Philadelphia and Picasso

Amtrak from Penn Station to Philadelphia is fast and easy but 4 times more expensive than the Metro North of a few days ago. Johanna picked me up at the station and we went off to breakfast at Sabrina’s to catch up. We worked together in Berkeley in the 80s and went to see a lot of music together. Sabrina’s [www.sabrinascafe.com] has several locations in Philadelphia; we went to the Callowhill café not far from the Museum. It’s a wonderful, funky style eatery reminiscent of so many East Bay cafes of the past. The food was exceptional and plentiful; what else need be said?
J pointed out that Philadelphia was originally laid out to mimic Paris and the grand boulevard from downtown to the Museum is a replica of the Place de la Concorde. The golden Greek revival museum buildings embrace a plaza at the top of the steps made famous in the first “Rocky” movie. There’s a statue of Stallone at the foot of the steps. Not a few of the visitors imitated the run to the top capped with the triumphant dance.
This is a world-class museum. I am ashamed that I have never visited it before. The Picasso exhibit covers his arrival in Paris at the turn of the century to about 1945. Most of the pieces “live” there permanently. Picasso’s work was the dominant feature but well represented were Leger, Braque, Miro, Gris, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picabia, and numerous Americans and Russians. It is beautifully curated with photographs, books and sculptures interspersed with the paintings, drawings and prints. The rest of the Museum contains many John Singer Sargents, Monets, Orientalists, and a remarkable collection of Duchamp, Brancusi, Ellsworth Kelly and so many more. I was not familiar with Duchamp’s “famous” door but was told not to miss it. Oh, My!
We then headed down the boulevard to the Rodin Museum, which is a tiny temple in a garden. The Thinker greets you at the gate. At the top of the stairs protected on a covered “porch” is one of only three bronze casts of “The Gates of Hell.” This museum houses the largest collection of Rodin outside of Paris. It’s all there.
We then drove off to the “suburb” where J lives. Belmont Hills is an old neighborhood of varying style homes. The craftsmen and worked who built the palatial homes and municipal buildings settled there and created there much more modest but unique homes.
The commercial area is a small and charming strip of cafes, galleries and boutiques. One in particular is worth a look. “Jakes” sports one of the most creative “awnings I have ever seen. It is a pastiche of a cubist assemblage with bows to Picasso, Leger and Matisse.
We ended the day with Johanna’s family in their back yard until I had to catch my train back to NYC.