21 August 2007

Philadelphia



I'm finally back in Oxford and have cleared the backlog of work sufficiently to have a moment to scan some sketches. We had a great trip. I was last in Philadelphia about 25 years ago, and was surprised to see that it now has skyscrapers. When I was there, you weren't allowed to build higher than the statue of Penn on City Hall. I think it's a shame (and apparently some think it has resulted in a curse on the city's baseball team, though it didn't seem to hurt them on the night we went to see them play!). But there were a lot of familiar things too, like Reading Terminal Market, Society Hill, and Penn's Landing. Of course the two highlights are Independence National Historical Park, home of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and the Art Museum. At the latter I couldn't resist running up the steps, Rocky-style! Even though it was close to 100 degrees!!



The collection at the latter is really outstanding. We didn't have time to do it justice, really, but concentrated on 18th and 20th century European works. One of my favourites is the painting of the Houses of Parliament burning by Turner.

Unfortunately, it was a working trip really, so there wasn't much time for art. But I did manage to do a couple of quick sketches, of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

6 comments:

Robyn Sinclair said...

Welcome back, Dave, and well done on Independence Hall. I wonder if that's the bell they're ringing at the NYSE these days. Could explain a lot.

Silverback said...

Glad you made it up the steps AND went on in - most don't. In classic style, I went to the wrong building to start with.

Wasn't having a good trip as when I went to see The Bell, they were displaying some old copy with a crack in it !

Ian

Anita Davies said...

LOL @ you doing the whole 'Rocky' thing. Sounds like a great trip Dave, so pleased you managed a couple of sketches to share with us.

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Welcome back Dave, it sounds as if you enjoyed the trip!
Great sketches..especially the bell!
Ronell

Making A Mark said...

Nice to see you back Dave

Sounds like the weather was a bit different to here. We did actually manage a nice day or two while you were away although it has been grey and raining for a week now so all those skies done in Scotland will come in handy!

And I never knew that was where that particular Turner was!

Claudia said...

Nice to hear that you had a good trip!
Beautiful watercolour sketch!