A weekend trip to visit something (relatively) new and something old, after the jump ….
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I have visited Philadelphia before over the years, seeing all the normal sights for visitors: the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Harbor, Reading Market and (twice) the Philadelphia Museum of Art ... though I never emulated Rocky’s run.
This time, I went to visit (1) an art museum that did not exist downtown five years ago … as well as (2) a venerable basketball arena that I put on my bucket list so long ago ... that bucket was nearly rusted-out. Neither are for everyone, but in case they are: I’d like to characterize them.
First, a Fish Out of Water story - when waiting to check-in (on Friday night) to my hotel it dawned on me .... other than one hotel staff member, I was the only male in the lobby.
It turned out … there was a sorority convention being held downstairs (with their registration table in the lobby). All I could conclude was ... "Youth is wasted upon the young". Then it occurred to me: professional women and others who work in a male-dominated field are used to this … but most men aren’t.
The Barnes Museum has an interesting history and an even more interesting legal aspect. Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951) was a wealthy chemist, creating the drug Argyrol, which was used to treat various inflammations (and even gonorrhea) who sold his company just three months before the 1929 stock market crash.
He began collecting art in 1902, eventually buying works by Henri Matisse from Gertrude Stein while visiting Paris. In 1922, he founded the Barnes Foundation in the Philadelphia suburb of Merion — intended to house his art collection, serve as an art education institution and also to promote horticulture (based upon the property he bought that already had that feature).
Albert Barnes died in July, 1951 from an automobile accident at the age of 79, but not before including in his will severe restrictions on what his Foundation would be: limiting public access, prohibiting the loan of items to other museums and touring of its works and maintaining the paintings in the order he had specified. It is said that Henri Matisse declared this to be the “only sane place to see art in America”.
Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951)Ten years after his death, trustees of the Foundation began to chafe at the restrictions: first obtaining court permission to expand the hours the collection could be seen. Then in 1992, the trustees were frustrated over the lack of parking and insufficient revenue to provide maintenance, improve security and to add to the Foundation’s endowment (which had been lagging) under the covenants.
They eventually sought the big prize: to be able to move the collection to Center City (as Philadelphia had offered land near its other art museums) and began to go to court to seek the right to do this. After years of legal wrangling (with the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Annenberg Foundation agreeing to fund raising if the move was approved, and a group calling itself the Friends of the Barnes Foundation in opposition), the judge approved the move. The history of Barnes and the legal challenges was chronicled in an HBO documentary The Collector— narrated by John Lithgow.
If you are an Impressionist art lover, this is the place for you. One aspect of visiting major art museums is their sheer size: The Philadelphia Art Museum, the Met in New York, the MFA in Boston, et al, is that one can only see a portion of their works in one day.
By contrast, you can see the Barnes main collection (they also have a rotating special exhibition room) in as little as an hour-and-a-half. This is believed to be the largest collection of works by Renoir (181 in total) in the world .. and my favorite (Paul Cézanne) clocks in with 69, plus works by Matisse, Picasso as well as by Dutch, American and African artists. I overheard a museum docent leading a tour telling them that — while Barnes had seven works by Vincent Van Gogh — he was not among his favorite painters. Which is probably why he passed-up the chance to purchase Starry Night— which the Museum of Modern Art in New York was only too happy to acquire.
One other noted feature: unlike most museums, where small signs are placed next to paintings, that tell the back-story … the Barnes has laminated programs in boxes near the doorways, containing that info which are to be left in each room.
The Barnes is not cheap (a hefty $30 price tag) and Renaissance paintings are in short supply … but if you like this type of art, this is worth a trip to visit.
A typical room at the Barnes MuseumWatching college basketball as a young tyke, I heard many an announcer say that you have to see a game at the Palestra— an arena on the University of Pennsylvania campus in west Philadelphia. And someone who in more recent times drives this point home is the sportswriter John Feinstein— whom I have noted in a previous Top Comments diary, who writes my favorite sports books (very little x’s and o’s, much more human interest, business, politics, etc.). In his Washington Post columns and elsewhere, he never misses a chance to extol the venue, once writing “The best place there is in basketball. Period”.
It was constructed in 1927, and named by a Penn professor of Greek, William Bates after the ancient Greek term palaestra — where a separate working gym is connected to a more public arena. At the time, its 10,000 seat capacity (today more like 8,700) was one of the largest arenas in the world (though long-since dwarfed) and it has hosted more college basketball games than any other arena.
That is due to two reasons: one is that (in its early years) it had the same management as that of Madison Square Garden— which often required teams wishing to play in the Garden to schedule a match at the Palestra. The more important reason: all of the Big 5 universities in the city played there at one time. Not only the University of Pennsylvania (whose campus it is located on) but also Villanova, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle and Temple. Over the years, each has built its own venue, though all five do play against Penn.
John Feinstein also notes that it is not the oldest college venue, which would be the Rose Hill gym at Fordham University in New York. He says (besides its history) a trip to the Palestra with its rectangular shape (and a court below street level) means good sight-lines. “Sure, they’re (the seats) uncomfortable — most don’t have chair backs — but none has a bad view. Fans sit almost on top of the court on all four sides”.
The Palestra in Philadelphia (1927 — )And so I made my way there on the Saturday night, passing the adjacent Franklin Field football stadium (where the Philadelphia Eagles played from 1958-1970). In a documentary, future governor Ed Rendell admitted that he (as a then 24 year-old) was among those who booed a guy in a Santa Claus outfit (nearing the end of a lousy 1968 season on a cold, December Eagles game). Bill-O ….. there was your war on Christmas.
The Palestra itself does hearken back to the old days … the smell of cheesesteaks and sausages cooking wafts into the arena itself. The seats themselves are indeed uncomfortable, and you have to stand to let others cross your aisle (as is common with old venues) but for $20, it was a bargain. There is (at opposite ends of the arena) both an analog scoreboard and a digital one … but no plasma screens, no “Make Noise!” pleas, or exploding fireworks, et al. They do the shooting t-shirts from a bazooka bit, but all-in-all, what a college basketball game used to be (updated only modestly). I used to work at Dartmouth College’s medical center, and their arena is only ¼ the size of the Palestra.
Oh, and the game? Penn vs. Harvard was between the two teams battling for the Ivy League lead — and it was thrilling … tied at halftime, many lead changes before Penn pulled away for a 74-71 victory. The school band and cheerleaders were happy on Senior Night, with the last regular season home game.
There are no pillars to obstruct viewsJust two years ago, one needed to win the Ivy League championship (and thus get the NCAA Tournament bid) by having the best overall conference regular season record. Now they have a championship tournament (featuring the top four teams) like the rest of the nation … and it will take place this coming weekend at the Palestra itself. Cornell vs. Harvard and Penn vs. Yale on Saturday … with the winners squaring-off the next day in search of the NCAA tournament bid.
The bench arose for this trey … good!Overall? If you’re not a college basketball fan, this need not be on your bucket list. No, not life-changing. But when November rolls around, if you appreciate college basketball and a sense of the sport’s history: a trip to Philadelphia might include a stop here (and for their women’s team as well, I hasten to add).
There is an ESPN documentary from 2007 was entitled The Palestra: Cathedral of Basketball— and it includes this famous plaque that — when you enter the building — you have to look for; it is not in a prominent place. But it has the sort of sentimental feeling I get when seeing the NYC General Post Office inscription ("Neither snow, nor rain, etc.) and on the German parliament (Reichstag) in Berlin: “Dem Deutschen Volke ("[To] the German people") — and I was glad to find it:
Yours truly *melts* over sentimentality like this.Let’s close with a short, recent tune by native Philadelphia bassist Stanley Clarke. That city is the home of great jazz bassists (Jimmy Garrison, Jaco Pastorius, Alfonso Johnson, Percy Heath and NPR radio host Christian McBride, to name a few). I was a bassist in my mis-spent youth (helped earn my way through school) and had a chance to meet/interview Stanley back in 1975. This tune lists Joe Walsh of the Eagles on guitar, but truth-be-told: I can’t tell his playing. It also lists Stewart Copeland of the Police on drums .. and I can very easily detect his playing.
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From ZenTrainer:
In my own diary about the Republicans urging their members to vote for the Democratic candidate in TN's Special Election— — Proginoske breaks down the far-right’s reasons for not voting for the Republican candidate ... and does it well.From BlackSheep1:
In the front-page story about the Trumpster’s visit to a rather raunchy Las Vegas nightclub— I nominate the following comment by MessagingMatters … which wins the Internets today.Highlighted by fcvaguy:
In the diary by poopdogcomedy about endorsements for Marie Newman— the challenger to blue dog Dan Lipinski — PJ the B Lefty makes a reference not only to the incumbent but also another “D”.And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about the Trumpster being upset over Sarah Huckabee-Sanders in revealing details about the Stormy Daniels case — pasuburbdem1 reminds us of a previous legal case we’ve only learned about recently.And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
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