauderdale

Well, you could say I'm still a little overwhelmed from the excitement of last night. No photos to share of my great uncle's exhibition because taking photos of the paintings was not allowed. I did however, take a photo of the entryway to the exhibit, which you can see here, top right. It is pretty impressive in itself with his name so large in lights so to speak.  Inside there are a very large number of his paintings and illustrations, even his sketchbooks. I did have my picture taken with the curator Avis Berman, and Steven too, by a photographer who worked for the museum. It did cause a bit of a 'buzz' at this 'high-society' event that the great niece of William Glackens was there that night :) hee hee! I will contact the museum to see if any of the photos are published, that would be so fun. In the meantime, I found this short YouTube clip of the event last night by TV Channel 7!! Click here to view -you will virtually walk though some of the exhibit and you can hear them interview the curator, Avis Berman.

As we walked back to our hotel which was situated right on the New River, we passed by what you see in my photo collage, top left. It holds some kind of equipment for the city inside this rectangular metal box . . . but instead of leaving it plain grey metal, the city has wrapped it in a copy of a print of Glacken's painting, Cape Cod Pier! You can click on the painting for a larger view once there. We also saw other metal boxes covered with old photographs, paintings etc, but it was quite surreal for me when Steven pointed this out as we passed by. Of course I stopped & took a photo!!

The two photos on the bottom of the collage are of East Las Olas street, right in front of our hotel. When we got back from the exhibit, I walked out onto the balcony and had fun taking photos of the vivid street life. There was music playing, people walking by, outdoor seating with people dining in restaurants, bright lights and many stores open. Steven said it reminded him of New Orleans : )

I suppose what I remember the most of last night was seeing the painting called The Family Group. I would suggest clicking on it when you get there and perhaps you will feel some of what I felt when I was standing there last night, looking at it. It is a very large painting, 182.88 cm (72 in.), Width: 213.36 cm (84 in.) and I really had no idea it was this large. It is on loan for this exhibit and belongs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. In the painting are my grandfather's sister Edith Dimock -wife of Glackens, my Aunt Irene who gave me a stuffed Steiff Lion when I was 4 years old that I still have, my 1st cousin once-removed, Ira Glackens -the son of William & Edith, plus a family friend I believe. That painting and another one of my namesake, Lenna Glackens in The Artist's Daughter in Chinese Costume were what affected me the most when I saw them last night. These are large, colorful paintings.

But I also thoroughly enjoyed looking at many other Glacken's paintings, his illustrations and sketchbooks. The museum recorded pages of his sketchbooks digitally and set them up on a base so that you could use your finger to swipe and turn the page like you might on a smart phone or tablet -ingenious! I am hoping to find this version of his sketchbooks available online in the future. There were also many photographs, including some of Lenna!

It was a whirlwind fast trip because we did not want to leave our dogs too long with a sitter or spend too much time in the city... and it is a city. We did take a lovely walk on the riverfront this morning, but I will save that for another blip -today's!! I am considering returning at some point before June 1st when it closes, to take in the exhibit at a more leisurely pace and have a chance to visit the Glacken's wing in the MOA FT Lauderdale, where there are more pieces and a room set like Glacken's apartment in NY in the early 1900's. Will think on that. In the meantime, I have purchased a very large book - the exhibition catalog full of history and photographs of the paintings & illustrations by Avis Berman plus a small companion book written by Elizabeth Colleary (who I met last night) that has more information and detailed notes on all the Glackens paintings in the Museum of Art, Ft Lauderdale's collection.

I am tired but very happy!!!!!!!!!!