Art lovers who travel about the world agree there is no city like New York for museums and galleries. Here, in neighborhoods that are both accessible and of interest in themselves, art from the most ancient to the most contemporary is on display. During the December meetings, the following shows will be on exhibit in major museums and galleries.
At the Museum of Modem Art (53rd near Fifth), practically at the door of the Waldorf, is a show of the work of Piet Mondrian: 1872–1944. It features his characteristic form of abstract painting, which he called Neoplasticism. Also shown are a number of multimedia works by the French artist Annette Messager, who explores the role of the individual within society with regard to identity, normalcy, and morality. Also on display is Stieglitz at Lake George, where the photographer retreated from the tumult of World War I politics and the art world. In his private world he did serial portraits of Georgia O'Keefe, photos from high windows in New York, and shots of the lake itself.
At Madison at 36th is the Morgan Library, where the Sunny Crawford von Bulow collection of eighteenth-century drawings is on display. From there you can travel uptown by taxi, subway, or Madison Avenue bus to the Frick Collection (70th at Fifth) where there is a special Whistler show. Then walk to the Whitney Museum of American Art (Madison at 75th) for a show entitled Beat Culture and the New America: 1950–1965, a multimedia exploration of a group of rebels who experimented with new forms of artistic expression, forming a potent underground that spawned the counterculture of the 1960s. Also showing is Robert Frank: Moving Out. Frank's work pushed the limits of photography and filmmaking, examining the loneliness and isolation prevalent in American culture. Ten boxes by Joseph Cornell explore that artists fascination with astronomy and imaginary voyages.
This season, instead of blockbuster exhibitions with works from other museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (82nd at Fifth) is showcasing its own holdings. The museums entire Goya collection is on display, both portraits and works on paper, including the monumental print cycles the Caprichos, Disasters of War, and Bullfights. Rembrandt / Not by Rembrandt sets out the museum's entire collection of work attributed to or associated with the Master. It explores the analytic and technical issues that help to establish authorship. Also featured are the paintings of Howard Hodgkin, the contemporary British abstractionist, known for his brilliant use of color and masterful brushwork.
A few blocks north is Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum (89th at Fifth), where the featured artist this month is Claes Oldenburg, the pop art sculptor who came to prominence in the 1960s. His humorous renditions of ordinary objects combine technical virtuosity with perceptual paradox. Also to be seen here are the fantastic and grotesque photographs of the provocative Joel-Peter Witkin.
In Soho, at Broadway and Prince, is the fabulous Soho Guggenheim. Also do not miss the exhibit, Russian Jewish Artists in a Century of Change: 1890–1990, at the Jewish Museum (92nd at Fifth).
Art galleries are what New York is about. Although which ones are in and which ones are out varies from year to year, certain galleries seem to maintain both their status in the art world and the high quality of work shown. In the 57th Street area, galleries of note and their offerings are Pace (32 East 57th—Jim Dine, recent paintings); Robert Miller (41 East 57th—Cemin sculpture); and a number of “art buildings” housing several galleries (41 East 57th; 724, and 745 Fifth Avenue; and 20, 30, and 50 West 57th).
In Soho, Pace (Greene at Houston) is showing paintings by Chuck Close, while other galleries to seek out are Gagosian (Wooster near Prince), showing Richard Serra, and Castelli (420 West Broadway), which is featuring Frank Stella. Also of note are the multi-gallery art buildings at 420 West Broadway, 130 Prince Street, and 560, 568, and 594 Broadway.
Janice S. Lieberman