Now, I am not sure why, but since high school I have been enamored with the artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. (Google him if you want to know more) There was my great May of Toulouse, back in the late 90s when in one month’s time I saw his work at the Art Institute in Chicago, the Musee D’Orsay in Paris and at his childhood home in Albi, France. That’s me all Toulouse all the time.
So while reading the freebie magazine that the Esselunga publishes I saw an article about a Lautrec show mostly of his graphic works (posters and such) at the Magnani Rocca Fondazione outside of Parma. www.magnanirocca.it if you are interested. Parma really is not that far and I decided that we just had to go. And off we went.
The small estate and a nice art collection had been inherited and then turned into a museum, housing works originally part of the house in the rooms where they have always hung with the original furniture and then traveling shows (like the Lautrecs that I wanted to see) in a newer, tastefully done wing. No pictures were allowed inside. For most of the time there, Ben and I were the only folks visiting. It was so cool to be able to walk right up to works and see them without being jostled and moved on. There were several works of Lautrec that I had not seen before and an early Picasso (influenced by Lautrec) that I had never seen and might have guessed to be a Lautrec instead of Picasso.
Part of the grounds of the estate. Look for two other posts about the peafowl that live there.
And for those of you who are interested, this was not an inexpensive day.
Fuel for the car 60 Euros
Tolls 36 Euros
Admission 18 Euros (9 each)
Lunch 15 Euros
Even though this was a real splurge for us I am really glad that we went. It was nice to do something different and play ‘tourist’ for a bit.
