Art Overload, Almost

Come to think of it, I saw a LOT of art today.

It started in the morning, when I went to Sotheby's to hear a talk given by the director of their 20th Century Design department. He gave a fascinating slide lecture on the state of the market for 20th century furniture. I didn't really know anything about the subject, so it was an eye opener to learn some names like Paul Kjaerholm, Arne Jacobsen, and Jean Prouve, and see how cool their stuff is. Basically, anything old that looks futuristic, organic, and sculptural is worth the big bucks, as well as new strange pieces handmade by artists in small quantities, like one person who made a chair out of teddy bears. Have you heard about this? It looks kind of comfortable, but it would get old quick.

After that, I went up to the 10th floor of Sotheby's, where they have their best pre-auction art on exhibition. There I saw the Guennol Lioness, a tiny bit of limestone carved 5000 years ago. Half lion, half human, it was talisman supposedly used in ancient Mesopotamia to evoke power and strength. The posters of it are enormous, so I wasn't prepared for how tiny it was, all alone in a darkened room with a dramatic spotlight. Nobody really knows what it was used for, and articles have made a huge fuss out of its shamanistic connotations, but for all we know it might have just been used as a button.

I also took a look at the "Magnificent Jewels" on display at Sotheby's. Some of them are pearls once owned by the Duchess of Windsor, but those weren't what caught my eye. There was a particularly stunning bracelet by William Goldberg made to look like a string of little flowers with petals of white diamonds, and yellow diamond centers, set in white gold and platinum. Santa, are you listening to me?

My next stop was Questroyal, a hidden art gallery gem on the 3rd floor of a Park Avenue building full of discreet doctors' offices. Browsing their collection of fine early American landscape paintings, I felt like I was in someone's comfortable home, with familiar friends: Asher Durand, Blakelock, and--hey! There was the Inness I admired from yesterday's Christie's sale! But most exciting of all: I discoverd the piece I'm going to write my next paper on: an unfinished view of Lake Mohonk by Thomas Cole! I'm very excited about this piece, so stay tuned for a future blog about it.

After that I headed over to Hirschl and Adler Gallery on the corner of 70th and (I think) Madison Avenue. They had a delightful mixture of old and new paintings, as well as a room of gorgeous 18th and 19th century decorative arts, including a Duncan Phyfe table and two Ammi Phillips portraits. I also saw a fantastic N.C. Wyeth of lumberjacks, that I think I love even better than the Indian Love Call. I stared at it for a really long time.

The Frick happened to be nearby, and I hadn't yet taken advantage of my membership card, so I went in and looked around. There, the combination of divine art and spectacular rooms (decadently furnished and crystal chandeliered) almost overwhelms, but to take a break I sat in the marble atrium, by a trickling fern-enclosed fountain. My favorites here were the portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger and the Fragonard Room.

Next stop was the Met, because I had to see their Studio Craft Movement exhibition, which ends in a few days. But while there, of course that's not the only thing I saw. The Christmas tree and creche display has been erected in the Medieval Galleries, and it is stunning. A tree covered in colorful and winged angels looms over a nativity scene that is surrounded by dozens of groups of figures from all nations and cultures. I'll have to go back and look at it again--too bad they don't allow pictures of it! I'm really glad I went to the Met today because some of the rooms in the American Wing which have been closed were open today, as part of an exhibition of silver by Fletcher & Gardiner. One of the rooms is the panorama by Vanderlyn, which he painted after visiting Europe. When he came back to America (this was in 1816 or thereabouts) he painted a 360 degree view of Versailles and its gardens, and built a rotunda in New York where visitors would enter and appear to be in the midst of the Versailles grounds. Basically, it was the first American art museum/amusement park/IMAX experience, and it's still pretty spectacular 200 years later.

As I was leaving the Met, walking through the Egyptian galleries, I overheard a little girl exclaim, "That's a mummy-case! I saw one of those on Scooby Doo!" Suddenly, I felt like going home and watching cartoons. So that's what I did.