Rembrandt and the Joys of NYC Galleries

Cloisters!


Oh my the Cloisters!

In that stunning park.



I DRAGGED my travelling companion there.....up that almost spooky lift from the subway, then the walk through the rain and that lovely, wild, park...and to those lovely, transplanted, kind of crazy buildings.



http://sandstead.com/images/cloisters/

bm

(I'll be back!)

Hey Deb! You were here? I didn't know.

The Cloisters is not the easiest place to get to but definitely worth the schlep. The outside is spectacular, and the inside--the Unicorn Tapestries in a medieval room. Special and transporting. The entire place--outside and in--doesn't feel like Noo Yawk.

I tried to insert a photo of one of the tapestries. What was I thinking?Couldn't do it. Froze my whole computer. I'll leave images to the experts. I also tried to find a photo of the Frick atrium. No luck there either. Sigh. Helpless and hopeless.

This the one you mean?

Virtual Tour through the Frick

I love The Cloisters, but I have been there only once.

I was a kid around the time people were talking about the neutron bomb (kills people, leaves buildings), and I had a plan with my best friend that if we survived that bomb we would go live at The Cloisters.

oh Great you've started the thread Roberta - bullied and harrassed as you are

I'd answered this in a pm to you and will copy it here to add to the thread - hoping jln and co will pop in soon.


I know exactly what you mean about catching the soul in their eyes. Rembrandt gets into the subjects 'personal space' and they are totally real as people - confident/brash/shy/unaware as in Susanna bathing/whatever.

His self portraits are fascinating. In the early ones you see a cocky, self confident young man in a feathered hat if I remember right - flamboyant, not good looking but the world is new and he's out to take it by storm, looks you straight in the eye.

Then you get the in between years, a father, doing ok, a vulnerability and unsureness, worry.

The later ones - a vulnerable man, getting older, frailer, more worried, less sure of anything - fragile.

The gloops of paint are wonderful - in the National Gallery there are some stunning paintings by him featuring lace collars and cuffs on the sitters. So, quite apart from that character and insight, you have this freely gloopily painted lace that just coalesces into 'accurate' depiction of lace as you step away - real hairs on the back of the neck standing up time it's so beautiful!

Roberta said

My favorite is the self-portrait at the Frick, but the Metropolitan Museum has wonderful Rembrandts. Most notable is Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer. You can see Aristotle contemplating! How is this possible? Genius makes it possible.
yep, he does depict emotions, moods thoughts .... I don't know how and I can't get near doing what he does!

Roberta said
On my second trip to Europe I visited the Rikjmuseum in Amsterdam and Rembrandt's home, which is now a museum. The was something to see. Almost too big. I had to look at each individual separately. Each a person with a mind and a soul. I would like to see the Rijksmuseum but have never got to Amsterdam - lack of finances

His home had many etchings, something I wasn't aware of much. They were stunning in their simplicity, and yet each was fully realized. I wanted to touch things that he had touched. A link with him through the centuries. I did sneak a few touches. My hand touched something Rembrandt had touched.[/quote]

I know what you mean I felt like that at the Rodin museum in Paris (and touched as well!) That blew me away, I knew I loved his drawings - a wonderful fluid economy of line, so alive. I didn't expect to love the sculpture as much. (Didn't like the Thinker - heavy and lumpen compared to most of his work). The Rodin museum is in his old house and some pieces were things like a head - 'soft' skin and flowing hair, emerging from the rough unworked rock - I just loved that contrast and seeing where the work was coming from.

Turner is supposedly a relative of mine - something I have VERY carefully NOT researched!!! I love his work and I'll keep the illusion intact thanks!

Turners sketchbooks at the Tate Gallery link

This link shows his sketchbooks at the Tate, I love to see sketchbooks and these are so fresh and contemporary, I saw an exhibition of them a few years back and they are wonderful in real life.

I'd like to speak a word for galleries--especially store-front galleries. Art without an Established Reputation can have its charms.

Unicorn tapestries:

www.tchevalier.com/ unicorn/tapestries/index.html









(PS: They line the Griffindor common room in the Harry Potter films)

Back in 2003, I met Diane and some online friends in New York City. That was when I met Roberta too.

Diane and Semiotterly came with me to visit a gallery in the Foster Building (41 E. 57th Street) that an artist that was proposed to show with my gallery already showed with. After I met with that gallery's staff, and Semiotterly left to do her own errands, Diane and I trudged around the wonderful Foster Building checking out other galleries.

We went into one because of its name (Phoenix), thinking of a2k's Phoenix, and because of a painting that was visible through the glass. Rabbits, it had Rabbits!!!

That turned out to be "23 rabbits sitting and 1 down", by Cecily Barth Firestein (well, she doesn't call her work painting but printmaking, using monoprint, collage, and over painting.)

So, that was quite the a2k gallery adventure. Here's the bunny collage -



Cecily Barth Firestein webpages

Thanks, Deb. Love dem rugs. Who knows? By the time I learn to pick up an illustration and plunk it down somewhere, computers will be turning obsolete.

The amazing aspect of the Cloisters is its totality. The whole shmear was reconstructed here.

I enjoy the medieval exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum, although it's not my favorite place there--except at this time of year. Why now? The Metropolitan displays its Christmas tree there. It's decorated with Victorian porcelain. Very lovely.

I visited the Rikjmuseum in Amsterdam. Got to see the Night Watch. It was too big in a way. Too much to see with only two eyes. You have to look at one spot and then another. One person and then another. Each person a definite individual, with a heart and soul. But not my favorite Rembrandt. I also visited Rembrandt's home, where many etchings are displayed. They surprised me. Very simple--but complete.

A comment on the website IgoUgo on the galleries in the Foster Building -

#41 East 57th Street Galleries
Rated by mfs on 3/6/2001
From journal New York City for Art Lovers

On the corner of East 57th Street and Madison Avenue is a building brimming with excellent art galleries, which feature fantastic collections of contemporary art (and sometimes older masters as well, depending on the gallery). Visiting the galleries provides an opportunity to see more contemporary, cutting edge art than is on display in museums. Check out Danese (6th floor), James Cohen (2nd floor), Ameringer/Howard Fine Art (11th floor, The Peter Findlay Gallery (3rd floor), and my favorite, the James Goodman Gallery (8th floor - they feature deKooning, DuBuffet and Leger!), among many other excellent galleries. You can spend a whole day just making your way up the floors and checking out the shows at various galleries. Most galleries are small and showcase one artist at a time. And of course, everything is for sale if you have big bucks on you. The galleries at #41 E. 57th St. provide a great opportunity to see excellent examples of modern and contemporary art in a true NY gallery setting. Visiting the galleries is free of charge. No photos. Pick up a copy of Art Now Gallery Guide (available for free in many of the galleries) to see what galleries are featuring which artists.

I LOVED the Metropolitan Museum and the Frick. Sigh.

I liked the Cloisters, but it was too dark inside for my weird eyes. Still, I could appreciate it.

osso, Thanks for the info about the 57th Street gallery. It takes a furriner to find such a thing for me. I might actually be able to walk around a place that is relatively contained.

Loved the bunnies. Not just the bunnies, but the color and form. Where does a person get an idea for such a thing, I wonder.

Look around that link under the rabbit collage photo, she's got a lot of info tucked in there. To see all the work (something like 15 pages of photos) click on Works (I forget which page that is on.) I love the style of the work; she shows a lot of wit, especially when you can see the work, which is fairly large, up close. There are also some serious references in some of the pieces.

I tried to find a photo of the building, which is rather nice art deco, if I remember correctly. However, Norman Foster, a present day architect of some fame, and his many buildings are what shows up on Google.
I'm not positive the Phoenix gallery is still in the building, as there was a slightly different address when I googled Phoenix Gallery.

The Peter Findlay gallery was wonderful, as was one other one with a name I forget right now. I remember the small Victor Hugo ink drawings. Who knew he drew? If I find that gallery name, I'll post back.
The Foster building is "doable": elevators, not a lot of walking.


For a breathless account of my trip to New York, and some impressions of galleries -
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37775&start=0

Roberta, here's a quote from Craven a long time ago on how to post an image, and it still works. I'm editing out what he said about posting your own photos, as it complicates matters.






On the other hand, if you go not just to google, but to google images, you click on the small image you like and another page will open up.
Then at the top you'll see a small photo and the words "see full sized image". Click on that. Another window will open with the image in a bigger size.

That might do it, as in this one showing a room in the Frick,it opened up with this URL, which works -

http://www.new-york.me.uk/frick_collection-3.jpg





But (always a but) sometimes that won't show an URL ending in jpeg or gif, so you have to go a step further, and

do what Craven said, right click on that image, and choose properties, and cut and paste the URL (ending presumably in jpeg or gif)
into the little box that comes up when you click the image button on the posting page.


Then preview, and with any luck you'll see the photo in your post.

Roberta, here's a quote from Craven a long time ago on how to post an image, and it still works. I'm editing out what he said about posting your own photos, as it complicates matters.






On the other hand, if you go not just to google, but to google images, you double click on the small image you like and another page will open up.
Then at the top you'll see a small photo and the words "see full sized image". Click on that. Another window will open with the image in a bigger size.

That might do it, as in this one showing a room in the Frick,it opened up with this URL, which works -

http://www.new-york.me.uk/frick_collection-3.jpg





But (always a but) sometimes that won't show an URL ending in jpeg or gif, so you have to go a step further, and

do what Craven said, right click on that image, and choose properties, and cut and paste the URL (ending presumably in jpeg or gif)
into the little box that comes up when you click the image button on the posting page.


Then preview, and with any luck you'll see the photo in your post.

Thanks.

Thanks.

I now know what I was doing wrong. I'll give it a try.

I was looking for a picture. Couldn't do the pick up and copy, but I did find that the Frick in question was not Ford Frick but Henry Clay Frick.

Lol!!!

No wonder Craven's instructions are so clear!!!



Years ago, at the birth of A2k, we were voice chatting, and he tried to talk me through that process.


I have performance anxiety, and I got anxious for some bizarre reason, and was traumatized by the whole process!!!! And Craven is a very good teacher re such things.


I didn't try again for ages, and then could NOT figure out what on earth had seemed so difficult about it!