Grandpère and I are both collectors. Our enthusiasm for our collections wax and wane, but we still have all the items we bought over the years. Can you say pack rats? Pictured below is my collection of art umbrellas. I purchased my first, Monet's "Waterlilies", at a museum shop and bought all but one of the rest on
ebay for less than I paid in the shop. Whenever an umbrella showed up on
ebay, I bid on it, until I had 14. The prices then began to rise, and I decided I had enough. The umbrellas I see in the museum shops now are collapsible, and I prefer the style with the long handle.
Click on the pictures for the larger view.
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| Renoir - "The Umbrellas", Van Gogh - "Starry Night", Degas - "Ballet Dancers" |
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| Da Vinci - "Mona Lisa", Monet - "Women in the Garden", Van Gogh - "Irises" |
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| Monet - "Waterlilies", Monet - "Poppy Field at Vetheuil", Renoir - "Flowers in a Vase" |
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| F L Wright - Stained glass, Botticelli - "Primavera", Botticelli - "Birth of Venus" |
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| Raphael Angels ("Sistine Madonna"), Monet - "Les Bateaux Rouges", black umbrella |
I included the black umbrella, which belonged to my mother, because I admire the elegance of the the shape when the umbrella is open and the graceful gold-colored handle.
My collections are stored in three umbrella stands, which I purchased for reasonable prices on ebay.
The names of the paintings represented on the umbrellas may not be exact, but I tried my best to identify them correctly.
