LANDS END: GOLF & GARDENS AND ART AT THE LEGION

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LANDS END: GOLF & GARDENS AND ART AT THE LEGION

We got into Thursday morning, December 10, with a breakfast of corned beef hash under two eggs lightly over, at an emporium to baseball greats of the Bay Area. Then we walked to about mid-hill and hopped a city bus, for a trip across town, up to a point where the Pacific swept and swelled, a sheer drop of some two hundred feet. Because the Ocean was there, we set out on a descent to it, spurning, for now, the Palace of the Legion of Honour, which had been our destination of choice when we left home.

We proceeded down a sloping route, sometimes gentle, sometimes knee-challenging, often times over dirt, other times along challenging fairways of a tightly grassed golf course.Along the way, we read tablets that speak of peace among nations and friendship among peoples and paused to give thought to a Holocaust memorial. All the while, the Pacific was in clear view, as was the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge, suspended against the sky, a mile or so across the gleaming water.

As our down-stroll continued, we wended our way, at leisure, through a neighbourhood lush with elegantly groomed gardens, stunning in their array of colours, dizzying in the variety of species they presented, and easy in the grace with which they accented the grounds where they live and grow. Among other plants, I speak of white petaled Calla Lilies, with yellow stamens, Marguerites in white, atop green stems, Siberian Irises, striped purple, Climbing Roses, perfectly formed, in red and pink, ground cover in mottled greens. Bed for bed, plant for plant, flower for flower, this was a precious delight for mine eyes.

China Beach was at the foot of our route, sheltered, affording a quiet cove from which surfers launch themselves into the beyond. Three of these sportsmen, their surfing done, but changing facilities closed for reasons unknown, were startled to see us appear in the midst of their clothes-less act. Historically, the beach was named for gold rush era Chinese immigrants, who used it and cared for it, as a remote camp for their leisure time activities..

The inevitable climb back was upon us, and, like all uphill returns, this one threatened to be a dull reward; except that a party of golfers, remembering us from their front nine, kindly consented to treat us as their fan base for the balance of their round.

Before long, they chipped onto their nineteenth green, and we arrived at the crest of the hill, where the Palace of the Legion of Honour stands in commemoration of Californians who served in WWI. The Legion is home to a permanent collection of Rodins in three galleries, containing over a hundred pieces, some purchased by the Museum’s benefactor, directly from the Master.

His “Thinker”, deeply pensive, is in quiet repose in the courtyard. Inside, Rodin’s definitive rendition of the human “Kiss” occurs in the centre gallery of the collection. For me, there is, in Rodin's "Kiss", all of the coy, enquiring, explorative promise of passion that animates this endearment in our lives. To my eyes, Rodin’s gift, for bringing art full reality to the human form, and tingeing it with such molten emotion, is all there in this imposing collection of his works. His “Burghers of Calais” are here, in exquisite detail, yet small in scale; his “Man with a Broken Nose” is here, bold with strength in adversity, his “Hand”, seeming to take control, reaches out into the gallery. But it was the fondness, love, concern and care, expressed in his “Mother and Child”, in his “Young and Old” and in his “Brother and Sister” that deeply touched my feelings.

Overload, physical, mental and sensory, was about to set in; it was time to repair to the Museum Café, under indoor sunlight, hot chocolate and cookies on offer; and let all of this wash over us. Then, it was time to ride the bus back home, watching the passing parade of people go about their business, in neighbourhood after bustling neighbourhood, in this city of thoroughly diverse experiences.


V. Ernest Ainsley
10.12.09

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