Museums of New York

Arriving in New York I couldn’t help humming Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” under my breath. This city has been one I have wanted to visit for ages and now I’d arrived! During my stay I visited some fantastic museums. My favourites were:

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

I visited on 21 October which was the 50^th Anniversary of the Guggenheim opening its doors in 1959. As part of the celebration the Guggenheim hosted a free day (admission is usually $18). I spent a leisurely 2 hours winding my way through this fantastically designed spiral building viewing all the exhibitions. My favourite was one of the twin works that were part of the Paired, Gold:Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Roni Horn exhibition on view in the Annex Level 7 gallery; a shimmering curtain of golden beads by Gonzalez-Torres that looked like golden rain. I also enjoyed the work of Vasily Kandinsky, pioneer of abstract painting. His work is at the core of the museum’s permanent collection and also inspired the design of the building. I really liked his landscapes that used strong bold colours and also his watercolours where his love of geometrics shone through.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

On Friday nights from 4-8pm the MoMA opens its doors for free (otherwise admission is $20). Admission includes a free audio program. Although the queue was long when I arrived the MoMA is a well oiled machine and the staff had the line moving swiftly. I found out later that the best thing to do is to get there a little later as there is no queue at all! It turns out only the tourists are silly enough to queue…

Following a tip from the staff I headed straight up the elevators to the sixth floor and worked my way down, avoiding the crowds completely.

Henri Ro

The MoMA is jam packed with paintings, sculptures, drawings, architecture and design, photography and prints and illustrated books. I was lucky enough to come across some of Richard Avedon’s work which was a nice reminder of the photography exhibition I had seen in San Francisco. I learnt something new today. I’m not actually a fan of modern art! I much prefer the classics and was thrilled to see Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Nights.

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)

Entrance hall

The Met is huge! Be prepared to get lost, found again and discover hidden treasures around every corner; the European Sculpture Court, the Greek Sculpture Court and the Japanese Buddhist Altar. The list goes on and on. You would need a whole day of steady walking to see each corner of the two storied colossus.

I found the best way for me was to pick 2 or 3 exhibits that I really wanted to see and allow extra time to be side tracked when I saw something wonderful that beckoned to me. I discovered that I have a fondness for John Sargent’s paintings.

My other highlights were the Egyptian Art especially the Temple of Dendur as well as the Tibetan exhibition on the 3^rd floor.

There are 5 cafes to sit down and refresh yourself but be prepared to pay tourist prices for food and drink. There are hot dog stands just outside the Met in case that is more your style. It was definitely more my budget on this trip. The admission prices are suggested prices only so if $20 is a bit steep you can pay whatever you can afford. There is an audio tour (an additional $7) as well as many free walking tours to choose from.