The Rehearsal
H.G. Edgar Degas
c. 1878-79
Officer and Laughing Girl
Johannes Vermeer
The Harbor of Dieppe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775-1851
Symphony in Flesh Color and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland. 1871-3
James McNeill Whistler
Hello from New York City!
Last night after a yummy Indian dinner, W.P. and I went walking around the iconic Times Square. Crazy, commercialized American frenzy at its best. I love it once every couple of years, which is how often I've been visiting NYC in recent years.
After purchasing a big memory card for my new camera, I went about snapping silly photos all day. From the cab, walking down 5th and Madison Avenues, from the window of a cafe', along a sidewalk carpeted with people.
W.P. had only a meeting from 9:00 a.m. to noon and we had planned to go to MoMA together. He's never actually had the time to visit there on other business trips and was quite looking forward to it. Neither of us thought to look up the schedule and voila - the sign said Closed on Tuesdays. I then remembered a post by a blogger I don't know very well but whose comments I am always glad to read on other blogs -
Grandmere Mimi. A few months back, Mimi posted about a visit she made to the
Frick Collection, a smaller art museum in New York - located between Madison and 5th Avenues. After reading Mimi's post, I vowed to check it out the next time I was in NYC. As the MoMA was closed today, I immediately exclaimed - "The Frick!" and off we went.
I haven't yet digested everything I saw there but right off, the Whistlers held me most captive while there and still, now, as I think about the many incredible works of art I saw there. Apparently, Mr. Frick was not overly fond of American artists, so it is fortunate that he admired Whistler and acquired several incredible portraits and landscapes for the collection. Perhaps because Whistler was American-born but lived mostly in England. Other works included those of John Constable, William Turner, Claude Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and three irresistible paintings of Vermeer.
The museum was rather packed but probably nothing like what MoMA will be like tomorrow. I regret that W.P. will be tied up with work
all day tomorrow and Thursday and may not be able to join me until after closing time.
The bright side of this is that I can take my time; savor each artwork I crave; return to those I love most and those I understand least. Like a little kid on the eve of the first day of school - I will have trouble sleeping.
