The Awrets

At the lunch following Grandpa Flynn's interment, I had the great fortune of being seated next to the Flynn's dear friend and artist, Irene Awret, after yearsss of trying to finagle an introduction...

Irene and her late husband Azriel, a sculptor, meet and fell in love while in a Nazi internment camp. Mrs. Awret told me, over a lunch I barely touched, when they moved to the states they were introduced to a small group including Mr. and Mrs. Flynn...

She fondly spoke of the Flynn's open mindedness and how, at her very first stateside show, Babe's grandfather was the only one out of that group to buy a piece of her work. Giggling she said, and it was a nude! I could tell, by the way she spoke, how much that support had meant to her and that it was more than likely the precise moment a lifelong friendship had been forged...    

Babe and I drove Mrs. Awret home after lunch and were rewarded with a private tour of both her and Azriel's studios. I fell in love with this life size sculpture by Mr. Awret but, unfortunately I would have had to leave the whip in exchange...

After another 45 minutes of generous free reign in Mrs. Awret's studio I settled on this large oil painting. Once again, my talent for ferreting out something outta my financial league proved not be waning with age...

Naturally, Babe's gifted eye and sixth sense unearthed this watercolor in a giant file drawer. Turns out it's thee very same model used in Mr. Flynn's 40 year old purchase. How about them apples? And, a third generation patron of the Awrets was born...

While I save up my pennies Benjamins for the oil, or a more modest sculpture, I'll keep myself both distracted and focused by curling up with Mrs. Awret's book chronicling her time in a Nazi concentration camp and how her gift saved her life. Meanwhile, mine'll be the death of me...

Kindness of Mrs. Awret for inviting us into her home and her studio and Mr. Flynn for guiding Babe to the piece that was meant for him in so many ways. Also, LFF for the fantastic R. Van Loan Custom Framing rec where my saved up Benjamins will initially be funneled once the hand moon-gold leafed frame ransom note arrives in a month...XXOO