Our vist to the Met

On a recent trip to New York, my husband and I decided to visit the Met.  It was the final day of the Michelangelo exhibit, and I'd heard it was not-to-be-missed.

We've been to the Met many times, and I've learned you need to pick and choose what you want to see; it's unrealistic to expect to see everything in one day.  I discovered there was also a David Hockney exhibit, and since his 'Nichols Canyon' is maybe my all-time favorite painting, I knew that was on our itinerary.  Plus there was also a Thomas Cole exhibit, which interested my husband.  By the time we finished with those three exhibits, stopped for lunch, and explored several other galleries, our feet and bodies were done!  In the process, we totally missed the Joseph Cornell exhibit. Below is a Hockney painting that really grabbed me.

 Check out the amazing drawing this man is doing in the museum!  Wow!

Here's my overall impression of our day:  First of all, I never cease to be amazed at the scope of the Met.  Whew!! The museum is exhausting!!  If you've never been there, GO!  There's something for everybody. But don't expect to see everything in the museum in one day.  As for our day, I was blown away by the incredible Michelangelo work, but the Hockney paintings made me happy, and I'd love to see them every day. Cole's work is impressive, but not my personal taste.  My husband, as expected, loved it best.  He sat down and took a break for the first half of the Hockney exhibit.  Here's an intriguing early Hockney, and a lush Cole painting of Niagara Falls.

About the Michelangelo show specifically - my biggest takeaway was the realization of how incredibly impatient we are today.  The show was, as always with a popular exhibition, incredibly hard for a rather short person to view properly.  We went first thing in the morning, but it was still crowded, so some pieces were hard to see.  But still, the scope of the work, and what went into creating it, is mind-blowing.  I kept thinking about how much more time he spent on his studies for paintings, than I would ever imagine spending on a whole painting.  And I thought about students, who seem to love copying photos, and how much more info Michelangelo took in by studying the human body structure and doing multiple studies.  Awe-inspiring. I couldn't help but think of my favorite drawing and painting teachers from college, Alex Minewski and Alex Martin, who both gave sketchbook assignments such as to do endless articulated cube drawings of your hands. Practice, practice, practice!!

But still, I was most smitten with the Hockney paintings.  I have a large framed print of Nichols Canyon hanging in my living room, so I was tickled to see the real thing.  I love the print, but the painting... oh my!  Gorgeous!.  And so many of the others!  I'd love to show you them all!  The sense of humor in some older paintings, and the vibrancy in the newer ones - all I can say is WOW to the rich and dynamic color, and the feeling of being drenched in warm sunshine. Indulge me while I share a selection with you, starting with Nichols Canyon.

 

As for the rest of the museum, whenever I'm there I always stop and visit the Tiffany windows, but this time I saw some Tiffany vases and jewelry and such that I'd never spotted before; this place is just too darn big!!  Here's a selection of random pics from the day -

Two Days, Two Museums, One Post

So without too much further ado, I'm going to tell you about my visits to both Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA, and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.  But first, a little brief background.

[Above, upside down trees at Mass MoCA - I think there are 4 or 5 of them - greet you when you walk to the entry.  I've seen them bare in the late fall and winter, and now fully leafed, but I'd love to see them in early/mid fall, when they are color-changing. My question: since the trees are upside down, do the leaves fall up into the sky instead of down to the ground?  I think they should.  Also above, part of a a sculptural installation in the museum.  Sorry I don't have the artist name.  Below, a view of part of the museum, which consists of 6 large interconnected buildings.  The photo was taken from the viewpoint of an outdoor seasonal installations.]

Anyhow....  Last post, I told you about my week of immersive plein air art-making at Bennington college in an Mass Art program called Art New England.  An art teacher friend of mine from Michigan was there the week after me, also plein air painting, and after her week concluded I joined her for two days of museum touring nearby.  We visited Mass MoCA (I've previously told you about other visits to this terrific museum, in blog posts HERE, HERE and HERE, and also HERE.  The next day we visited the also-fabulous and completely different Clark Art Institute, pictured below.  That's the older part of the museum.

Last time I was there was several years ago, before a major renovation.  The new building is a fascinating (and I might guess controversial) use of space.  There are lots of large architectural spaces that do not serve the purpose of displaying art.  I'm still trying to decide if I loved it or hated it.  Or maybe it was a little of both. But Mass MoCA also has unused architectural spaces, and I love it.  So.... I guess I need to figure out why I reacted so differently to them.  Mostly, I think, it's because Mass MoCA is built in old warehouse/factory buildings, and the original architecture is what makes it so gorgeous.  The spacious empty spaces at the Clark are all sterile brand-new construction, like this lovely reflecting pond below.  Pretty, yes.  Practical use of space?  I just don't know. 

The three photos below are interior spaces in the newest building of Mass MoCA. The walls and floors are very similar to that in the other buildings.  Beautiful architecture.  Not sure who made the hanging sculpture of wildly intertwined bodies (note the feet and heads).  The sculptural piece in the 2nd photo is by Louise Bourgeois.

Below is some of the expansive outdoor space by the new construction at the Clark.  Unfortunately I evidently forgot to shoot photos of the large 'dead' interior space in the new buildings. Probably because it just didn't 'grab' me aesthetically. 

 Anyhow... the real reason for visiting the museum was for the art, not the architecture.  While Mass MoCA is a contemporary museum, here's what it says on the Clark's website about their collection:  "The collection of the Clark features European and American paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. The collection is especially rich in French Impressionist and Academic paintings, British oil sketches, drawings, and silver, and the work of American artists Winslow Homer, George Inness, and John Singer Sargent."  Below are a few of my favorite images from our visit.  Some of these were big surprises to me! I am smitten with this George Inness directly below, called Autumn in Montclair. 

Below left, Chrysanthemums, by James Tissot. Isn't it beautiful?  So lush!  On the right, Woman with Dog, by Pierre Bonnard.  I was first introduced to Bonnard as a favorite of a very special college painting teacher.  I think Bonnard is often overlooked and this painting is just exquisite. 

I think this painting below might be my favorite of the whole museum.  Looking at the brush strokes close up, it amazes me how much detail you can see without it actually being meticulously drawn in!  The painting is Young Woman Reading by Lucius Rossi.   This wasn't the only gorgeous Rossi painting in the gallery.

 Below, Crossing the Street, by Giovanni Boldini.   Again, it wasn't the only Boldini, and each painting was just as expressive and rich in its portrayal.  I wish I could show you them all in this post!

The painting below, Terrace in the Luxembourg Gardens, is, believe it or not, is a Vincent van Gogh.  It definitely caught me by surprise to discover it was a van Gogh.   

Two other favorites from the museum were both of these white-on-white paintings.  On the left, one of the few paintings by a woman in the main galleries, is The Bath, by Berthe Morisot.  Lovely!  On the right, and in the detail below, by John Singer Sargent, is, in English, Smoke of Ambergris. 

Below, Low Tide, Yport by Renoir was my biggest surprise.  I'm not generally a big fan of Renoir's sugary sweet portraits, 'pretty' colors, and soft-edged brush strokes.  But this landscape, and a couple of others, really grabbed me!  Below it is a lovely Monet. 

In another building, accessible by walking up a hill or riding a quickie shuttle bus (we chose the shuttle bus), was an exhibit of abstract landscape paintings by Helen Frankenthaler.   This first, gigantic painting was my favorite.  I found that if I visually blocked out half of the painting, it was easier to see it as a landscape. 

In an experiment, I turned it upside down, and it still reads as a landscape.  

Check it out!!!

 Here's a couple other of the Frankenthaler paintings. 

Before we totally leave the Clark, here's Spring from a collection of The Four Seasons, paintings by Alfred Stevens. 

 And before I close this post, here's another handful of images from Mass MoCA!

 Below, is a tiny part of the installation all utopias fell, by Michael Oatman. 

Many times we have driven over the overpass in the background, while on our way home from somewhere else, and I had a brief view of these giant pink sculptures.  I always wondered what the heck they were, (and maybe I still do), but never was able to stop on the bridge for a closer look.  So I was glad to finally get a closeup view of Franz West’s Les Pommes d’Adam.

And finally, to close this post, here's some pretty pink waterlilies from a large lily pond on the grounds of The Clark.  I should mention, the grounds are beautiful, and there's lots of wooded walking trails.  I'd like to return in the fall for some time in both the museum and to hike the trails.