Traveler’s Bookshelf: Hidden Treasures of England

by Sean McLachlan on

I’ve been to 25 countries and I’ve never seen any place with so many overlooked treasures as England. Maybe that’s why I keep making excuses to work here. A wonderful new book by Michael McNay, Hidden Treasures of England, reveals some of England’s lesser-known artistic and historical highlights.

McNay spends much of his time exploring churches in search of rare stonework and fine Medieval stained glass, and he’s had some fun along the way. When he visited Eyam to see a ninth-century cross outside the famous plague church, he relates, “I asked Mrs Furness, the duty parishioner on the church bookstall, how Eyam should be pronounced: Eeyam? Iyam? ‘Eem,’ she said severely, ‘as in redeem.'”

In Durham Cathedral he lavishes praise on the elegant tomb of St. Cuthbert, with its unique Anglo-Saxon wood carvings, and the stunning pectoral cross of the saint himself, now in the cathedral treasury. The omission of the somber and imposing tomb of the Venerable Bede, also in Durham Cathedral, is a bit strange, but highlights the fact that for every jewel McNay shows us, England has several more hidden away.

It’s not all churches. We get the “mildly erotic” tapestries of Newby Hall, Yorkshire, an impressive promenade at Bridlington, Yorkshire, seaside from the days before the easyJet generation, even an old milestone at Brampton, Cambridgeshire, with carved hands pointing the way to London and other towns. Such milestones used to be a common sight in the English countryside but were buried during World War Two to confuse the Nazis in case they invaded. McNay knows just when to throw in an interesting anecdote.

McNay also has an eye for overlooked elements of famous places. The section on Trafalgar Square skips Nelson’s Column in favor of the monument to King Charles I, the first bronze equestrian statue made in England. You can often see it in photos of the square, but it’s rarely the focus of attention.

The book is richly illustrated with color photographs and while its 550 hardcover pages will make you think twice about putting it in your suitcase, it makes an engaging read for armchair travelers and a useful guide for those planning their next trip. Hidden Treasures of England is published by Random House and distributed in England by Guardian Books.

Along the Hudson: The Hudson River School and top places to see the paintings

by Jamie Rhein on

Four hundred years ago, when Henry Hudson first saw the river that was named after him, I imagine he felt inspired by its beauty. The river not only captivated Hudson’s attention motivating him to take a look-see far up into its reaches, it has also inspired artists to capture its essence, literally and figuratively.

There are places along the Hudson River’s shores where you can imagine painters who developed The Hudson River School sitting with their canvas creating their masterpieces. Unlike how it sounds, The Hudson River School is not a place at all, but an art movement that occurred during the 19th century, and the first to be deemed American.

With the festivities happening in the towns and cities along the Hudson this year to celebrate it’s discovery, it seems fitting to give a nod to these artists who were inspired by the Hudson’s beauty and used its images as a metaphor to express ideas about what the United States represents. What are the themes? Discovery, exploration and settlement. Head west, and you’ll see these themes over and over again. These guys were onto something.

The scenes you see in the paintings, however, are not exactly as is. The artists took parts of scenery that they had sketched in their travels and put them together in such a way to make their point that nature, and people’s communion with it, are testaments to God’s glory. Communing with nature, therefore, is a way to experience God’s power.

The painting Kindred Spirits by Asher B. Durand is such an example. The two men in the painting are of the artist and Thomas Cole. You can read what the painting represented to Cole in this overview of The Hudson River School by Thomas Hampson.

As Hampson explains, such themes are also expressed in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau who helped found Transcendentalism. To them, and to these artists, what better place to be a witness to the power of God and the human ability to feel and become empowered by it, than in the natural world found in the the American landscape?

Not only the Hudson River is depicted by Hudson River School artists, most notably Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, but so are the White Mountains in New Hampshire and other areas of the Catskills.

For a close look at one of the later Hudson River School painters who helped develop the art movement called Luminism that developed from the Hudson River School, visit Olana, Frederic Edwin Church’s home along the Hudson River not far from Hudson, New York.

Here, Church and his wife raised their family and created a home that is a visual masterpiece. When I visited Olana, I was intrigued by Church’s treatment of the landscape. He had certain trees cut down along the river banks near his home to create a certain look to the scenery and better highlight the Hudson River’s beauty.

Olana is merely one place to see Hudson River School artwork. Several museums have pieces in their collections.

If you are walking in the mountains and along the river that were the inspiration for this artwork, see if the muse strikes you. Maybe another art movement is percolating.

Museum Junkie: Futurism at the Tate Modern

by Sean McLachlan on

“Today we are founding Futurism, because we want to free our country from the smelly gangrene of its professors, archaeologists, tour guides and antiquarians.”

On February 20, 1909, the front page of the Italian newspaper Le Figaro was taken up with the Manifesto of Futurism, a new movement of artists, poets, and performers who revolutionized modern art. They rejected all the past–traditional painting, museums, history, religion, marriage, and just about everything else they could think of while embracing modernity in all its forms. They loved movement, anarchy, technology. When World War One started in 1914, they hailed it as the first modern war and formed the Lombard Battalion of Volunteer Cyclists and Automobilists. Their Manifesto stated that war was “the world’s only hygiene.”

The energy of their work, shown here in Impressions in a Dance Hall (1914) by Belgian Futurist Jules Schmalziguag, soon captivated the art world.

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Futurism is a new exhibition at London’s Tate Modern that studies the development of this movement. The exhibition covers the movement’s origins in Italy and its rapid spread across Europe from England to Russia. What started with painting soon made its impact felt in sculpture, literature, architecture, even music. Part of Futurism’s success was the artists’ shameless self-promotion, with more than fifty manifestos coming out in the five years after the initial one in La Figaro. Some of these manifestos and Futurist literary magazines are also on display, along with paintings from the competing movement of Cubism, The Futurists were opposed to Cubism, of course, because it took attention away from them, and were in the habit of calling Picasso a “boor.” They called themselves boors too, so it’s hard to tell if they were really insulting him, or themselves, or neither, or both.

The Futurists would have loved seeing their work in the Tate Modern. The building is a converted power station with a soaring central space that was once taken up by a massive turbine. The museum is filled with modern art, installation pieces, and video displays. This ultramodern setting may have even made the Futurists forget that museums were nothing but “graveyards”.

“Museums, graveyards!” the original Manifesto fomented. “They’re the same thing, really, because of their grim profusion of corpses that no one remembers.”

Futurism started at the Tate Modern on June 12 and runs until September 20.

Human Rights International Film Festival

by Jamie Rhein on

A few years ago, in the audience of the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center watching A Closer Walk, a wonderful documentary about the global struggle caused by AIDS, I felt tuned into something bigger than myself. Reading New York Times film critic Steven Holden’s article about the Human Rights International Film Festival going on at the Walter Reade Theater through June 25, reminded me about that night, as well as, my day at the Cleveland International Film Festival this past March.

A film festival is an opportunity to view the world through a variety of lenses. In a summer of blockbusters where the popular theme seems to be horror and sci-fi—again, breaking up the fiction action with action that is real may give you that bigger than yourself feeling. If nothing else, seeing such films is an opportunity to see the work of passionate people who are like dogs with bones when it comes to getting a movie made about a cause they care about.

Besides, for people who are world travelers, heading to a film may shed light on some of the issues of the countries where one visits. Although one may visit a country, there may not be the opportunity to really find out what goes on behind closed doors, literally and figuratively.

Holden gave an overview of some of the films in his articlem and indicates that there is much worthwhile to see. You may have heard of some of the offerings. They are a mix of films that are new and others have been previously viewed elsewhere.

Because the films take in a range of slices of life in Afganistan, Ecuador, Pakistan, India and more–and often are about subjects that are not what one would think they might be about, they hold details well outside the sound bite version of the nightly news.

Here is a link to the films that will be featured and a link to the calendar to see when each will be screened.

Since I’m going to be in New York City next Wednesday, I have my eye on Regret to Inform, the award-winning documentary by Barbara Sonneborn. The film, nominated for an Academy Award in 1998 is about Sonneborn’s journey to Vietnam twenty years after her husband was killed there during the war. She set out to see where he was killed and along the way developed relationships with Vietnam war widows from the other side. Sonneborn will be at the showing and will give a talk as part of the venue.

If you do have a chance to head to the Walter Reade Theatre, take time to stop in the adjacent Furman Gallery to see the exhibit “Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold” by Tim Hetherington. Through photographs and writing, Hetherington has aimed to make sense of Liberia’s complicated past and present. The exhibit is another avenue to experience another person’s passion.

An artist is thrilled when people heading to a movie duck into a gallery to see his or her work as part of an event. The gallery is not open at night, so if you do want to see the exhibit, stop in before 5 p.m.

Kamehameha Day festivities in Hawaii

by Brenda Yun on

Local Hawaiians have plenty to be grateful for. We’ve got sun, surf, fun, and a cultural history so steeped in legend that sometimes we have to pinch ourselves as a reminder that we live in paradise. Yesterday marked the 62nd annual state holiday that celebrated Hawaii’s first king, Kamehameha I, who was responsible for uniting the islands. Kamehameha the Great, whose name means “The Lonely One,” left an indelible mark on the islands. His legacy is celebrated on King Kamehameha Day on June 11th of every year.

Here on Oahu there will be a variety of events held in downtown and Waikiki today and Saturday. Events include a Kamehameha Day parade, arts and crafts displays and a lei draping ceremony.

Friday, June 12, 2009

3:30 P.M. -Music by the Royal Hawaiian Band Ali`iolani Hale: Honolulu Civic Center
Prelude to the statue decoration ceremonies.

4:00 P.M. – Statue Decoration Ceremonies Ali`iolani Hale: Honolulu Civic Center
The statue of King Kamehameha I, in the City Civic Center is decorated with 13-foot floral tributes, which are created on site throughout the day by volunteers. Music and Hula performances add to the colorful display; a photographer’s delight.

Saturday, June 13, 2009
9:30 A.M. – 93rd Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade
Colorful floral floats, glamorous Pa`u riders, outstanding marching bands traverse the streets of Honolulu beginning at King and Richards Streets, Punchbowl Street, onto Ala Moana Boulevard, merging into Kalakaua Avenue, ending at the Queen Kapiolani Park. Parade awards presentation will follow.

For more information, visit http://hawaii.gov/dags/king_kamehameha_commission/.

Over on the Big Island there will be a King Kamehameha Day Parade in Kailua-Kona tomorrow, June 13, from 9 a.m. to noon. The floral-themed parade honoring Hawaii’s monarch features Hawaiian-themed entries, including pā’ū riders representing all the Hawaiian islands, bands, hula and community groups. There will also be food booths, crafts and much more.