Blue Boy and Pinky

My grandmother had an affinity for these paintings. I remember her art set had copies in it. After my grandmother died, my mother framed them and I think even added copies to the "collection." She since has given them to me. I love them. They have an old-world, shabby-chic charm about them. I had heard that the Huntington contained the originals, but in my nine years out here, I had not made the time to go see them. Finally, yesterday, I went. Kind of apropro since it was Mother's Day.

The portraits are hanging in the house which is kept very dimly lit. I assume to preserve the beautiful tapestries and works of art. I had to increase the exposure time on my camera in order to capture them in enough light. However, I'm a shaky person by nature. As such, my picture of Pinky didn't turn out so well. I played with it a little in Photoshop, but it is what it is. Blue Boy and Pinky are the knicknames for these pieces. They are actually titled, Jonathan Buttall: The Blue Boy, by Thomas Gainsborough, and Sarah Barrett Moulton: Pinkie, by Thomas Lawrence, respectively. Alas, I just realized that I have been misspelling "Pinky."

However, the artwork at the Huntington is but a small portion of what there is to explore at the Huntington. The grounds are amazing! There are several gardens, including a Japanese Garden. I was a bit disappointed that the roses appeared to not have been trimmed in a while. There were a lot of deadheads that needed tending. However, after checking out the website I see the rose garden has 4000 varieties! It would take an Army to adequately maintain them. You can check it out for yourself. They have a virtual tour online. However, it really doesn't do it justice.