Day 5: Pittsburgh

Day 5: Pittsburgh  

QOTD:  I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning. Andy Warhol. The good news for holders of Warhol work, the longer you own it, the more valuable it becomes regardless of how long you’ve looked at it..

Weather: Cool to downright pleasant, early evening in the high 50s

Pics: Carnegie International, lunch, Thad Mosely, Warhol museum and bridge

Dept of Clarification: Yesterday, the price for the Duquesne Incline ride was $5 for a round trip, free for seniors. There were only two members of the tour that were not yet seniors (hint: their initials are THB and DB, DB the youngest by over 3 months).

A late start today, plenty of time for the FitCtr and a leisurely breakfast (same as it ever was: toast, yogurt and fruit). As it turns out, unfortunately, the start is even later when two of the group are 10-15 minutes late due to a misunderstanding of the departure time (which is printed right on our handy-dandy itinerary, initials are NOT THB and DB).

A bit of a tragedy, because it cuts into our time at the Carnegie International, new art by 35 artists blended in and among the art and architecture of the Carnegie Museum and one terrific show (if you live near Pittsburgh, make this your first stop). We’re led by one of the three curators responsible for selecting the artists, and he’s terrific as well, and he projects well (aside: THB would like to see headsets used more often on these tours, it helps when the group can spread out and listen while watching something such as on Mt Washington with Tracey or in a museum; it also adds more expense to the trips and more work for the leaders!).

At noon, we board the bus for a ride back downtown to the Habitat restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel.  Lunch is excellent: tuna burger (a “real” burger, not a slab of tuna) with sweet potato fries, arnold palmer, mini-crème brulee.

Then a studio visit with Thad Mosely who appears to have locked up the “quirky artist of the trip” award: 87, long retired postal worker, self-taught, full of quips, lively sense of humor, demo’d his style of carving (he sculpts objects out of huge logs of walnut) and made no attempt to sell anything in his crowded studio. A great post-lunch pick-me-up spot. No headsets required here!

From Thad to Andy (Warhol) made for some compare and contrast moments. The first part of the visit to the Warhol museum is a tour led by the Deputy Director, and THB and DB pick up info that we didn’t glean from our prior visit (on our own) several years ago. Andy is a magician: a great forward-thinking artist who pretty much turned any painting or object into $$$$. And, turned out some of the dullest video ever (and yet, somehow can be mesmerizing in short bursts), and sparked a revolution in the art world as well as influencing the music world (feeding Patti Smith, promoting Lou Reed and Velvet Underground). All this from a good Catholic boy that went to Mass every day and put his mother to work on his art projects.

Transfer through the early evening gloom to a collectors’ house in the burbs for an hour of roaming their McMansion looking at a very eclectic collection. A few pieces intrigue THB, most do not. And, it’s great to see what people assemble. THB’s fave quote: our friends have no idea what we’re doing (a common sentiment among art collectors).

Finally, back to the hotel on schedule, just enough time for THB to freshen up and we join three others for a dinner at Lidia’s. THB has been (very successfully) cooking from one of Lidia’s many cookbooks this year; clearly, they have not been using the same recipes at the restaurant! Plus, the service is awful: mixing up the orders for each person at every course, food delivered that wasn’t ordered, big portions (well, that is the same as the cookbook, actually). Something makes THB think that the local trend towards large portions and lack of finesse has moved the restaurant away from Lidia’s original intentions.