Suzy Says

What with my pie being so fully occupied and all lately, I haven’t had a chance to tell you that John and I did make it to see the Leonardo Da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland exhibit at the Legion of Honor.

I love that museum: it’s so pretty, and its setting, overlooking the ocean and a snippet of the Golden Gate Bridge, is breath-taking. Also going there always reminds me of Kim Novak in Vertigo, going there to sit in front of the [non-existent] portrait of the mad Carlotta.

I wonder why I seem to be better at going to art exhibits in other places? I went to Boston earlier this year mostly to see the Impressionist Landscape exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. I went to Russia mostly to see the Hermitage’s collection. I am considering going to LA to see French Masterworks from the Pushkin Museum (so much closer than Russia) at LACMA, but have yet to see the Treasures of Modern Art at SF MOMA, which is just a short walk from work. I mean, I can’t keep pleading the pie forever, you know?

But back to the Da Vinci exhibit. It ended last Sunday, and we just made it in under the wire before the closing date, so it was a zoo of other procrastinators. Despite being a dedicated city-dweller, I tend to be intolerant of my fellow human beings en masse, but this was worth it. The most outstanding included an Alma-Tadema of a red-haired Polish composer; a street scene in Warsaw that was very Pisarro; a portrait of an elderly woman which used to be attributed to Rembrandt and has now been properly attributed to Bol; a portrait of an unknown little girl in a grey dress holding a bouquet of white chrysanthemums that was eerie, as if she were a ghost child; a striking painting of a single tree at night, illuminated by the moon and stars and set against a background of dark mountains and violet snow; and one of a hunting party setting off on an early winter morning. You could see the horses tossing their heads and the steam coming off them.

But the star of the show was unquestionably Leonardo’s Lady with the Ermine, painted in the early 1480’s and one of the few Da Vinci paintings still extant. She beats the hell out of the Mona Lisa, you ask me. I never did care for Mona Lisa and her sallow, vapid face. Even when I first saw her at the age of 17. Or as John put it, “Wow! That girl with the lamb is really cool!” I’m sure Leonardo would have been proud.