Rj's Last Birthday Party - The exhibit

It was my father's 85th
(and probably last)
birthday party
this weekend

and I arrived a little early
to start taking pictures
of the house crammed with sculpture

beginning with the entryway
beside the front door




There's plenty of places
to hang your hat

(though plenty of his hats were already there)




Back in the studio,
there's places to hang
your apron as well



and several of the large pieces
that he's been doing over the past
10 years



with the help of this
computer design program


I don't understand his
recent fascination
with inter-species sexual encounters.

His girls have been mounted by horses,
bulls, rhinonceros, bear,
and if he lives long enough,
a three-toed sloth.





here's a row of heads above a cabinet in the studio.
(I think some of these girls are relatives,
but I can't remember)






moving over to the dining room,
the chaos begins





just a few too many
sculptures per cubic yard!






the reliefs near the ceiling were done over 50 years ago,
the big girl beneath them from about 1990.

(that's a Goya print in the front/middle,
and Sponge-Bob is in the upper right corner)




the girl on the flying horse at the top
is a Valkyrie.

(there used to be a tub of water-- and a black Alberich beneath her,
but they've disappeared)


Note:

one of the most wonderful features
of the RJ party that would ensue,
was the attendance of so many members
of his brother's family
who had traveled from both coasts to get to Cincinnati.
But RJ's eldest sister, Helen, was here all time,
her ashes being contained within the small box
in the corner of the room.


Samson with the Jawbone of an ass
(and a party hat)





I don't know why this
woman is suckling the piglets
(and it's probably not a good idea to ask)

This is one of the recent,
computer-designed pieces












In the background is a family portrait from the late 60's,
that's his self-portrait with bulldogs reclining in the foreground






another view of the same painting,
that's me in a suit
standing on a tree limb,
overlooking the Ohio River
from Eden Park





A Japanese print is on the wall behind the bronzes



an almost-quiet corner,
flanked by two marbles













a sculpture in every corner



This is the stairway leading
to the second floor.

That's his painting,
and below it,
in the lower left corner,
a painting by his long deceased friend,
William Leonard.
(whose son Danny organized this party for him)



another remote corner,
this one near the bathroom