Ag dul go hIarsmalann na gContae

Chuaigh Léna agus mé go hIarsmalann na gContae inné. Choniac muid saothair ealaíne éagsúlaí ar ndóigh. D'iarr beirt uainn ag dul amach le linn an lá breá.

Bhí sí ag iarraidh ag feiceáil taispeántas fótografach le William Eggleston. Is grianghrafadóir é ag teacht aneas ina Meiriceá Thuas. Rinne sé grianghrafái cuma dhearóil de radhairc tíre agus saol ina mbailte tuaithe. Shíl mé go raibh siad mír ag plátáilte ach bhí sé ag usaid sáithiú go maith air.

Is maith liom seo uaidh is fearr. Níl sé teidealta chomh an chuid is mó le Eggleston. Ach, ceapaim go bhfuil an gort go halaínn ann.

D'imigh siad go gailearaí ealáine eile. Fuair siad foireann troscáin Tibéadach. Bhreathnaigh siad fideo géarr le Ladakh. Abair go mbheimis ina Hiomaleatha ag cur cuairt mainistreachaí ornáideachái, ag ól tae leis im gheac.

Ansin, d'fhág siad go ealáine lucht an lae inniu. Thosaigh muid leis na líníochtaí fadó riamh le George Grosz. Pictiúir sé duine cathrachaí scigdhealbhaímaithe ina Ghearmáin agus ar feadh Chogadh Dhomhanda an chéad a tharraingt.

Duirt Léna fúthu go raibh siad cósulacht "Chagall leis P.M.S." Nílim ábalta fáil níos mó i rith idir 1910-20 go cruinn, ach faighim seo. Is cuimhne liom é faoi ag léamh Céline im bParas le dó seo bheith ar siúl go díreach.

Rug orainn saothair ealáine le Bauhaus agus Mothálacht Gearmánach. D'éirigh seo go tobann ina aghaidh mise féin. Phéintáil é Ludwig Meidner i 1912 . Feic Radhairc Apacailpteachaí eile air anseo.

Bhí maith léi í, rud atá le céill. Bhí maith liom í fós, mar sin féin. "Dia ag ainliú le hathaint na uiscí," dealbh a ghearraidh as plástar le Hans Barlach i 1922.

I ndeireadh na dála, shiúl muid suas go taispeáint le saothair ealáine Mheirceánachaí. Ag dul thart trid na gailearaithe, d'fhoglaim mé an chuid is fearr a thoghadh ormsa. Is "Cluain Poipín i gCalifoirnea" (1926) é. Tá cárta poist seo le ealaíontóir féin, Granville Redmond, tamall fada os cionn mo deasc ag oibre agam.

Ní fhaca Léna togha uirthi. Bhí "An Baisteadh" le Julius L. Stewart i 1891 ag curtha as taisce. Thoilleadh sé ar aon láthair, phioc mé maighnéad beag sin uaidh nuair ag raibh sáite ag feiceáil ceann le Redmond ina siopa ina ndiath! Ní raibh fhios agam go raibh an dealbh céanna féin go raibh breá go deo le Léna!

Going to the County Museum. 

Layne and I went to the County Museum yesterday. We saw various works of art, of course. The pair of us wanted to go out during a fine day.

She wanted to look at a photographic exhibition by William Eggleston. He's a photographer coming from the American South. He took forlorn photographs of landscapes and life in country towns. I considered that they were a bit stereotyped but he was using saturation well. 

This one pleases me most. It is untitled as most of those by Eggleston. But, I think the field's lovely.

We went off to another art gallery. We found a set of Tibetan furniture. We looked at a brief video from Ladakh. Imagine ourselves in the Himalayas paying a visit to ornate monasteries, drinking tea with yak butter.

Then, we went to the modernist share of art. We started with the early line-drawings by George Grosz. He depicts caricatured city folks in Germany and during the First World War.

Layne told of these they were like "Chagall with P.M.S." I'm not able to get more examples from the era 1910-20 precisely, but I find this. It reminds me about reading Céline in Paris at the same time this was happening.

We caught Bauhaus and German Expressionism artworks. This leaped out at me suddenly. Ludwig Meidner painted it in 1912. See his other Apocalyptic Landscapes here.

She liked this better, as is her nature. It pleased me too, all the same. "God hovering over the waters," image sculpted from plaster by Hans Barlach in 1922.

Finally, we walked up to an exhibit of American works of art. Wandering the galleries, I studied the pick of the lot for me. It's "California Poppy Field" (1926). I have had a postcard of this by the artist, Granville Redmond, for a long time above my desk at work.

Layne did not see her choice. "The Baptism" by Julius L. Stewart in 1891 was put into storage. But amazingly, I picked that very magnet when browsing to see one by Redmond in the shop later! I did not know that that same image was the one beloved always by Layne!