Metropolitan Museum of Art -- Looking at Art

24 hours in New York City.  So, go to the Met.

Emanuel Leuze, Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851).

A woman looking at women, mainly John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame X (1884).

Frederick Church's 1859 painting, Heart of the Andes.

Three Window Homer paintings in the 1890s of rugged Maine surf

near the artist's home at Prouts Neck.

A Tiffany window.

Elizabeth Park's Annual Garden

The annual garden is at its peak.  This year it was planted with an eye toward a symmetrical overall design, instead of just planting each plot for individual color.

Election Day

Connecticut's primary elections are today.  I am a Florida resident, so I don't vote here.  A Democratic candidate for governor served seven years in prison on corruption charges when he was Bridgeport's mayor; he was elected again when he got out.  The party-nominated Republican candidate says he is going to repeal the income tax, which provides half of the state's revenues.

There are reasons why Connecticut is in trouble.

Red

This handsome house in the West End of Hartford always catches my eye.

Oddly shaped side windows of a Killingsworth house.

Another West End house, this one with a bird house on a tree stump.



So I started looking for red West End houses.
This one would make a great farmhouse, but it is in a very urban neighborhood.



And another.  That's enough for today.

Good Bones

Some nice buildings in Hartford are vacant and looking for new uses.

A fine Art Deco building on Washington Street is near the state government buildings.

A former movie theater on Farmington Avenue was renovated into 

a Brazilian restaurant that closed six years ago.

On a mixed Pearl Street block on which many of its neighbors were demolished in the 1980s
to make way for new buildings, this survivor awaits someone with imagination.



I have lived in Hartford at least part-time for 40 years.  This former Jewish synagogue on Pearl Street has been empty and unused the entire time.  I don't hold out much hope for a new use.



This is the opposite, a perfectly bland building.  But, it is at a prime location, though it sat vacant for a decade.  New owners are banking on turning it into apartments for young people.

Five at a Hartford Bus Stop

At first I walked past Shannon.  But, she looked so down and out, I went back and gave her some money and told her to get something to eat.  Shannon lives under a nearby bridge.

Raymond was happy to have someone to talk to.  He didn't smile for his portrait because he is missing several teeth and he is self-conscious.  Raymond proudly told me he shaves once a month.  

This wasn't the day.

Tori works at the downtown Hartford Y, in the Head Start program.

Andy is a mechanic.  When I showed him this photo, he said, "I look like a terrorist."

Desire's red braids caught my eye.  She smiled for the first two photos, but I didn't like them.
I asked her to wipe all expressions and go blank.  I liked this one better.  Desire is a
nursing student in Hartford.  She works at a production company in New Britain.

Seven Women at the Jazz Concert

Robin works in the prison system, teaching performance arts and offering healing for addictions. 

Her tattoo is Joan of Arc.

Giselle is a surgical assistant.  She was sitting with Stuart from yesterday.

Sharon was OK with a photo, but I wasn't going to get anything else out of her.

Sheila was feeling the music and moving with it.  She is the drummer's mother.

Just a guess, but I think Helga likes pink.

Shanee's blonde hair really stands out.  She was sitting with Chad from yesterday.

Ruby thought it was hysterical that I wanted to take her photograph.