March is “Women’s History Month” – a perfect time to visit the Pasadena Museum of History’s new exhibition, Pasadena Patron: The Life and Legacy of Eva Scott Fenyes. On Friday, March 19, visitors will enjoy an especially up-close and personal look at Eva Fenyes -- one of early Pasadena’s most prominent and influential women -- through the eyes of her daughter, Leonora, in a special living history segment during a docent-led tour of the exhibition.
After learning about the lifestyles of Victorian/Edwardian-era Pasadena, tour visitors can stay in the mood with a sumptuous tea at nearby Raymond Restaurant (1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave.), originally the caretaker's cottage of the famed Raymond Hotel. Directions to the restaurant will be provided following the tour.
The Pasadena Patron Tour and Tea will be offered at 12:15 pm on the third Friday of each month during the run of the exhibition; surprise visits by “Leonora” at subsequent tours will be based on her availability. Regular docent-led tours of the Pasadena Patron exhibit take place at 1:30 pm Wednesdays through Sundays.
About Eva Fenyes
“At the beginning of the 20th Century, Eva Scott Fenyes provided one of the most important art salons in California,” notes art historian Dr. Jane Dini. Like her contemporary in Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and the slightly younger New Yorkers Peggy Guggenheim and Mabel Dodge, Eva’s patronage played a vital role in the development and appreciation of the arts in the United States. Eva collected – and displayed – artwork; commissioned portraits; offered friendship, advice, exposure and even financial support to a number of artists, particularly those who lived and worked in California.
An accomplished artist herself, Eva suggested to her friend Charles Lummis, writer/editor and founder of the Southwest Museum, that she document the architectural history of early California adobe buildings that were deteriorating from neglect and earthquakes through her watercolor painting. She worked on this project for over 30 years, traveling from San Diego to Sonoma by horse, wagon, or on foot in spite of increasingly crippling arthritis. Eva served on the Southwest Museum’s first Board of Trustees and ultimately willed a collection of approximately 300 watercolor paintings to that institution. The vast majority of Eva’s other art – over 3,000 pieces of her own work – remains at the Pasadena Museum of History. A selection of these works is also on display in the Pasadena Patron exhibition.
Themes covered in Pasadena Patron include Fenyes family history, Eva as an art patron and watercolorist, the influence of Europe, the East Coast, and travel itself on her thinking, and the social milieu she created here in Pasadena. Many of the items in the exhibition have never before been on public display
Pasadena Patron Tour and Tea Package
Time: 12:15 pm - Tour; 1:45 pm - Tea at The Raymond Restaurant
Date: Friday, March 19, 2010 with Living History segment; third Friday of each month during run of the Pasadena Patron exhibition.
Location: History Center Galleries at the Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St. (corner Orange Grove & Walnut), Pasadena; The Raymond Restaurant, 1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena. Please note: tour guests must self-drive to the restaurant.
Cost: Tour $8 general; $4 museum members (advance payment required); Tea $25 (payable at restaurant; 20% percent of your restaurant bill will be donated to the Museum).
Reservations: Advanced reservation & tour payment required. Please call 626 577-1660, ext. 15 and ask for the “Pasadena Patron Tour and Tea Package.”
Online information: http://www.pasadenahistory.org/.
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