Two ice storms inside of a week. Winter, which began late (exactly on January 9th), has been pretty miserable for us since then. Cold temps and a bit of snow don't bother me too much, coming from the background that I have. But extremely cold temps combined with gale force winds tend to get under my skin, in more ways than one. Luckily all the driving we had to do over the last month (mostly medical appts) went well. We seem stuck in a weather loop: cold, windy weather, followed by a warming, then moisture, usually either snow, sleet, rain, or a combination of all three and more. Then it gets briefly mild. Then the wind and cold air come again, and on it goes. The wind is just beginning to die down from the umpteenth iteration of this pattern. In the good old days, when you could predict weather a bit more without complex computer programs, our winter would begin to wind down by mid-February. Let's hope it holds true for this year, though somehow I doubt it.
Last week my retina check up appointment was cancelled, because the power was out at the clinic. I now go on February 27th. As to my cataract surgery, it has now been over two weeks and everything is fine. I can now lift things again, which is a relief. And on February 28th I see my optometrist for reading glasses. Last Saturday was the second performance class for my students. For the November one I only had 2 show up. Saturday I had 4. That is a 100% improvement! Next one will be in late May. I am off the hook for a year-end student recital this year, due to my small number of students.
Continuing on with a brief look at some of the best paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts, I would like to follow up with a second painting by Salvatore Rosa. This self portrait is one of the most stunning, outside of Rembrandt, that I have ever seen. The museum has a large number of artist self-portraits, including famous ones of Gauguin and Van Gogh, and even Whistler. But this one is totally amazing!
Salvatore Rosa, Self Portrait, ca. 1650s. 72 cm x 63 cm. DIA. I am beginning to
look something like this, as our dreadful winter carries on.
Detail of above. What a head of hair!
Rosa, by contemporary accounts, was not a nice man. Things were done his way or not at all. He had few friends, was somewhat of a recluse, and would have likely fit more comfortably with the art scene 200 years later. The landscape by him that I showed last time has a pendant, a painting that was meant to hand with it. It is in the National Gallery, London, and is also a very wonderful and romantic-era landscape. It would certainly be fun to see an exhibit devoted to Rosa's art, and to see the pair of paintings side by side.
Over the weekend we watched an epic film by Kurosawa called "Red Beard." Though it meanders sometimes, this is a wrenching tale of doctors working at a public clinic in Japan in the 1800s, as they try to reconcile traditional medicine with what they have learned from the Dutch. Mifune is a wise elder doctor who holds the clinic together. He request a new, young doctor, one trained in Dutch treatments and diagnosis, and the movie is really about the character development of the young doctor. He arrives arrogant and wanting to get out no matter what, but as time goes on and he deals with the poor class of people who depend on the clinic, he learns much and gradually accepts his vocation. When he gets a chance to leave,he refuses. it's a very long movie, but we watched it all in one go without any trouble staying tuned in. Fascinating stuff!
Based on a Japanese novel, and also one by Dostoevsky. A really great film!
Mapman Mike
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