MFA

Or Museum of Fine Arts.

(The dryer is spinning.)

The thing with tourism in February, and on a weekday, the museums are empty. You can be alone with Rembrandt, although not with the Impressionists: there you have plenty of students or artists drawing. 

So I started with the familiar, the European painters. They have some nice things. And I met the lady who explained things to me at the Isabella Gardner museum: she was following a guided tour.

Their Impressionist collection is impressive: Monet, Turner, Rysselberghe, and also Renoir, Signac, Gerôme...

Then I went to discover the American painters. Actually, that's not exactly how they organize the collections: it was European art, and that includes furniture, tableware, and the recreation of a complete room. So the American art starts at the underground level with Mesoamerican and Native American art. Then Quaker furniture. 

Above, the art around the War of Independence (paintings of Washington, Paul Revere...), with the Bostonian painter Copley. (I'm not a fan of his style.)

The next level up, we arrive at the 19th century: Sargent figures prominently at this level. 

(I've got the TV with news and ads blaring in the laundromat... the presidential campaign ads are... please someone shoot the TV...) And the laundry is done! 

That was the period that spoke to me the most. Landscapes, portraits, scenes of everyday events...

I was a bit disappointed with the museum shop, though I found plenty of postcards, there were none about Native or Mesoamerican art. But they have butterscotch ice cream, with salted butter, so they are half pardoned.