After the Frye, we traveled down (literally) to downtown to the Seattle Art Museum. The SAM is an example of high post-modern archtecture designed by Robert Venturi in 1988 (completed in 1991). This building too is full of amazing detailing. I particularly liked Venturi's use of wood as a kind of unifying theme within the building. During my years at Oberlin College I spent many, many hours in the art library which was designed by the same architect, so I was interested to see what he did for the SAM.
The small art exibit of works from the Taft Art Museum in Cincinnati was a delight. There were three Hals portraits and a series of three Dutch interiors by Steen, De Hooch and Terborch which were exquisite. The museum also had its own Dutch paintings including a large still-life by van Beyeren that was feast for the eyes. Most of their 19th century collection was in storage. Alas. We had lunch in the museum cafe which was also very good (I had the Rainy Day Lasagna).
We played typical tourists the rest of the afternoon, with a visit to a very crowded Pike Street Market and the original Starbucks. We drank coffee overlooking Puget Sound on a what was a sunny, 60 degree day. Pretty rare for winter.
A wonderful trip, by all accounts.