An Elegant Evening ~

...with my Prince Charming.  

It was a night of total splendor, festive glory, and fine art.  My handsome artist husband and I were invited guests to this exquisite holiday gala in the Court of Honor at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco.

For two souls who love art, this was a dream come true.  An entire evening devoted to celebrating the artistic masters of our past as well as  present-day artists...the museum galleries were ours to peruse, linger and enjoy.  With cocktails in hand, we mingled among the elite, but mostly we giggled and gasped at our good fortune to be included in such a grand evening.  

A dinner fit for a king was served by candlelight, an orchestra enticed all to join on the dance floor, and memories to last a lifetime were made underneath a tent draped in sparkling decor...an elegant evening indeed.

City of Light

Last week, we took an 'art break' and headed to the city for the Impressionist Paris: City of Light exhibit at the Legion of Honor which is concurrent with Birth of Impressionism at the de Young. 

Of the over 150 prints, drawings, photographs, paintings, and illustrations, this photograph above along with one of the most evocative passages in Emile Zola's novel L'oeuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886) really spoke to my heart the most ~

Claude was quivering with delight, "Ah! This Paris!" he cried.  It's ours!  All ours for the taking!  Each one of them was thrilled almost beyond words as they looked on the scene with eyes that shone with desire.  Did they not feel glory being wafted over the whole vast city from the top of that Avenue?  Paris was here, and they meant it to be theirs.

[photograph by Charles Marville]