IN COUNTRY & GETAWAYS
Spring Shows in Philadelphia
BY RIC HARD SE L DE N t happened in Philadelphia: 56 men in breeches created a nation. Then, 51 years later, it happened again. This time, it was 53 men in trousers. And what they created was … a flower show. Actually, what they created in 1827 was the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The first public show, featuring the poinsettia’s American debut, came two years later. (In 1835, the society admitted women as voting members — long before the nation did.)
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The Philadelphia Flower Show, running through March 13, is the world’s largest and longest running indoor flower show. Courtesy Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
The descendent of that historic event, the Philadelphia Flower Show, the largest and longest-running indoor show in the world, now attracts more than 200,000 visitors over nine days. The 2016 show, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, ends this Sunday. A Garden of Eden for plant-lovers — with award-winning specimens, lectures and vendors from around the world — the show is also a floral theme park that seems to grow Disney-er every year. Since this year’s theme is “Explore America: 100 Years of the National Park Service,” expect recreations of Yosemite, simulated Old Faithful eruptions and a Denali sled dog team. You can even “create your own Mount Rushmore floral headpiece.” For details, and to reserve a garden tea or an early-morning private tour (weekdays only), visit theflowershow.com. Families with children should note that on closing day, Sunday, March 13, there will be a Flower Show Jamboree and a Teddy Bear Tea. Prior to launching their kisses-and-hugs “With Love, Philadelphia” campaign, Visit Philadelphia’s slogan was “Philly’s More Fun When You Sleep Over.” With the Flower Show meriting a full day and three new museum exhibitions, it makes sense to get a room. After a controversial legal and financial intervention, the Barnes Foundation galleries relocated from the suburban residence
“Ice Cream,” 1964. Evelyne Axell. Collection of Serge Goisse, Belgium. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art.
of Albert C. Barnes (1872–1951) to a new museum on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 2012. The move’s approval hinged in part on the exact reproduction of the unchanging salon-style display found in leafy Merion by the relatively few visitors who made it out there. Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien created a large and spacious modern building for the Barnes in which the tiny recreated rooms are encased. In accordance with Barnes’s eccentric theories of art appreciation, African, Native American, Pennsylvania
German and other sculpture and artifacts, including miscellaneous wrought-iron objects, share the walls with frame-to-frame masterpieces by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse and Modigliani (to name a few of Dr. Barnes’s favorites). It is one of the most astounding museums in the world, now with the additional reason to visit of special exhibitions. Through May 9, the Barnes (which has 22 paintings by Pablo Picasso in its permanent collection) is hosting “Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation and Change.” The show’s focus is the period surrounding and including World War I, during which Picasso — the “High Priest of Cubism” in the words of curator Simonetta Fraquelli — abruptly returned to a naturalistic style, continuing to alternate between Cubism and Neoclassicism. A video illustrates how during the war Cubism was portrayed as anti-French (though the style’s co-creator, Georges Braque, was as French as could be and served at the front) and associated with the despised Germans. Several blocks up the parkway from the Barnes, “International Pop” is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through May 15. All the American stars are represented, of course: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Tom Wesselman, Ed Ruscha. But what makes the show an eye-opener are the
LANGHORNE FARM
FARAWAY FARM
TROUGH HILL FARM
FAIRVIEW
Upperville, Virginia • $5,320,000
Middleburg Area • $2,975,000
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Paul MacMahon
(703) 609-1905
GREYSTONE
ECHO HILL
The Plains, Virginia • $1,900,000
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The Plains, Virginia • $870,000
Stone English country home in top location between Middleburg & The Plains on 13 acres • Large boxwoods & classically planted gardens • 4 BR home with new kitchen & main level master suite • Hardwood floors, built-in book cases, fireplaces & bright open family room • Bluestone terrace overlooks new pool & entertaining area • Separate guest cottage/ pool house & garage • Whole-house generator. Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Private 10 acres between Middleburg and The Plains • 3/4 bedroom home • Open floor plan • Large front porch with views to the west • Traditional materials such as stucco exterior and metal roof • Wood floors • Fireplaces • Built in book shelves • Beautiful plantings and fenced yard • Great location and easy maintenance Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Circa 1807 • 33 acres ideally located between Middleburg & The Plains • Rare quarried stone exterior, 10foot ceilings • Period mantels, original wood floors, two-story front porch • 3 bedrooms/3 baths, each a private suite • Historic stone barn includes one bedroom/ bath apt, heated tack room, 6 stalls • Carriage barn • 3 paddocks, large turnout field, run-in sheds, auto waterers • Whole farm generator • Pond • Orange County Hunt Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
info@sheridanmacmahon.com | www.sheridanmacmahon. com 24
A pastoral 5 bedroom c. 1830 farmhouse and a grand stone pavilion • Elegant but unfussy • 103 acres of open farmland • The pavilion serves as a pool house, greenhouse, banquet room, and guest quarters • Great location. Ann MacMahon (540) 687-5588 Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
March 9, 2016 GMG, INC.
PALMER’S MILL
DOGWOOD
110 East Washington Street
Hilltop setting with mountain views • circa 1904 Colonial home with 3 BR, 3 1/2 BA, high ceilings, note room dimensions • gourmet kitchen and 5 fireplaces • 90 x 200 covered arena • 12 total stalls • main barn redesigned by John Blackburn • 4 bay garage with apartment • 12 paddocks, asphalt drive, security gate and heated pool • 2DUR’s • Whole house generator. Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905
Bluemont, Virginia • $785,000
Circa 1860 Virginia Farmhouse • House updated & enlarged in 2004 • 3 to 4 bedrooms • 2 1/2 baths • Hardwood floors • 3 fireplaces • Exposed beams & gourmet kitchen • 10 acres • Fenced & cross fenced • 2 stall barn with tack & hay storage • Spring house & smoke house • Protected with mountain views • Piedmont Hunt Territory. Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905 Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930
Middleburg, Virginia 20117 (540) 687-5588