Monday, May 09, 2005

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.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

pretty.  glad you had a good time.  i will have to check out these links when i'm able.  
:) phin

Anonymous said...

My mother had a thing about them, even if she didn't like them all that much. She had them in miniature, on little easels. Thanks for the memory jog. :)

Anonymous said...

When hubs and I visited the L.A. area several years ago, the Huntington was one of the "tourist" side trips we took.  I absolutely loved it.  Way better than Disneyland.  The gardens were exquisite, the art was wonderful, and I was fascinated by the collection of old/ancient books, maps, and manuscripts.  It is a wonderful place.  Lisa  :-]  

Anonymous said...

I have seen these paintings before. love them.
All these trips to places where Art is, is making me jealous!
:p

thanks for sharing.  You and your Grandmother sound like
you have the same tastes. :)

Anonymous said...

You know what? I think MY grandmother had a print of Blue Boy in her house.

Anonymous said...

I have two french lithographs that I bought at an antique store in Alabama, you would probably like them.
About the roses...maybe we should send Gigi's rose mutilator to take care of those dead buds....
ha dead buds...reminds me of "happy dead baby bug".

Anonymous said...

My parents had reproductions of these paintings hanging up in our old house. Not sure what happened to them.

Gretchen
http://livinginsavannah.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

My grandmother had copies of these paintings too.  The Huntington sounds wonderful.

Anonymous said...

My grandmother had the originals.  The ones in the Huntington are obviously copies. ;)

Yay!  You finally got to go!  I'll bet you had a lovely day, too. :)

Anonymous said...

we had a Blue Boy...... I wish that I had snagged him when I had the chance, I adored him for some reason too. judi

Anonymous said...

we had the blue boy when I was younger also.

kathy

Anonymous said...

I love those paintings.  Thanx for the links.

Ana  ((0.~))

Anonymous said...

Hi :)

"Pinkie" was given to me as a gift when I was a little girl. I HATED it! Scared the socks off me how it looks like she is floating. I guess I had watched too much Dark Shadows as a little girl. LOL. The painting scares me to this day. I guess it is one of those unreasonable fears.

Always, Carly :)

Anonymous said...

My grandmother simply LOVED them also. She even had ceramic figurines at one time which are long gone. She also loved antiques and I have her grandfather's clock and bedroom lamps which I cherish. Nelle

Anonymous said...

Both those paintings are pretty fruity!  It must be neat to see them in person and not so blurry, LOL.  

I like how much you appreciate Fine Art... --Albert

Anonymous said...

Ah, it`s so nice to relive those memories. And so nice to see you relaxing!
V

Anonymous said...

I remember doing these in "paint by numbers" as a child...pretty difficult and mine didn't look so well as yours...but I always liked them anyway

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if these pictures are worth anything.  I have one of each and they are in very good shape.  If someone could give me some info please.

annlarkz81@aol.com
Thanks

Anonymous said...

I have found these pictures they are roughly 18x14 in size.  In antique frames, they seem to be originals they are in excellent shape.  Could you please let me know what the value of these pictures could be, they aren't oil paintings.  They are priced at $150.  That seems a little high to me.
Speaking of memories my grandmother painted 20in pinkie and blue boy back in the late sixties.  It's nice to relive these memories with you as well.
Please contact me @ jlrhollywood@yahoo.com.
Thank You
Jeff Robinson