American Paintings – NY&SB
In the last two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to view two new installations of American paintings, 19th century through the Ashcan School, one at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the other at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Surprisingly, but perhaps because of my different expectations, the former was disappointing while the latter […]
Islamic Art at the Met
Based on a quick (two-hour) first visit to the new Met galleries devoted to the broadly-defined lands of the Middle East, my favorite object isn’t even in those eleven rooms: it is the painting of a Cairo mosque by Jean-Leon Gerome that is cleverly placed in the adjoining Paintings gallery featuring the Met’s Orientalist collection. […]
The Clock, redux
I caught up with Christian Marclay’s The Clock again this weekend, this time at one of its new permanent homes, Boston’s MFA. The couches were comfy and the exhibition space was off the beaten track; the audience was small but committed and the viewing experience a good one. The second time around, the novelty of […]
Short Hops in New England
Business and family in Manchester, VT and Essex, CT allowed me to check out some of the smaller, local attractions that would normally fall under the art radar. Some were surprises, some disappointments, but all were worth the detour. The biggest show, and biggest letdown, was “Pissaro’s People” at the Clark in Williamstown. While I […]
June in New York
Just as you can’t judge a painting by an auction catalogue, it’s hard to predict from press notices which shows will catch your attention or linger in your mind; thus, the days I spent going to galleries and museums in New York this June held surprises, both favorable and un-. First, then, the winners and […]