Psychedelic Art

From photography, sculpture, painting, from large to small scale, Park City’s art galleries are truly world class. Their website currently features over 50 artists specializing in a range of mediums from recycled sculpture, to colorful acrylic collages to painting to Wind Sculptures. From his “Slopes” series, which depict fun, whimisical winter scenes from Park City to his “Gentle Giants” which depict horses, buffalo, cows, etc in their natural environment, his Kranstover’s work is beautiful and unique. While his official address lists as Park City, his studio is located in the sleepy town of Peoa, just outside of Park City.

This home is a 3 bedroom, wood clad, mid-century modern home located on a rocky outcrop (much like the Albert Frey’s Cree house, which you can read about here), designed and built in 1952 and completed in 1954. After purchasing a round Pierre Cardin coffee table, the owners became completely obsessed with collecting all things Pierre Cardin, the famous European designer from the 1970’s and 1980’s. 2020 tour was this quintessential Palm Springs mid-century home designed and built by revered architect Donald Wexler for his own family in 1955. 2020 tour was a short and interesting film about the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation’s work to save the Town and Country Center in Palm Springs.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is a contemporary art museum situated in Paris’ famous Bois de Boulogne, near the Jardin d’Acclimation. Commissioned by LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, and designed by world famous architect, Frank Gehry, the building proudly takes its place among Paris’ magnificent monuments, enhancing its rich cultural landscape. His inspiration for the Fondation Louis Vuitton came from a historical study of 19th century glasswork, his observation of Paris and his interest in contemporary art. At the very top, the levels overlook “the canyon” and offer partial views of Paris – the Bois de Boulogne, the modern “La Defense” area, the Eiffel Tower – which allows one to place the building in context.

Located off France’s northwestern coast of France, at the mouth of the Couesnon River, where Normandy and Brittany merge, the UNESCO designated World Heritage site of Le Mont Saint-Michel is both a man-made and natural miracle. Visitors today wind their way up through narrow streets, past small houses, restaurants, hotels and boutiques to the top, where the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is perched high above. Part of the incredible allure of the Mont-Saint-Michel are the powerful tides that sweep way out during low tide and wash up to the base of the Mont during high tide. Here, you will find many buses which run from Pontorson as well as straight from major cities in the area: Caen, Rennes, Saint-Malo,… The parking lots are located approximately 1.5 miles away from the island, in the interest of preserving Le Mont-Saint-Michel’s spectacular surroundings.

The “Une oeuvre, un regard” series is released every Tuesday and via an artwork chosen from the collections of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, they present the vision of a contemporary figure – an artist, writer, philosopher, designer, musician, actor, film or theater director or scientist. In France, some of the museums you can virtually visit are the Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie, Musée du Quai Branly, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Grand Palais, Palais de Tokyo and even the Château de Versailles. Finally, I think one of the most heart-warming sites I have found during this pandemic is ‘Bruits de Paris’. Here are some other posts that might interest you: 5 Must Read Books for Your Trip to Paris Notre-Dame de Paris:

El Rancho Vista Estates is a collection of 75 low-slung single-family homes on ¼ acre lots designed by the architectural firm Wexler & Harrison for the developer Roy Fey in 1960. By engaging the local architecture firm Wexler & Harrison to design homes in El Rancho Vista Estates, he made his new development come to life. Architect Donald Wexler was born and raised in the mid-west and worked for famous mid-century architect Richard Neutra in Los Angeles for a brief period of time before moving out to Palm Springs to work for William Cody in 1952. The houses boasted the following features: Inviting entrees, 3&4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms, large 14×23 living room, family room and patio, Five-foot plastered climate control overhangs, Wall-to-wall carpeting in living room, bedrooms and halls, Sunken roman tub and shower in master bath, tile floors in kitchen and family room, utilities underground from pole to house, all baths with tiled shower area, showers enclosed, Tv and telephone cables installed, Extra-large two car carport, separate laundry room and more.

Perched high up above the desert on the hillside, among the desert stones, bordering Cathedral City and Palm Springs, sits the Cree House, designed by architect Albert Frey. Born in Switzerland, Albert Frey had brought his European modernist style to Palm springs in the early 1930’s. By 1955, when the Cree house was built, the architect, who trained under Le Corbusier, was well known as one of the top modern architects around. From the chimney, floor to ceiling glass walls envelope the room, providing for classic mid-century indoor/outdoor living, leading out to a 600 square foot deck.

During World War II, the building was sadly and severely damaged, (as seen in the photo here, which is on display in the building today) but has been restored wonderfully to its previous state. The first president of the Secession was Gustav Klimt and the building features his gorgeous “Beethoven Frieze”, which you can see a video of here. Measuring 7 feet tall by 112 feet long, it is painted directly onto the walls of the Secession Building in Vienna, Austria. The “Beethoven Frieze”, named after the genius composer and longtime resident of Vienna, is significant in that it represents the Secession artists idea of Gesamtkunstwerk – or total work of art.

Prague Castle sits grandly atop the hill overlooking the whole city while charming cobblestone streets wind their way down to the banks of the lovely Vlatva river flowing gently under the famed Charles Bridge. Consisting of historical palaces, offices, churches, fortified buildings and expansive gardens, the castle complex is one of the largest castle complexes in the world, covering an area of 45 hectares. One of Prague’s best known attractions, the Prague Astronomical Clock, located on the southern wall of Old Town Hall, delights tourists with its hourly procession show since the 15th century. There are several important Jewish landmarks, including the Klausová Synagogue, the original Old-New Synagogue and the Old Jewish Cemetery.

The choices are as follows:  a.) leave at an ungodly hour and arrive well in advance of your flight, missing out on much needed sleep or b.) risk missing your flight. Travelers are required to leave the airport and go to a new lot area called “LAX-it” where you can catch your favorite ride-share or taxi. After a good night’s sleep at the very soundproof hotel, we woke up at a sane hour and took advantage of the free breakfast buffet. Upon our return, we hopped on the Embassy Suites shuttle and cruised back to the hotel so that we could pick up our car and head home.