New York City

Monday, October 20th - Museum day.  The weather turned a bit -- cloudy all day and with 55% possibility of rain, but no rain while we were outside.  We rode the MTA buses, first north along 1st Avenue to 86th Street, then a second bus at right angles, from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue.  We got off and walked 2 1/2 blocks to the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum.  This is one of four Guggenheim Museums, the others are in Venice, Italy (which is named after Peggy), Bilboa, Spain (just Guggenheim), and Abu Dhabi, UAE (under development and just Guggenheim, too).

The Guggenheim is just off the east side of Central Park and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It has a very neat interior spiral that goes up 5 levels, with more normal galleries branching off from the spiral.  The art exhibit on the walls of the spiral was from a single modern artist - Rashid Johnson.  Two of the four galleries were closed but the remaining two galleries hold the Thannhauser Collection.  The paintings in this collection are impressive and include pieces by many famous artists -- Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Matisse, Kandinsky, and Monet.

The interior spiral ramp.

Rashid Johnson - footprints going in circles.

Vasily Kandinsky - Lion Hunt, 1911, reverse glass painting.

Pablo Picasso - Fernande with a Black Mantilla, 1905.

Another early Picasso - Moulin de la Galette, 1900.

Vincent Van Gogh - Roadway with Underpass.

Paul Gauguin.

Camille Pissarro - The Heritage at Pontoise.

Wassily Kandinsky - Blue Mountain.

Axe in the wall or Hard Day at the Office by Rashid  Johnson

The plants are hanging on cables from the domed ceiling.

The featured artist.

Rashid Johnson's art.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto -- Falling Man.

The Lobby and first piece by Rashid Johnson.

Even the water fountains look artistic.

Panoramic view of the interior.

After leaving the Guggenheim, we walked a few blocks down "Museum Mile" Street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, known as The Met.  It is an "encyclopedic art museum."  It is the third largest museum in the world, the largest in the Americas, and had nearly 6 million visitors last year.  The museum was founded in 1870 and has 17 separate departments -- Greek, Roman, Egypt, Asian, American (art, furniture, modern art), Europe, African, Oceanian, Byzantine, Islamic, Musical instruments, etc.  Pretty much every well-known artist's works are on display.  The Impressionist Galleries were a big draw today.  There are several special exhibitions open -- today's was one entitled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.  It displayed a wide variety of Black men's fashion, think Walt "Clyde" Frazier, the former NBA player, who was an inspiration to much of the fashion that came after.

I was overwhelmed by the visual richness and didn't take many photos.  It would have been impossible to edit them down to manageable number.  But I did take some photos of classic furniture.

A wind vane -- early American craftsmanship.

The famous and classic oval Shaker box.

Andrew Jackson's table with intricate carvings and inlaid marble on the top.

A 'slipper' chair with delicate carving and bent-wood elements.

A sideboard with amazing carvings.

The detail of the carving on one door panel.

A nicely proportioned Arts and Crafts-style chest.

A Stickley tall clock.  Stickley is probably the most famous Arts and Crafts maker in the US and influenced many woodworkers, both professional and amateur.

A Stickley 6-sided table.

And a Stickley chest.

Something for the music lovers -- a Stradivarius violin. 

A colorful display of wind and horn instruments.

My one and only art photo from the Met -- Georgia O'Keefe.

The Met as we left.

We felt like we needed to stretch our legs after the moseying and standing in the museums, so we started walking.  We ended up walking all the way back to the apartment (2.4 miles).  We picked up take-out dinner and enjoyed it at our apartment.