Fondation Gianadda

This posting is being written on my ipad on the plane from Geneva to London. We are too soon on our way back to California. And it is too soon to think about the work that awaits us at TSR.

Yesterday we took a decidedly grown up day. We took the train to Martigny, a small, rural, agricultural town in the beginning of the Valais where there is a wonderful museum, Fondation Gianadda.  It was built in the fifties by the parents of a young man who died young in a plane crash. The building is mid century modern concrete with clean lines and a large open central concert area with galleries surrounding and above.

The main exhibit was of portraits from the Pompidou in Paris. There were about one hundred portraits by and of familiar and not so well know artists and including sculptures. There was a wire Calder self portrat sculpture hanging above a Bronze Brancuzi. There was a painted portrait of Picasso as a very young man engaging the viewer with his piercing eyes even then before his great career. There was a very strange Marcel Duchamp portrait that initially looked like a nude woman with blond flowing hair but upon closer inspection it was a rear end with breasts and long flowing blond hair?? There were portraits in every style from two centuries. In some cases it was surprising to see portraits by artists who were not known for that genre. My guess is that at some point everyone has to do "bread and butter" work.

In addition, this little museum had a car collection dating from the earliest powered vehicles from mostly European  auto makers. Some looked like horse drawn coaches missing the horses with engines so tiny we could hardly find them. 

The day was warm and sunny so we went out the back door of the museum to see the gardens. There was a garden in full spring bloom with several large and interesting sculptures. We learned that Martigny was largely built on Roman ruins. The city has done a great job of preserving some of the ruins. Even apartment buildings were built on piers on top of Roman ruins. Walking by, one could peek under the building and see the stone outlines of an ancient home of a wealthy Roman family.

Returning to Lausanne we stopped by to see the grandkids once more and tell them we were leaving and that we would be back soon.
This posting is being written on my ipad on the plane from Geneva to London. We are too soon on our way back to California. And it is too soon to think about the work that awaits us at TSR.