Art -- Music -- Food

Today was a "me" day starting with taking a streetcar to the Portland Art Museum to meet my classmates from our art history class.  The museum is featuring "Venice - The Golden Age of Art and Music".  The exhibition melds perfectly with our classroom training so it was exciting to see the "real thing" instead of a photo on a screen.  One of my favorite is by Canaletto, titled "Wedding of the Sea" painted in about 1730.  When I viewed this painting, I was amazed at the tiny brush strokes and precise details.  It was exciting to see it and the many other fascinating paintings and musical instruments from that period.

www.portlandartmuseum.org/special/venice/home

After spending two hours at the museum, it was time for lunch so I walked over to Southpark for some fish stew.

The movie "Monuments Men" is showing at the Regal Theater, one block from the restaurant so that was my next stop.  It's the true story of men who were assigned to try to regain historical paintings and sculptures that were confiscated by Hitler's regime and hidden away.  The plan was that Hitler would open a huge museum with all his "spoils" of the war.  When the Nazis realized that they were losing the war, they started to burn and destroy this valuable art.  Most was recovered due to the Monuments Men's efforts.  A great movie and one that I highly recommend.