On our last full day in NYC this was the scene outside the Met. This was a trip to NYC to see art and I loved the time we spent in the Met on Tuesday so much that I decided I wanted to go back for another day at the Met. I know there are a lot of other museums in NYC but we’ll just have to catch some of them on our next visit.
Below are three paintings that really caught my attention that day:
This is a close-up of a Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640). I am most attracted to the paintings of figures I see in museums and I just thought this one was lovely. I enjoy studying the flesh tones and brush strokes.
This is a close up of a painting by Jean Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725-1805). This painting was a study to explore different expressions he might need in larger compositions. Quite a “study”!
This delightful painting is titled Apples by Paul Cezanne (French 1839-1906). The composition is two separate studies that are unrelated to any of his known paintings. I guess he painted two groups of apples and just happened to paint them on the same canvas. Amazing. Hmm, maybe there is something to learn here, (well, there is a lot to be learned here) but I’m thinking specifically of the fact that this is a study and it’s so wonderful. Paint more studies! They allow me to play with composition and not worry about a “finished” painting. We also so a special exhibit of Bronzino drawings and took another hour long tour, this one called the “Cradle of Civilization”, it was about the history of the Middle East. And we had lunch again in the cafe overlooking the sculpture garden.
Then is was time to head back to our hotel and put our feet up for an hour. On the way back to the hotel we walked past a gallery that advertised “Contemporary Masters” in their window. I wanted to go in, I consider artists like Quang Ho and Dan Gerhartz contemporary masters. Apparently this gallery has other ideas; the art was very contemporary. And bad. We walked in and the young woman at the desk covered with papers near the entrance didn’t even look up. A man in the next room at his computer finally grunted something, but never asked us what we were looking for or said another word to us. Maybe that’s the norm for NYC galleries, but if I were a gallery owner and a live human with a wallet walked into my gallery, I would at least put a little effort into selling them a painting. Or maybe I just don’t give them enough credit and they could tell we weren’t interested in the art hanging on the walls. I can describe what I remember as paintings of round heads resembling smiley faces but more reds and blues with sticks for bodies. Anyway, we left fairly quickly. Too bad, we just picked the wrong gallery to pop into.
Back at the hotel, here I am in my favorite chair in our room. I had a good book to read and I enjoyed curling up in that chair every afternoon for a little break. We had a partial view of Central Park so there was always something to see.
That night we went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday, though truly I felt like the entire week was a birthday celebration. Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! After dinner we walked over to Times Square and just soaked in the atmosphere, all the bright lights and people, it was a lot of fun. And I bought a mug that says “I heart NYC” on it for a souvinier.
The Jean Baptiste and Rubens portraits are beautiful – almost haunting. Thanks for sharing.
You guys look like a couple of kids in a candy store. Thank you SO much for sharing the details of your trip, plus pictures!! What a delightful read. Glad you had fun.