Painting The Town Red

We decided to venture into the city this week and show my parents a few of the well known sites in Hamburg. My dad studied art at university and was quite interested when we told him of an art exhibit by Edward Hopper, who was well known for painting modern life if America. We were a little disappointed that the exhibit featured less of Hopper's works than we had expected, but found it to be inspiring nonetheless.

Of couse my husband and I played our "little game" again, and this time I chose a painting from Robert Henri depicting Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who had founded the musuem of American Art in New York City. I would probably say that the color first drew me to the painting, but there was something about her expression that I found particularly fascinating.

The photo that made it to my list was much more about the statement rather than the overall composition or artisic style, taken by photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White in 1937.

Interestingly enough, we ended up spending the afternoon in a fabulous cafe that was established the same year as Hopper was born. Of course my parents needed to be properly introduced to the traditional coffee and cake time in Germany and what better way to do that in a cafe founded in 1882?

With beautiful vintage tile to decorate the walls and ceilings, it is not hard to see why this afternoon cafe is continously packed... breathtaking. Somehow such a beautiful atmosphere just makes everything taste better.


... so much to see, so little time.