A day at the museum in photos
Posted June 26th, 2009 | Filed Under: Blog
I’d been meaning to get back to the Museum of Modern Art for the conclusion of our cake walk. Every time we walk by it, Emmeline points and whispers, “There’s cake in there.” And I have to wonder what all the painters and sculptors and photographers might think — a lifetime of their hard work pushed aside by confections.
Yesterday there was a story in the paper about the pastry chef behind the impossibly wonderful cakes now being sold in the museum’s rooftop garden cafe. Each baked good was designed to resemble a work of art, and when Emme saw the pictures spread out before her in the morning paper, she made me promise to take her back.
“This week, daddy?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“Today?”
“Maybe.”
The ground rules were simple. First we’d head up to the cafe and take a look at the piece of cake she wanted: a chocolate “Mondrian cake.” Then we’d tour the museum and if she found a painting somewhere that resembled the cake, we’d head back to the cafe and share a slice. It took her about a half hour and a few false sighting before she wandered into a room off to the side of a large gallery, did a double take and looked back at me with a quiet, hopeful smile.
“Is that it?” she asked, wide-eyed.
It occurred to me it must have been quite a vision for the docents — to see a 3-year-old wander up to a work of art, jumping up and down and declaring, “There it is! There it is!” So thank you, Piet Mondrian. Your work is truly appreciated. More than you’ll ever know.
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Nope, not up here.
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Or here.
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Finally!
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Honestly, I expected at least a tiny smile.
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And … the cake coma begins.
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Congrats to “Dan” for winning the contest this week! See you in a week!
16 Comments
Oh my gosh, that is *fantastic*! Wish my kid’s teacher had thought to include something like that during our field trip to the Legion of Honor museum. (Not that they would have found any Mondrian, but maybe we could have all gotten some fruit or gummi insects after they found a still life with bugs in it or something.)
I am going to steal her, look out.
This is the most awesome thing I’ve seen all week. Fantastic.
K.
I love the cake photo…her striped shirt kind of matches her cake!
Cake is my weakness. I love the idea of pastry imitating art!
What a cool idea and great way to engage her at the museum!
Holy cow that’s a big piece of cake for such a little girl! It looked pretty tasty though!
Wow…you have some brilliant ideas for engaging E in everything. Thank you for sharing your day to day interactions with your readers. I hope you don’t mind if I borrow some of your ideas. (home-made t-shirts for example, gosh she was cute on TV). I’m always looking for new things to do with my daughter, and some of your ideas are the best I have come across. Again, thank you.
I have to agree about the cake/art connection. mmm.. cake. I’ll be right back…
Dying to have a proper Adirondack tea party with her
Every time I drive by a museum I’m going to hear her voice, dreamy and sweet, as I imagine it, saying, “There’s cake in there.” Love this.
OMG, Emmeline is a girl after my own heart ;0) I love the photos, and hope the cake (and the art) lived up to her expectations!
You hit on something I recently discovered during a whirlwind trip to Europe where my daughter and I visited no less than 13 museums- scavenger hunts for specific works of art make them a lot more fun. Even at 16. Even at 40-something.
I am upset to see that my comment from a week or two ago isn’t here… another lost set of words, another failure to verify that a comment really was submitted after hitting a button and wandering away. Oh, well. I’m back to look at the pictures and enjoy Emme and the gorgeous cake again, so I’ll leave another one.
Man, that cake is beautiful! And I adore the photos of your darling little girl.
And I met you this weekend at BlogHer after I forced an introduction in the Huron Room before the Vaginally Challenged panel (I think?). I am still telling anyone who’ll listen about your beautiful reading. And still crying every time I do. Thank you for doing such a wonderful reading of it. Truly.
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