Msmasmush gave me a ticket to see The Cult of Beauty at the Legion of Honor. By mistake I went to the de Young, to The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, thinking that it was The Cult of Beauty. They are two different shows, as everyone else in town knows! But what a fortuitous mistake, and how lucky I was to be admitted into the Gaultier show on my Cult of Beauty ticket.
The Gaultier show knocked me out. It was hilarious. I can't begin to describe it. I can only say see it! It will be here through August 19th.
Afterwards, I zoomed to the Legion of Honor and saw the show I was meant to see. The Cult of Beauty is an exhibit of Victorian Avant-Garde art, quite different from the Gaultier show. Also on display at the Legion is a sweet show called Making the Modern Picture Book: Children's Books from the Victorian Era. I was introduced to William Nicholson's work, whose writing I thought was as surprising as his pictures.
It's funny. I just read in wikipedia that from about 1900 Nicholson concentrated on painting, encouraged by Whistler. My favorite painting in the Cult of Beauty show was Nocturne by Whistler.
Most fun of all was running into msmasmush in the gift shop. She had broken both of the cash registers and had been sent into the hall to straighten merchandise. Not only is msmasmush the one who gave me my ticket to The Cult of Beauty, but she's also the one who got me started in this writing class for which we are given daily prompts.
Our prompt today is A pattern, so here goes:
A poem is a type of pattern
Neptune, Venus, Mars and Saturn.
Pixels, shells and cobblestone,
Numbers on your telephone.
Marimekko tablecloths,
Ladybugs and spotted moths.
Bubbles in your bubble bath,
Molecules and higher math.
UPC codes, bumps in braille
The major diatonic scale.
Patterns can be lots of fun
As long as they're not overdone
But stripes are best if you ask me
And I'm sure Gaultier would agree.
