New York New York New York v2

So the significance of repeating New York three times (title) was probably not caught by many of you... it was a popular song in dance clubs when I was younger. It was a techno song by Micro Chip League that you definitely knew if you are of a certain age and went out at all. I am dating myself as well as my electronic musical influences so I will shut up now... back to our regularly scheduled program.

So...our NYC trip. The dining was really great... then there are the museum’s and did we ever start off with a whopper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has to be one of the most valuable places in the world. We were both stunned into silence by a piece of artwork on more than one occasion. The shear enormity of it all was impressive. The amount of artwork, the perceived value of some of them, sometimes the incredible dimensions of the artwork itself was overwhelming. It is truly an amazing place. I wont say magical because that isn’t quite it, I will just leave it at amazing. You definitely get the feeling you are standing in front of very impressive and monumental slices of the human existence.

The building is absolutely massive to start off with. I swear it’s a couple of city blocks wide and at least one deep. It was vast once you were inside. We sort of breezed a couple of sections that weren’t interesting to either of us but we did look at just about everything. I think both Amber and I were pretty blown away by the African exhibits early on because neither of us had ever seen much more than a tribal mask or two prior to this trip. Once you have seen one tribal mask… not so. What was interesting was the pieces on display didn’t have anything to do with art for art’s sake. They were truly functional items in the daily lives of their peoples. For instance, one of our favorite things was this 20 foot long wooden crocodile.

This crocodile was carried by one tribe over to the village of a neighboring tribe just prior to battles in an attempt to scare them. There are holes along the body were they would stick a tube into so that they could carry, but it was also multifunctional in that they could blow into it to make noises that would scare the opposing villagers. A visual and audible tool for intimidation. Sort of a primitive "shock and awe" campaign. After the battle the slain warriors skulls would be placed in the “mouth” of the crocodile for display. As far as art goes, it was all very functional.


Another very interesting display we looked were these three tall statues. I have never seen anything like this done in wood other than native American totem poles. They seemed to remind me of the Eastern Island statues but not made of massive stones, made of wood instead and on a smaller scale. They were easily 10 to 12 feet high and functional in that there were also holes in it that were used acoustically. There was no way to demo it but I would imagine the sounds that come out of these would definitely be otherworldly.

Once out of Africa, and to be fair it wasn’t all African displays…I think some of these were from Oceanic and Polynesian islands as well. All interesting no doubt. We headed into the displays from Greece and Rome. We saw some really beautiful sculptures and unbelievably intricate carving done on some of the chests and urns. Here is a shot to show the relief and detail of a burial casket… it was incredible.

One of the really impressive things was the shear amount of large pieces on display. I have been to museums in almost every city I have spent more than a day at and it always seems like the collection has only one or two large pieces. Here we were in front of literally dozens in each gallery that we breezed through. I had one or two college art classes and it was impressive to stand in front of well known life size statues by so many famous artists. They were a marvel to behold. My favorite had to be Perseus holding the head of Medusa. All of them were incredible to see in person though. I am not going to pretend to know all of the artists on display or the significance of each piece but the overall impression was one that I will never forget. The sense of being lost in time when strolling through the sculpture "garden" as it were was really a unique thing.

Another thing we saw that was pretty cool was the Armor room. It was literally a room full of examples of Armor used throughout the ages by different nations. There were full sets from lowly enlisted ranks all the way up to examples from some of the Kings and other royalty. A really unique display and it was interesting to note the height and size... or lack of height and size dating back a few centuries.

After all the sculpture… both Amber and I wanted to see some paintings. She has her favorites as do I and a museum this large was sure to house examples for both of us. So she is a Van Gogh to my Matisse, a Rothko to my Miro… while both of us can appreciate a Picasso, a Monet and even a good Renoir. What both of us seem to gravitate toward more than anything is the abstract stuff… call it good breeding or not, it is interesting that we both seem to like it.

Below will be a couple of shots that Amber probably never wanted me to show but since this is my blog and not her’s… hey what do you want. She is one of my favorite subjects.

Taking pictures of beautiful artwork that is not moving isn't really a challenge. Taking pictures of a beautiful woman that is always on the move…now there is a challenge.


It is absolutely incredible to stand in front of artwork you have only seen in pictures and realize that it looks more alive in front of you. The colors are so much more vibrant in person. It is a shame that photographs or printed publications can’t show them as they are in person. It needs to be experienced as we did…standing in front of them. Loved this trip.

Next up is my favorite museum, MOMA as well as a quick blast through the Guggenheim. Check back in a day or so… Oh and a lots of other stuff to catch everyone up on so look for more posts this week. ;]

Talk at you soon. bb