Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 -- Mattie died 530 weeks ago today. 

Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2002. Mattie was 7 months old and going for a walk with Peter. I have to say that Mattie strongly disliked this baby carrier. Therefore we did not use it that often. Yet this was one of my favorite photos as I loved Mattie in his puppy dog hat. 


Quote of the day: The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart. ~ Helen Keller

We drove to Fredericksburg, VA today. It is about an hour drive each way. The weather was incredible, over 60s! Fredericksburg is a charming historic town to tour. Our first stop was at Kenmore. 

Built by George Washington's sister, Betty Washington Lewis, and her husband, Fielding Lewis, this beautiful, Georgian-style, brick mansion reflects the pre-Revolutionary-War wealth and status of the Fredericksburg merchant. Fielding Lewis was a planter and successful merchant in town. Their plantation grew tobacco, wheat, and corn by the labor of slaves. More than 80 slaves worked on the 1300-acre plantation, including a number of domestic slaves. The mansion's rear frontage was oriented to the Rapahannock River for easy transportation access.

During the Revolutionary War, Lewis loaned the state of Virginia money to build and support a gun factory in Fredericksburg. At the time of his death in 1781, he was still owed £7000, but it was never repaid. He also lost a great deal of money during the war because he was not able to carry on his mercantile business with England. However, his house still stands—with its elegant exterior and interior rooms adorned with colorful paint, wallpaper, and decorative plaster ceilings.

The house is architecturally notable for the remarkable decorative plaster work on the ceilings of many rooms on the first floor. In 1970 the property was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Ironically on the first floor of the home was this room... it was a combination bedroom and social sitting area. Frankly I have never seen a woman of Betty's stature having her social space integrated within her bedroom. To me it was odd and caught my attention, especially when you consider that this room was right near the front door of the house.

Peter pictured with his parents in front of Kenmore!

After our Kenmore tour, we had lunch at Foode. Which was the site of a former National Bank. 

Then we drove to Gari Melchers Home and Studio. To me this is a must see, especially if you love impressionist paintings. What is so unique about this is the property was Melchers' home and studio. In fact, many of his amazing pieces are on display in the studio. 

Melchers' Georgian home was called Belmont and was built in 1790. He is considered a portraitist and American Impressionist painter.

Melchers was one of the most respected artists of his generation as a portraitist, muralist, and landscape painter. Upon Mrs. Melchers’ death in 1955, the property and all its contents were deeded to the Commonwealth of Virginia, making Belmont one of the most complete and authentic artists’ homes anywhere.

This is the foyer of the mansion. It reminded me a lot of Mount Vernon. As the front door opens and across the foyer straight ahead is a back door onto a porch. It was a very inviting, interesting, and artistic home. Clearly they loved to collect things and display them in creative ways. 

All of the docents we had today, both at Kenmore and at Belmont were delightful women. Who really loved what they were doing and appreciated sharing it with their visitors. 

Not far from the mansion, is the artist's studio! This is a photo of the studio.

In the early 1920's Gari Melchers developed plans for the construction of a studio (photo is of the interior of the studio) adjacent to the house, he instructed the architect to design a practical space that would function as both work space and storage, but he was “not to forget that it is meant to be a private gallery and must eventually do service.” Detroit architect, John Donaldson, a longtime friend of Melchers, designed the structure according to the artist’s specifications. Work was completed on the stone building in 1924.

Today the building continues to serve as a Melchers showcase, housing the largest collection of his paintings and drawings anywhere—some 1600 items in all—and features rotating exhibitions spanning the whole of his career.






Here are some samples of his incredible works! He was a direct competitor of John Singer Sargent, and yet, I think it is sad that so many of us have never heard of Gari Melchers!

This watercolor is entitled, Opening Reception. 

 Portrait of Mrs. Melchers

This painting is entitled, Early Spring. A painting with his mansion in the background

This painting is entitled, Window. Most likely he painted his wife sitting in their sun room of their mansion reading a book.