Venturing Out

 We have no idea when we last went into the city to do anything together. Christmas market?  Yes, a short trip, I think. No shopping to speak of, though. Corona has made us lazy and certainly has not helped our memories.  

But Hannah's wedding has given us a push - I need a dress.  Plus there's an exhibit at the museum that we want to see.  Last fall, we took a Zoom course about the exhibit, so it was past time to check that out as well. 

Manet.  No, not Monet, the water lily man that everyone loves, but the Manet that challenged everyone and today is not nearly as beloved. The museum here in Bremen has a couple of important Manet pieces and a wealth of lithographs and prints and they used as a basis for a lovely and well-researched exhibit of Manet and his friend Astruc, an artist of  many genres - critique, painting, sculpture, music. Using their own collection, the museum assembled a really wonderful collection of works from Washington, Boston, New York, and other less well known places to illustrate this special relationship between the two artists.  I was enthralled.

Because visitors often come from Denmark and the Netherlands, the information is posted in English as well as German. That helps me a lot!

One of the more important pieces is by Fantin-Latour, of Manet painting a portrait of his friend Astruc.  Standing around watching, are more of his friends, a veritable Who's Who of culture including Renoir, Zola and Monet. 

And there were a number of still lifes and flowers; one in particular caught my eye because Werner had just done a copy of it in his class!  Which is the original?

This was interesting - floral panels in interior doors.  I think I have a new project for Werner!

Afterwards we had lunch at the museum's restaurant (extra wonderful) and then we were lucky enough to find a dress for Hannah's wedding on our outing!  All in all, a very successful day.