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Birdie - I'm confused. The docent said that the foundation does not make loans of their art for special exhibits elsewhere. And yet she mentioned something about the courts allowing something or other. What was she talking about?

Well, it sounds like a museum I would love to see since I really enjoy impressionist paintings. When I was at the Met last winter I was hoping to see more, and their collection is very nice - maybe it was just dwarfed by the sheer size of that museum. Believe it or not, the Baltimore Museum of Art is pretty impressive in that regard. They have one of the largest (if not the largest) collection of Matisse paintings and drawings in the world, plus a decent smattering of additional impressionists, and a large number of Rodin sculptures (though I'm not sure how unusual that is). It's worth a look if you're ever in the area.

I think the special exhibits at museums are the way to go when possible. Then you really get to see a lot in one location that you wouldn't ordinarily have access to. The recent Bonnard exhibit at the Met comes to mind.

I think a nice vacation could be Philadelphia/Baltimore with a stop in between at Winterthur in Delaware. We went to a wedding near Wilmington two weeks ago and got a quick tour through Winterthur - AMAZING! I would like to go back there one day and spend more time.

I remember visiting the Baltimore Museum when my kids were younger and there was a nice exhibit of Lautrec posters. BTW, the Barnes has three Lautrec oils. I don't think that there are many. We only found two of them.

smetz - you're right about Rodin. The Legion of Honor museum in SF claims the largest Rodin collection outside of Paris and so does the Cantor Art Center at Stanford. Or maybe it's just 'ONE of the largest collections' outside of Paris.

I am glad you liked my reco's.

I am not a big fan of Fork, but my Aunt Judith likes to go there when she flies in from London. They have a good omelet and the wine list is reasonably priced.

LOVE Le Bus!!! Todd Oldham always likes going there when he comes to Philly.

Thin
Keith likes to take our dog, Jackie O, for walks on Main St. Maybe you passed right by him!

Thin - Why is Le Bus called Winnie's Le Bus? Main Street was very quiet when we were there, but who knows, maybe we passed them!

There used to be another Le Bus in Philly near Rittenhouse Square (18th St.). It is now closed. I think they had several health code violations.

Le Bus Bakery also supplies bread to many top restaurats in Philly.

Winnie is the name of the owner of the restaurant in Manayunk. I have no idea if she is the same owner of Le Bus Bakery--the bread supplier. They may no longer be affiliated.

Lots of shops and restaurants in Manayunk are constantly reinventing themselves or changing names and owners. I can't tell you how many times Derrick's has changed names.

Thin

cpg - The Barnes always restricted loans of their art. They were very strict about this until some years ago when the director at the time decided to send some of the pieces out on tour. A book was published of that exhibition. There was a major stink about the whole thing and, I believe, a lawsuit but the director prevailed. I saw the exhibition in DC. Since then no other pieces have gone out that I know of and the Barnes has been involved in other lawsuits and messes regarding this move. I hope I have my facts straight about this. I'll try to find a link.

Sorry, I'm lazy. I only wiki'd it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Foundation

More about the Barnes Foundation in this 2004 article from the New Yorker--

http://tinyurl.com/mkm56m

Thanks for those links, Birdie and kmbp. I especially enjoyed the one from the New Yorker - confessions of an art critic. And who knew that Glackens and Barnes were friends?