Author: Monita Buchwald

One-Year Free Membership To NYC Museums

city id

Cost may be a barrier to an art museum membership. But now there’s an opportunity to get a one-year free membership to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum of Harlem, El Museo del Barrio, MoMa/PS1 and 28 other New York City cultural institutions.

The New York City Municipal ID, launching this month, will give all ID card holders access to one-year free membership packages at some of the City’s leading cultural institutions. The one-year membership will be comparable to each institution’s standard one-year individual or family membership package, depending on the institution. It will give ID card holders a range of benefits including free admission, and access to special events, and discounts to museum shops.

There has been a rush in applications for the ID causing long waiting times for appointments. However, if you don’t need the ID right away, wait a few weeks, and then apply in order to get your museum membership. The “year” begins when you get the card.

The 33 institutions participating in this effort belong to the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) which is comprised of private nonprofit cultural organizations located on City owned property. Check for specific benefits per institution. See below for a complete list of participating institutions:

Bronx
1. Bronx County Historical Society
2. Bronx Museum of the Arts
3. New York Botanical Garden
4. Wave Hill
5. Wildlife Conservation Society (includes Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo)

Brooklyn
6. Brooklyn Academy of Music
7. Brooklyn Botanic Garden
8. Brooklyn Children’s Museum
9. Brooklyn Museum

Manhattan
10. American Museum of Natural History
11. Carnegie Hall
12. New York City Ballet
13. El Museo del Barrio
14. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
15. Metropolitan Museum of Art
16. Museum of Jewish Heritage
17. Museum of the City of New York
18. New York City Center
19. Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival
20. Studio Museum in Harlem

Queens
21. Flushing Town Hall
22. Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
23. Museum of the Moving Image
24. New York Hall of Science
25. MoMA PS1
26. Queens Botanical Garden
27. Queens Museum
28. Queens Theatre

Staten Island
29. Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
30. Staten Island Children’s Museum
31. Staten Island Historical Society
32. Staten Island Museum
33. Staten Island Zoological Society

Being There Without Being There: Art Exhibitions on Screen

If you live in New York, then you should go see the Matisse Cut-Outs at MoMA. But if you can’t make it to the museum, you can go to the movies to see it, and four other exciting exhibits from museums around the world.

Fathom Events, in association with Arts Alliance and Seventh Art Productions, is bringing five art exhibitions to select U.S. cinemas with “Exhibitions on Screen.”   The first film, “Matisse from MoMA and Tate Modern,” begins on January 13th and is playing locally at Union Square Stadium 14, Empire 25, and Kips Bay 15. The other four exhibitions to be screened are:

Rembrandt from the National Gallery London & Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Vincent van Gogh – A New Way of Seeing from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

Girl with a Pearl Earring and Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis in the Hague

The Impressionists from the Musée de Luxembourg Paris, National Gallery London, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art

(Thanks RDK for the heads-up)

 

Finding Art in a House of Books

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More than one million books were in place when the New York Public Library was officially dedicated on May 23, 1911. The Beaux-Arts designed building was the largest marble structure ever attempted in the United States, according to the NYPL’s website. Today’s main branch, with its imposing lions keeping watch, has become not only a place for reading and research, but a tourist destination as well. However, it’s not often thought of as a place to view art.

The McGraw Rotunda

The McGraw Rotunda

To begin with, there is the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building itself. It was named in 2008 after the Wall Street financier Stephen A. Schwarzman who agreed to jump-start a $1 billion expansion of the library system with a guaranteed $100 million of his own. Besides the majestic outside, the ceilings, hallways and reading rooms are beautiful as well. Start with the third floor McGraw Rotunda where you will find murals by Edward Laning depicting the history of the written word.

Also on the third floor is the Edna Barnes Salomon Room, named in honor of the wife of former NYPL Chairman of the Board Richard Salomon. Though the room is now the home of a new wireless Internet reading and study room,  it contains some of the building’s most important paintings. Many of the artworks belonged to the families of James Lenox and John Jacob Astor and include portraits by Reynolds, Raeburn, Romney, Trumball and Stuart. In addition, to the permanent art found in the library, there are always interesting exhibits .

Print from "Sublime, The Prints of J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Moran

Print from “Sublime, The Prints of J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Moran

Sublime: The Prints of J.M. W. Turner and Thomas Moran can be found along the hallway on the third floor. Between 1807-1819 Turner published his Liber Studiorum (Book of Studies). It’s a series of landscapes evoking a sense of the “Sublime,” a term philosopher Edmund Burke defined as “whatever is fitted…to excite ideas of pain or danger.” American painter and printmaker, Thomas Moran was inspired by Turner’s work. Shown at different ends of the hall, the exhibition provides an interesting comparison between the “British and American artists’ often complementary and sometimes divergent views of nature,” states the exhibition catalog.

Image from "Public Eye"

Image from “Public Eye”

Public Eye: 175 Years of Sharing Photography can be found on the first floor and is drawn entirely from the Library’s collections. It explores various ways photography has been shared and made public from 1839 to the present. More than 50 photographers are represented including Ed Ruscha, Gary Winogrand, and Thomas Struth. There’s  an interactive piece representing digital traces of life in a twenty-first century city, and a  stereogranimater which allows you to view, create, and share 3D images from the stereograph collections of The New York Public Library and Boston Public Library.

There are many other smaller exhibits on view. Check the library’s website for the full listing

Textile Exhibition: The Consequences of Hate Speech (Lashon Hara)
Chofetz Chaim, Robin Atlas, 2012

Chofetz Chaim, Robin Atlas, 2012

Lashon Hara: On the Consequences of Hate Speech is an unusual art exhibition at the Anne Frank Center in lower Manhattan. Hebrew for “evil speech,” Lashon Hara focuses on how words can be used to destroy and are at the root of intolerance, anti-semitism, racism and discrimination.

 

At the "Lashon Hara" exhibit, Anne Frank Center

At the “Lashon Hara” exhibit, Anne Frank Center

Set within a permanent exhibit on Anne Frank, Lashon Hara features a collection of mixed media works, by textile artist Robin Atlas . “It is intended to stimulate awareness of the impact of our words. It is my hope that from that, diverse factions become the whole and a common good evolves,” says Atlas. Each piece references an aspect of Jewish law about “evil speech,” or a tale from Jewish folklore. I wish the lighting had been better because the pieces were each very beautiful but they were hard to see. The exhibition, presented in conjunction with the Jewish Art Salon, will be on view through February 27th.

Chelsea Galleries, Instead of Museums, Christmas Week

If you live in New York, then I’d recommend avoiding the major museums during Christmas week. They will be very crowded with holiday visitors, making art viewing a real challenge. Instead, use the week to go visit some Chelsea galleries. There are some great shows on and these spaces won’t be jam-packed. Here are some suggestions:

“Jacqueline with flowers,” Pablo Picasso

Picasso & Jacqueline: The Evolution of Style – featuring nearly 140 works by Pablo Picasso. These were created during the last two decades of his life while living with Jacqueline Roque; first his “muse,” and eventually his wife.  Pace  Gallery 534 West 25th Street, through January 10, 2015.

Picasso & the Camera - Curated by John Richardson

“Picasso & the Camera”

Picasso & The Camera  – explores Picasso’s  use of photography as both an inspiration and as an integral part of his studio practice. Spanning sixty years, the show includes many photographs taken by Picasso but never before seen or published. The Gagosian Gallery, 522 West 21st through January 3, 2015.

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Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman, My Favorite Things – selected gouache paintings in conjunction with her curated show Maira Selects, an inaugural exhibition at the newly renovated Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Julie Saul Gallery 535 West 22nd Street., through February 7, 2015.

Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell: Works on Paper 1951- 1991 – exploring four decades of the artist’s work in collages, drawings, and paintings.  Paul Kasmin Gallery, 515 West 27th Street through January 3, 2015.

Chameleon_Camoflage

Diana Copperwhite

“Shadowland,” Diana Copperwhite – abstract paintings by this Irish painter on view at 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, 532 West 25th Street, through January 10, 2015.

Mikkel Carl, untitled

“On the Benefits of Delayed Gratification” –  group exhibition with artists Mikkel Carl, Steven Cox, and Russell Tyler. At the Ana Cristea Gallery, 521 West 26th Street through January 31, 2015.

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Julio Alan Lepez

Portraits Kit –  Colorful portraits and self-portraits in different mediums, by Argentinian artist Julio Alan Lepez. At the Artemisa Gallery, 530 West 25th, through January 27, 2015.

Gallery List

Gagosian Gallery 522 West 21st

Julie Saul Gallery 535 West 22nd

Artemisa Gallery 530 West 25th

532 Gallery 532 West 25th

Pace Gallery 534 West 25th

Ana Cristea Gallery 521 West 26th

Paul Kasmin Gallery 515 West 27th

Art Galleries of the Crown Building

crown buildingBuilt in 1921, The Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue was originally called the Hecksher Building after its developer August Hecksher, a German immigrant who made his wealth from mining operations. Famous for its golden top, the Art Deco tower was once owned by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. Today, it’s back on the market for an estimated $1.5-2 billion dollars. Well-known tenants in the building include jewelers Bulgari and Mikimoto; the Spitzer family, headed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer; talent and literary agency ICM; private-equity giants KKR and Apollo Global Management; and men’s designer Ermenegildo Zegna.

I think what makes this building interesting is the number of art galleries one can find throughout its floors. In some ways this isn’t surprising because it’s in this building that the Museum of Modern Art got its start in 1929.

Stoop Day, Andrew Wyeth. 1975
Adelson Galleries Wyeth Show

I went to 730 Fifth to see Andrew Wyeth: Seven Decades at the Adelson Galleries (7th floor) and Still Lifes: Reflections of American Culture at D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. (6th floor)

I was drawn to the Wyeth show after seeing Andrew Wyeth: Looking Out, Looking In, which recently closed, at the National Gallery of Art in DC. While the NGA exhibition focused on Wyeth’s window executions, primarily in watercolor and pencil; the ones here represent a range of subject matter for which Wyeth became internationally known: the male and female figure, landscape in all weather conditions, local architecture, and the flora and fauna that inhabited his two favorite places: Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and the coast of Maine. I enjoyed the DC exhibit more for Wyeth’s ability to catch hauntingly beautiful moments in time. But the Adelson exhibit provided a compelling counterpoint. The show will be there until December 20th.

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Still Lifes: Reflections of American Culture uses still life painting to demonstrate “the evolution of modernism in America after the 1913 Armory Show,” according to the gallery. Significantly, it was through the 1913 Armory Show that many American painters were first exposed to Cubism, and you can see that influence in many of the paintings on display. I was familiar with some of the artists, like  Max Weber, but there were many others whose work I had not seen before. The paintings are organized thematically — fruit, flowers, abstract objects —  and underscore how simple things can be so widely interpreted. There’s a wonderful essay about the exhibition on the gallery’s website, and available at the show, which is on view until January 31st.

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Other galleries worth visiting in the Crown Building are: The Benrimon Gallery (7th floor) which has an exhibition of works by Roy Lichtenstein; the Forum Gallery (2nd floor) which has a new exhibit opening December 12th of watercolors by David Levine; and the Nohra Haime gallery (7th floor) showing works by Julie Hedrick that are focused on “Alchemy,” and it’s relation to gold.

Check at the lobby desk for a complete list of the galleries found in the building and uncover your own New York art find.

Wearable Art From Multiple Cultures

 

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Exhibits at three different museums showcase wearable art from diverse cultures and demonstrate that there’s more to jewelry than simply adornment.

 

"Holocaust" neck piece, Joyce J. Scott (2013)

“Holocaust” neck piece, Joyce J. Scott (2013)

Neckpieces and blown glass sculptures by Joyce J. Scott is the focus of a thought-provoking exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD). Entitled “Maryland to Murano,” the exhibition is the first “to examine the relationship between Scott’s beaded and constructed neck pieces created in her Baltimore, Maryland studio and her more recent blown glass sculptures crafted in the Brenego Studio on Murano Island in Venice, Italy,” according to MAD. The exhibit is on view through March 15, 2015.

Bracelet, Raymond C. Yazzie, 2005. Silver inlaid with coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, 14-karat gold accents.

Glittering World: Navajo Jewlery of the Yazzie Family features almost 300 examples of contemporary jewelry made by members of one Gallup, New Mexico family.  The works on view at the National Museum of the American Indian are silver, gold, and stone inlay work,  combining bead and stonework as well as silver and gold.  The exhibition, states the museum, “places Navajo jewelry making within its historical context of art and commerce, illustrates its development as a form of cultural expression, and explores the meanings behind its symbolism.” The exhibit is on view through January 2016.

Pair of Anklets, Gold, set with white sapphires, with attached pearls and hanging glass beads; enamel on reverse (1800–50), Al-Thani collection

Pair of Gold Anklets (1800–50), Al-Thani collection

Finally, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is  Treasures from India: Jewels from the Al-Thani Collection. Though a smaller exhibit, the sixty items on display here showcase the intricate and colorful styles of the jeweled arts in India from the Mughal period until the present day. They all come from the private collection formed by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani. The exhibit will be open until January 25, 2015.

The Power of Style: Verdura At 75

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An iconic cuff worn by Coco Chanel; a curb link watch synonymous with Greta Garbo; and gold cigarette cases commemorating every musical  composed by Cole Porter, are just a few of the unique  items you will see at “The Power of Style: Verdura At 75.” This year is the 75th anniversary of Duke Fulco di Verdura opening his doors on Fifth Avenue.  Verdura, the jewelry company that carries his name, is celebrating with a museum worthy exhibit.

Duke Fulco di Verdura with Coco Chanel

Duke Fulco di Verdura with Coco Chanel

Duke Fulco di Verdura began his career working with Coco Chanel in Paris where he created her signature Maltese Cross cuffs. In 1934, Verdura came to the United States, creating  jewels for Hollywood stars, and the wealthy of American and European societies. In 1939, Verdura opened his store on Fifth Avenue in New York with the financial backing of Cole Porter and Vincent Astor. He was not trained as either a jeweler or an artist but his creations belie this reality. The exhibition  features a selection of more than 150 of  Verdura’s original jewels and objets d’art. There is also a small selection of his 10,000 gouache jewelry designs, archival materials, his personal miniature paintings, and  period photographs. You can hear Verdura talk about his work and inspirations in a rare interview he did with WOR Radio.

 

Ward Landrigan, Chairman & CEO and Nico Landrigan, President

Ward Landrigan, Chairman & CEO and Nico Landrigan, President

What made the visit to the exhibit extraordinary was being given a tour by Chairman and CEO Ward Landrigan. He purchased the company in 1984, six years after Verdura’s death. Mr. Landrigan has said, “it’s been my dream to share Verdura’s genius with a wider audience and bring him the recognition he deserves as the single most influential jeweler of the 20th Century. I want people to know this amazing man, who he was and why his work changed everything.” Landrigan’s passion for Verdura is clear as he shares his personal experiences and tells the stories behind every piece in the exhibition

The exhibit was curated by Carolina and Reinoldo Herrera, and Patricia Lansing. It will be on view until December 23rd. Though it’s free, you will need timed tickets to attend. Be sure to take the guided tour too.

El Anatsui

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My first encounter with Ghanan born artist, El Anatsui, was the 30 piece exhibition of his work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, held in 2013. Since then, I’ve discovered pieces by this globally-renowned contemporary artist at both the Met and the MOMA. Now there’s a new opportunity to view Anatsui’s work in a more intimate environment at the Mnuchin Gallery on East 78th Street.

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Anatsui converts everyday materials, like aluminum and and copper wiring, into dramatic art .His pieces are influenced by traditions from his birth country, Ghana and his home in Nsukka, Nigeria. From afar Anatsui’s pieces look like textured paintings, but when examined closely, you can see his intricate handiwork in the carefully stitched together liquor bottle caps and labels.

El Anatsui, Detail from Anthem For A-Nu, 2014

El Anatsui, Detail from Anthem For A-Nu, 2014

The show at the Mnuchin Gallery is entitled, “Metas,”  In this entirely new body of work, notes the gallery, Anatsui replaces his characteristic bright colors and patterns with “dramatic cut-outs, dynamic diagonal lines, and geometric shapes demarcated by rich variances in surface textures.”

El Anatsui, Womb of Time, 2014

El Anatsui, Womb of Time, 2014

One of my favorite pieces of this show was a sculpture entitled, “Womb of Time.” Suspended from the ceiling, the piece can be experienced both from the outside and inside. Though it probably weighs quite a lot, the sculpture seems light and airy like an eggshell.

El Anatsui: Metas will be on view until December 13th.

The Sketchbook Project

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Many people now flock to Williamsburg for it’s eclectic restaurants and charming streets. It’s also home to the Sketchbook Project, a gem of artistic expression. Housed in the Brooklyn Art Library, The Sketchbook Project is a global, crowd-sourced art celebration.

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The library is a small and intimate space.The walls are covered with shelves of 5″x 7″ sketchbooks filled in by people young and old; professionals and amateurs; from nearby Brooklyn and places far away like China and Russia, As varied as the people, so are their sketchbooks. There are watercolors and pastels; collages and cut-outs;  simple line drawings and complex geometric shapes. Some tell a story; others capture moments on a personal journey.

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Anyone can join the Sketchbook community. All it takes is the purchase of a $25 sketchbook. Each year a new group of sketchbooks go on tour. For your sketchbook to join the tour  all you need to do is to submit it in early January for that year’s tour. At the end of the tour, the sketchbooks return to the Brooklyn Art Library where anyone can come to see them.

Even if you don’t want to create your own sketchbook, go and visit the Library to see what others have created. It’s a rare opportunity to, not only see a wide assortment of art, but also to hold it in your hands. And if you go, be sure to stop into Mast Brothers, next door, for some hot chocolate or a delicious chocolate bar.