First Day of Winter — See “Spring”
Today is the first day of Winter and the perfect time to see “Spring” (right image). This stunning portrait of a Parisian actress by Edouard Manet sold for a record $65 million at auction in New York on Wednesday, November 5, 2014. Acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum, the painting went on public display a mere 20 days later on November 25 at The Getty (getty.edu) in Los Angeles. The painting hangs in the West Pavilion with the Museum’s collections of paintings by Degas, Monet, van Gogh and other nineteenth-century masters. Though the free admission Getty is normally closed Monday and most major holidays, it is open Monday December 22 and Monday December 29, 2014 as a special holiday gift to the public eager to see this famous portrait of actress Jeanne Demarsy in a floral dress and bonnet as an evocation of spring.
Other special holiday museum invitations in California include:
- The whimsical, fun Bunny Museum in Pasadena, which is open Christmas Day, 2-6 p.m. Admission is $5.
- Contemporary Jewish Museum (cjm.org) in San Francisco is open on Christmas and it’s a Community Free Day, so all the galleries are open which means advance registration is highly recommended.
- Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (rhfleet.org) in San Diego’s Balboa Park is open Christmas Day, 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
