I was very flattered that Sharon offered to chauffeur myself and Haleh around Boston. I considered this to be no less significant than being given a tour of the Vatican by his eminence Pope John.
After leaving the hotel for the Newbury Street Galleries, Sharon skillfully negotiated the maze like Boston roadways filled with lunatic drivers (Mass. has the highest insurance rates for good reason). Anyways, after about 20 minutes we found ourselves back at the hotel.
Eventually, after making sure we passed every road construction location (NO Left turn permitted!!!) within the city limits we reached our goal, The Museum of Fine Arts!
We did have a blast getting to know each other, the high point (art-wise) being the Boston Museum's inner rotunda, circumvented by beautiful works from Boston School painters such as Tarbell, DeCamp, Benson and of course my all time favorite William McGregor Paxton. (Although I took pictures ,the Paxton is a nude so I won't be posting it here.
) The low point was the discovery that the museum had removed Paxton's masterpiece, The New Necklace. ???????
Another significant highlight was seeing Sharon's beautiful life size pastel at the Copley Society on Newbury St. Wow!
This day was a great sendoff for the conference and one I won't ever forget. The best part, however, was getting to know Sharon.