Those visiting New York for the mid-winter meetings will find a wealth of art exhibits to choose among. Their subject matter ranges from the art of medieval times to the most contemporary, and includes painting, sculpture, and photography.
Perhaps of greatest interest to psychoanalysts will be a retrospective, opening on December 16 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fifth Avenue at 82nd), of works executed since 1980 by Freud's grandson, the renowned British painter Lucien Freud. Born in 1922 to Sigmund's youngest son, himself an architect, the painter has produced an oeuvre, mostly portraits, that can be characterized as edgy, restless, and psychologically penetrating to the more uncomfortable layers of his subjects' psyches. The works evoke many of the same tortured feelings as do the canvases of that other great British painter, Francis Bacon. Also at the Met will be exhibits of the art of medieval Spain, elephant ivories, and Japanese temples.
The Guggenheim Museum, at Fifth Avenue and 89th, will be showing the work of Roy Lichtenstein, the acclaimed pop artist. Those who have not yet seen the renovated and expanded Frank Lloyd Wright building should do so, perhaps stopping for lunch or a snack at the Dean and Deluca cafe on the premises. The Guggenheim also has a splendid new space in Soho (575 Broadway at Prince) across from the original Dean and Deluca, where you can sip cappuccino at their Italian coffee bar. Zoë, a great place to eat lunch, is just a few doors away down Prince Street.
The Whitney Museum of American Art (Madison Avenue at 75th) will be featuring the contemporary artist Mike Kelley, whose psychologically informed works dwell on childhood and its myths. Starting December 17, an exhibition of the photographs of Walker Evans and Dan Graham will demonstrate their very different visions of the American urban environment. Sarabeth's Kitchen provides good on-site eating.
The newly renovated Jewish Museum (Fifth Avenue at 92nd) is a must-see, and not just for its splendid building and cafe. The permanent collection, newly hung, serves as traditional background for the very contemporary conceptual exhibit entitled “From the Inside Out: 8 Contemporary Artists,” a show dealing profoundly with issues of identity.
What may prove the best of all has been left for last. The Museum of Modern Art (53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) will be holding a Joan Miró retrospective marking the centenary of the Spanish artist's birth. The sheer visual pleasure afforded by his brilliant colors and abstract forms will be nicely counterpointed by a Robert Ryman retrospective featuring that artist's all-white yet sensual paintings, works bordering between minimalism and abstract expressionism.
If after this you have time for even more gallery hopping, check the listings in New York Magazine, The New Yorker, and the New York Sunday Times entertainment section. The following galleries are of particular note: on Madison Avenue, Gagosian (980 Madison at 77th) and Knoedler (10 E. 70th); on 57th Street, Pace (32 E. 57th), Robert Miller (41 E. 57th), and Andre Emmerich (41 E. 57th); and in Soho, Pace (142 Greene), Gagosian (136 Wooster), Leo Castelli (420 West Broadway), Mary Boone (417 West Broadway), and Paula Cooper (149/155 Wooster).
Janice Lieberman