Museum Mile Festival

There is a stretch of Fifth Avenue in New York called "Museum Mile".  It is actually a bit longer than a mile but let's not be sticklers about the details.  It is called that  because there are 10 different museums in that particular area.  On the second Tuesday of June, the city closes 5th Avenue to traffic between 82nd and 105th streets and people can walk through the streets between 6-9 p.m. and all of the museums are free.  I heard about it a few weeks ago and put it on my list of things to do.  Since Chizz was still on his "excellent adventure" with TR, I thought it was a good opportunity to check it out.

It  was raining like crazy that afternoon, and I almost considered skipping it.  I decided though I would regret it if I didn't go, so I talked myself back into it.  I was right (of course!) but after seeing the size of these rain puddles I was glad I wore my rain boots!  I left a little late and decided that I would try and hit the first museum closest to where I exited the park at 5:45, 15 minutes before the event was to start.  That museum was the Solomon R. Guggenheim.  I hadn't been there yet and I thought it was a good choice because I wasn't sure that Chizz would go to this museum because I (and he) was under the impression that it housed mostly modern art.  As I have mentioned time and time before, we are not necessarily the biggest modern art fans.  I thought minimally I would go and then kind of check this box so when people said "Guggenheim", I could say "oh yes, been there". 

I wasn't prepared for the line.  I thought the rain might "dampen" the enthusiasm for the event.  (Pun intended - hahahaha).



View of skylight in lobby

 I have to say, I was impressed by the Guggenheim.  It isn't too big.  I like a museum that you can do in a few hours and not feel you might have missed something important.  One of the highlights for me was actually the architecture of the Guggenheim.  .  The only photographs allowed were at the lobby level.    And it is an impressive lobby. 



Lobby



After wandering  through the museum it occurred to me that "modern art" is as a broad a category of art as the time frame it covers, roughly 1860 - 1970.   That is a huge span.  Think about it.  Can you think of anything else that remained the same during that time frame, methods of transportation, food, fashion, politics, farming?  So I found lots of art that I enjoyed and quite frankly a few things I didn't really enjoy.  I enjoyed looking at the Manets, Picassos, Pollocks.  As a side note, it  was surprising to learn how many "modern" artists died young (Manet 51, Pollock 44, Toulouse-Lautrec 36, Seurat 32).  Is there something about Modern art that contributes to the early demise of so many of its artists?  Do they burn bright and out early?  Are they all troubled?  There was a photography exhibit by Francesca Woodman. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978.   Most of the photographs in this exhibit were nudes of young women, mostly of her.  Some were blurry on purpose, some in dilapidated rooms or buildings.  One especially disturbing photo was of Woodman, nude with wooden clothespins attached all over her body including her breasts.  It was incredibly dark.  Sadly she committed suicide at age 22 by jumping out of a building.  Somehow it doesn't surprise me. 

No line?

After the Guggenheim, I thought I would head up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the grande dame of museums in New York.  It probably would have a line down the block and I would go home but I thought it was worth a try.  On the way, I passed the Neue Galerie.  The Neue Galerie is a museum dedicated to German and Austrian art and I have heard many good things about it.  But there was a huge line there.  I think for the smaller spaces, this event can be overwhelming.  Too many people, not enough space.  When I got to the Met, I was surprised to see no line.  This was during the heart of the event.  I was able to go in and see several rooms and galleries in the time frame.  There are so many beautiful pieces, it is hard to see it all in one sitting.  Which I didn't!   One of the most interesting exhibits was the one involving the designs of Prada & Schiaperelli, called "Impossible Conversations".   It was an exhibit of examples of each designers work and in the background they played a video of the two talking about their style, inspiration, work ethic.  What makes it so interesting is that these women designed at different time frames and couldn't have possibly have had this conversation.  An actress plays Elsa Schiaperelli, who designed in the 30s-50s.  Miuccia Prada designs today and plays herself.  Schiaperelli's words are taken from her autobiography and Prada responds with her own thoughts and observations about her work.  It looks like two colleagues sitting in a very fancy dining room having a conversation.  Then they pair selections from each woman's work and these combinations look as if they were made for each other.  A Schiaperelli top with a Prada skirt, designed 40 years apart.  There are also historic photos of some of Schiaperelli's work being worn by Wallis Simpson and others.  I found it fascinating but I am thinking Chizz would not.  Good thing he wasn't there!

All in all a great event.   I was able to get into two different museums in the 3 hour time frame.  I think the key is choosing museums that are large enough to handle crowds.  Smaller venues have to really regulate how many people come in at a time and therefore quite a bit of time can be spent waiting without seeing anything.   My advice:  "Choose wisely."  (I like quoting from Princess Bride as often as I can in a day.)