RenoVous

 On this day in 1990, two thieves posing as policemen stole 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.  It is the biggest art heist in history, and remains unsolved. The most valuable missing is Vermeer's The Concert. Three Rembrandt paintings were taken, which included A Lady and a Gentleman in Black. Chez Tortoni by Manet. Landscape with Obelisk  by Govaert Flinck. A French Napoleonic eagle finial.   Additionally, five sketches by Degas were taken. The total haul was estimated to be worth $500 million.

 The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum! It's the only lighthouse I've actually been to, and it has a nice little collection of history.  It overlooks the renowned "Steamer Lane," popular for surfing. Surfing was brought to Santa Cruz by Hawaiian princes in the summer of 1885.  They were attending military school in San Mateo, but spent time off in the water riding waves. *** I have another lighthouse on our list though, it's a hostel in Pescadero. Pigeon Point. They advertise a cliffside hot tub, tide pools, harbor seals, and are recognized as a dark sky preserve. *** The first lighthouse in the United States is the Boston Light. First lit on September 14, 1716. The original was destroyed in the Revolutionary War, but was rebuilt in 1783.

  While in Spokane, we came across the Bing Crosby House located on the Gonzaga University Campus. Now a small museum, his music filled the living space, and his history surrounded us. He was born in Tacoma in 1903, and three years later his family moved to Spokane.  He attended the University but did not earn a degree.  However, he did receive an honorary doctorate in 1937. In 1925, Bing and his friend Al Rinker decided to head to California, where they ultimately joined up with Paul Whiteman.  From there, The Rhythm Boys were born. In 1931, he was signed to a solo contract and launched a weekly radio broadcast. He had been in a few movies in a musical capacity, but in 1945 he won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Father O'Malley in Going My Way.

  Today has long been celebrated in black communities and households, but only recently has the whole of the country recognized the importance of this second independence day. The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery as of January 1, 1863.  But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free.  It was not until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas on June 19, 1865 that those in the westernmost Confederate state were decreed free. The following period, known as Reconstruction, marked an era of great hope - African Americans were inspired to transform their lives and their country.  The historical legacy of this day, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, is the value of never giving up hope. Here  the museum offers some resources to "embrace the rich history of Freedom Day." When Nevada became a state in 1864, slavery was abolished, but African Americans were unable to vote until the 15th amendment wa...

  The Met Gala is tonight, so we'll check the red carpet tomorrow. The exhibit is "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" and the dress code is "The Garden of Time." The latter is the title of a short story by JG Ballard. The museum is showing many pieces that have never been displayed, as some are too fragile to hang.  So they will lie in glass cases instead. Alexander McQueen, 2011 Charles James, 1955 Christian Dior, 1953 Schiaparelli, 1939 Charles Frederick Worth, 1887 British jacket, 1615 Elizabeth Debicki has posed in some of the newer pieces, such as this Iris van Herpen from 2020. Marni, 2024

There's a party this weekend!   You see, Bredo Morstoel has been on ice since 1989.  He spent a while in a Tuff shed in Nederland, Colorado, but he was recently moved to the Stanley Hotel's old ice house in Estes Park. When he died, he was shipped to the Trans Time Cryonics facility in Oakland, CA where he was kept in liquid nitrogen for four years.  In 1993, he was moved to Colorado where his daughter lived, wanting to start a facility of her own. In 1996, as she was about to be evicted, she was concerned her father would thaw.  She spoke to a local reporter who spoke to city council, and a municipal code was passed allowing the "keeping of bodies."  Bredo was grandfathered in and became a media sensation. His home is now the world's only museum dedicated to the science of cryonics. The science originated in 1962 with Robert Ettinger's The Prospect of Immortality.   He discussed the implications of freezing and resuscitation, whereas for Alcor, a cryo...

  Now a museum in the Historic Centre of Florence, Italy, it was built in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici to accommodate offices for the Florentine magistrates, but the top floor was used to house Medici's art collections. When the House of Medici dissolved in 1737, their last heir gave the collection to the city.  In 1765 it was officially opened to the public and formally became a museum in 1865. From the collection: The oldest Arab celestial globe, made in 1085. Galileo's lens, which he used to observe Jupiter's moons, 1610. Frog thermometers from 1657. They were also patrons of Agnolo Bronzini.  Cosimo I commissioned this portrait in 1537. And this portrait of Giovanni de' Medici from 1560. In 1617, the family was gifted Madonna and Child  by Correggio, from the Duke of Modena. In 1620 they received Raphael's Veiled Lady  from the Botti family. Museum Exhibitions

 It is International Museum Day so I told Google I was feeling artistic.  From there I found an online exhibition: 10 Scandalous Fashions That Rocked History Link I'm not relating it here exactly, but it is definitely the blueprint. 1. Marie Antoinette's sexy gaulle - 1783, Le Brun. 2. Bearing all in the First French Empire (1804-1815) - 1808, Blondel 3. The Corset Controversy (1820s-1900) - 1896, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 4. A shocking shoulder - John Singer Sargent's original  Madame X  caused an outrage over a slipped strap, 1884. 5. Women wearing bloomers mid-19th century for riding bicycles - 1895, Beraud 6. The Little Black Dress by Chanel, 1927. 7. Dior Decadence, 1947. 8. The Bikini, 1945 - Pinup Art by Knute Munson 9. The Mini Skirt by Mary Quant, 1960s 10. Bondage in the 70's, the punk scene, with Vivienne Westwood.

  For the past 14 years, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City has hosted a Film Benefit to raise money for the acquisition and preservation of key film works.  In celebration of this, the evening honors an individual for their significant impact on the film industry. Penélope Cruz In 1989, she made her acting debut at the age of 15, appearing in a music video for Spanish group, Mecano. In 1991, she made her film debut in Jamón, jamón  - she appeared topless and became a major sex symbol.  She also worked with her future husband, Javier Bardem. From 93-96 she appeared in ten Spanish and Italian films. In 1997, she worked with Spanish film director, Pedro Almodóvar, for the first time - the two would go on to work together on eight films total. In 1998, she was cast in her first American film, The Hi-Lo Country.   She had only recently learned English and had trouble understanding people on set.  Although the film didn't do well, she was nominated for an...

  As a follow up to yesterday's viewing of the Academy Museum Gala, today we're going to look into one of the exhibitions: The Path to Cinema. Author and documentary photographer, Richard Balzer, has been collecting pre-cinematic devices for over 40 years.  Some pieces date back as far as the 17th century. "The cinematic experience we know today evolved from a long tradition of optical amusements and devices of wonder: from shadow play, peepshows, magic lanterns, zoetropes and praxinoscopes to the Cinématographe Lumiére, the world's first successful film projector." Bull's Eye Magic Lantern A device that can project images onto a wall or screen had been drawn by Leonardo DaVinci nearly two centuries before it actually appeared.  Dutch physicist, Christiaan Huygens made one and wrote a book about it in 1658.  The first written record of a show produced by one occurred in 1665, put on by Danish mathematician, Thomas Walgensten. Steam Driven Praxinoscope Rotated ...

  On this day in 1959, the Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City. It all started in 1939, when Solomon Guggenheim, with the help of Hilla Rebay, displayed his art collection in an old car showroom.  Over the next few years, his collection outgrew the space, so Rebay contacted Frank Lloyd Wright about designing a "temple of spirit." Unfortunately, Guggenheim passed away six months before the museum opened. His collection included some of the following: Vasily Kandinsky Paul Klee Marc Chagall And currently on view in NYC: Helen Frankenthaler Solomon's niece, Peggy Guggenheim, was also an art collector, and has a museum in her name in Venice, Italy. In 1943, she commissioned Jackson Pollock to paint a mural sized canvas for her new home.  It is the largest painting he ever made. In 1997, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain opened.  It was designed by Frank Gehry. History Guggenheim