Questions and Answers

It’s been another tough year on this planet of ours.  Mankind has been up to his usual no good at times and Mother Nature has once again proven how angry she can get, undoubtedly due to some of the no good mankind has afflicted on her.  Why shouldn’t she be upset?!

In a German children’s picture book that we grew up with, ETWAS VON DEN WURZELKINDERN (Something from the Root-Children), there is a wonderful illustration of Mother Earth preparing the root-children for the coming of winter.  Now this is the way it should be!

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It has been a week since Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast and it has been a week since I last heard from Tom Hachtman, the incredible illustrator of my GertrudeandAlice picture book.

Tom by Tom (2011)

Tom and his wife and mother-in-law live in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. not far from the ocean.  They have been in my thoughts all week.  A mutual friend has tried to reach them via phone, but has not been successful and closed his last e-mail to me with –  “I will let you know if I get any news.”

Me by Tom (2011)

I know that the pictures online and those on TV only tell part of the story and just as in the case of Hurricane Katrina, any of us who have never seen or lived through this kind of devastation, have really no idea of what it must be like. (I have not been able to fathom the destruction that my parents witnessed during World War II and their ability to move to a foreign land and start over with 3 young children in tow.  I don’t think I’d have it in me to do the same.)

Berlin, 1945

Tom has a thing about redheads. ( I don’t recall him ever telling me how this came about.)  Every morning he sends an e-mail to his list of friends of his latest redheaded find  – movie star, model, famous painting, etc.  He must have a collection of several hundreds of these.  The last one was sent weekend before last, as he wasn’t sure how much longer they would have power.

From time-to-time I sent him redheads that I’d find online or in magazines and even sent him a redheaded Gertrude that I created from a picture postcard.

Tom, Joey and Myrna my thoughts are with you, your families  and your neighbors.  Please know that I’m here to help in whatever way I can.

Missing you and your redheads!

PS

November 6th:

The first redhead du jour arrived early this morning and here she is:

There are some events in life which can never be repeated or should only be repeated in the most pleasant of dreams.  Such an event, the memorial for Julian Samuel Stein, Jr., began at a few minutes after 4 PM, October 6^th, 2012 at the Maryland Historical Society one week ago today.

The Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore

The auditorium of the society was almost filled as Vishwa and I walked in. We were ready to join the SRO corps that would undoubtedly soon form.  It was like entering the Metropolitan Opera at the final performance of the most highly revered tenor in the world and all seats were taken.   Luckily we saw our friend Betsy, Julian’s partner, near the front of the auditorium and as we wanted to be sure to greet her with loving hugs before the program began, we pushed our way through the not yet seated crowd.

We found Betsy and hugged, all of us a bit teary-eyed.  She sensed we were looking for seats and there, three seats down from where she was sitting in the front row were four empty chairs next to two of her close friends.

“Are two of these taken?” I asked.  “No, “ replied Betsy’s friend.

Betsy and Julian…enough said !

There we were in the front row for the event of a lifetime to hear about the events of a lifetime!

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I have never understood it when after someone has died people often say ‘He (or she) had a full life,’ as if  a life lived can be measured in a Pyrex measuring cup.  As if once life reaches beyond the little red markings with the possibility of overflowing onto the Formica counter, it’s time to pass on.

...my cup runneth over

A few weeks ago, my friend Julian Stein, Jr. died in Baltimore.  At 93, I’m certain many will say he had a full life, but I am willing to bet that his family and many others including me, wish that the Great Filler of the Pyrex Cup in the Sky would have allowed him just a few more ounces above the red markings.

There are many who miss him so, so much already.

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One Stein year has ended and in the best tradition of Steinian repetition a new one has begun.

The SEEING GERTRUDE STEIN exhibition will close at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC on January 22^nd and anyone who lives nearby or has a few frequent flier miles to burn and hasn’t seen it should still make an effort to go.

National Portrait Gallery aglow with Gertrude a few more weeks!

I had seen it more than 10 times in San Francisco and was still blown away by the installation in DC which gave the show a totally different feel. The various rooms in the NPG lent themselves perfectly to telling Stein’s five stories and the decision to hang some of the paintings salon style was genius as it transported viewers back to the rooms in rue de Fleurus, where art was hung floor to ceiling.

The other Stein exhibition in DC at Stanford University’s art gallery INSIGHT AND IDENTITY: CONTEMPORAY ARTISTS AND GERTRUDE STEIN has been extended until March 18th because of the excellent response. That exhibition features works by Australian artists Gisela Züchner-Mogall and Suzanne Bellamy; U.S. artists Laura Davidson, Tom Hachtman, Sally Schuh, and Katrina Rodabaugh; and German artist  Anne Büssow. First editions of the books that inspired the artists are also displayed.  Stop by the NPG and then the Stanford gallery and you’ll have a most satisfying day of Gertrude overload!

Installation shot: Katrina Rodabaugh "Dress Project" and Gisela Züchner-Mogall's hand-written MAKING OF AMERICANS!

There will also be a one-day Stein writers’ workshop in the gallery on February 4^th, one day after Gertrude’s 137^th birthday conducted by Karren Alenier.The 10 am to 5 pm session will take place at the Stanford in Washington Art Gallery,2661 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC. The program, which includes an overview of Stein and her work, a tour of the exhibition INSIGHT AND IDENTITY  by me, writing time, and an opportunity to share newly created work inspired by the exhibition.

The program is open to writers of all levels and genres. The cost is $50. Participants will  be able to buy Tom Hachtman and my book GERTRUDE AND ALICE AND FRITZ AND TOM for 25% off —what a deal! Visit http://wordworksbooks.org.

Also check out Karren’s promo video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqj-DZwWO6g

KARREN LaLONDE ALENIER, poet, librettist and innovator of educational programs, specializes in creative work related to Gertrude Stein. Since 2003, she has been writing The Steiny Road to Operadom, a monthly column on Gertrude Stein and opera for Scene4.com. She is author of five volumes of poetry, with a sixth—On a Bed of Gardenias: Jane & Paul Bowles—forthcoming January 2012. Her opera Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On premiered in New York in 2005 with a good review from the New York Times.

PS

And if that’s not enough of a sprint into the new Stein year, THE STEINS COLLECT exhibition returns from its journey to Paris and will be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY from February 28th till June 3rd.

With all due respect to the musical The Sound of Music, one of whose songs contained lyrics bastardized in the title of this post, we must bid adieu to the Summer of Steins in San Francisco. Both exhibitions SEEING GERTRUDE STEIN: FIVE STORIES  at the Contemporary Jewish Museum and THE STEINS COLLECT: MATTISE,  PICASSO AND THE PARISIAN AVANT-GARDE at SFMOMA end tomorrow, September 6th.  And though both of them will be travelling, the first to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC from October 14th – January 22nd, 2012 and the other one to both Paris at the Grand Palais from October 3rd  –  January 16, 2012  and  then the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York  from February 21 through June 3, 2012, the Summer of Steins in San Francisco will not be able to be replicated as the Fall, Winter or Spring of Steins in any of the other cities – this summer was just too special!

the movie Von Trapps bid their adieus!

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From time to time I’ve been asked whether I’ve read all of Gertrude Stein’s works and all of the other Stein-related books that I have in my collection. I must honestly say ‘No’ though I have heard of some Stein collectors who have read all of her works and also of some who supposedly have read none of her writings.

Every so often I pick up one of the books from my currently disarrayed collection to read it.  (Too many exhibitions have caused me to shuffle things from here to there and there to here, so to once again overuse Our Miss Stein’s quote: “There is no there there!”)

The other week I selected an almost 50 year old biography of the Cone sisters, Claribel and Etta,called THE COLLECTORS: DR. CLARIBEL AND MISS ETTA CONE by Barbara Pollack.

The Cone sisters with brother---NOT!

The Cones are hot right now because a number of their paintings are both in THE STEINS COLLECT exhibition at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art and also in an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York City through September. The title of this post was inspired by the headline of a review of the Jewish Museum show in the Jewish Daily Forward :

“Coneheads Conquer New York: A First-Rate Collection by Two Baltimore Sisters Goes on Display”

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In my children’s book Gertrude and Alice and Fritz and Tom, which I hope will soon reach the bookstores of the various museums where the Stein exhibitions are being held, the two young boys who visit rue de Fleurus encounter the atelier’s floor-to-ceiling paintings for the first time:

“Look at this really rambling room!” whispered Tom.  “There are masterful modern paintings floor to ceiling!  It looks like a museum!  I hate museums, everything in a museum is musty and moldy.”

Fritz pressed his nose against one of the paintings.  “This person has four flaming eyes and three thick ears and is not musty and moldy!”

Tom Hachtman's Fritz and Tom

I can assure you that there is also nothing musty or moldy at  The Steins Collect exhibition which opened last week at SFMOMA !

In the 25+ years that I’ve been obsessed with GertrudeandAlice I have had moments more extraordinary than the proverbial “aha!”  moments. I  would have to say that they are  more like  “ah Stein!” moments!

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Last week I attended the two openings for the Seeing Gertrude Stein exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and this week will attend the opening celebration at SFMOMA’s The Steins Collect (see the previous post for all the details on the shows.)

Seeing Gertrude Stein is a must-see, not only for GertrudeandAlice fans, but also for anyone who wants to get to know them better. As is usually the case at openings, the crowds were too dense to really see the exhibition (600 people had RSVP’d for the 2nd opening), so in the next few weeks I’ll be going back from time to time to get a better look.

During the openings I selected two favorite pieces and I’m sure that on future visits additional items will be joining this list. One of the pieces is a small, framed,  poodle made by Picasso out of what looks like either cotton balls or actual bolls of raw cotton. The small figure was to be a “companion” for GertrudeandAlice’s poodle, Basket. The other is a small passport photo of Alice from 1907, the year she traveled to Paris and met Gertrude.  I had never seen the photo before.  In it Alice is wearing a jaunty black hat proofing once again that Alice really was a “hat person!”

And that brings me to GertrudeandAlice and fashion,  One of the themes of the exhibition centers on their sense of sartorial style. Alice was more interested in the fashions of the day than Gertrude, but Gertrude knew how she wanted to present herself when it came to her dress and she did.  Once Alice entered her world, she assumed the role of Gertrude’s stylist and many of the photographs in the exhibition show Alice’s touches as a member of the “Fashion Police!”

Dressed for literary success, photo by Cecil Beaton (London, 1936)

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“When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars…”

Now you’re saying “He really has had too much of Alice’s special treat !” But no, really,  Summer 2011 in San Francisco is the Summer of Steins – I’ll bet my fringed suede vest and bell-bottomed jeans with the floral-fabric inserts at the bottom that it’s a fact!

The exhibition Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories will be at The Contemporary Jewish Museum from  May 12 – September 6, while The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde will be at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from May 21 – September 6.

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