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June 03, 2007
Saturday in the City
It seems that New York is currently laden with impressionist/ expressionist art. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition of the collection of Stephen and Sterling Clark, rivalrous brothers who went separate ways and collected very different bits of art. At the Wildenstein Gallery on East 64th Street, a collection of some 60 works by Monet, pulled together for the first time. And at the Neue Gallery on Fifth Avenue at 86th Street, a collection of works by Van Gogh and his influence on Austrian and German art.
We started at the Wildenstein, which had a queue down the street. I dislike queues at the best of times, but standing in the blazing hot humid sunshine was going to put me over the edge. We passed, favouring a late Friday night excursion instead. We moved on to the Neue Gallery. Van Gogh is one of my favourite painters, and several of my favourite works by him, including “The Bedroom”, 1888 were on display. Most interesting about the exhibition was the obvious influence that his style had on artists like Egon Shiele, Kirchner, Klimnt, and even Kandinsky.
We walked past the hordes of tourists at the Met, and considered climbing the steps to see the Clark Brothers collection, but by now it was almost five and we had tickets to see Momix at the Joyce Theatre at 8. We passed on the Met for another day, and walked south through Central Park and stopped in at a favourite watering hole in Midtown.
After a very quick bite of dinner at home, and a splash of cologne to freshen up, we walked over to the Joyce Theatre. Chis is not a big fan of modern dance, but it has always been something I enjoy immensely. He loved it. The show opened with a 30-foot tall puppet towering above the dancer connected to it by a series of wires and poles, none of which you could see because of the black suit and amazing lighting. This was followed by a series of short shows depicting wonderful displays of strength, physical beauty and flexibility. Really a spectacular show. Definitely worth seeing if you have a chance.
Tropical Depression Barry approaches later this afternoon, with predictions of heavy rain. Hopefully enough rain to rinse the garbage and dog pee smell out of the city. Summer in New York. Gotta love it!
Posted by dave at June 3, 2007 09:10 AM