Lower Level

John Huftalen (American, New Yorker, 1948-)
Lower Level
Metropolitan Museum

Image: http://www.jlhphotographics.com/coppermin/displayimage.php?album=19&pos=7

Hi Dad! It had to happen, here is a wonderful work by my father. I do hope it is okay. I believe it was taken with his Diana camera which he began to experiment with in the last few years (is that right?). There isn't much control with the camera (simple, plastic camera, prone to light leaks) so the shot relies so much on the intuition and eye of the photographer. I had a little trouble choosing between a few from dad's urban photos, oddly enough it came down to a scene of a Manhattan crowd and this image empty of people.

What is interesting to me is that while there are no figures in the image there it still doesn't seem isolated. As I gaze I keep expecting someone to walk into the shot, or one of the trees to turn into a figure. As quiet and still as the image appears the juxtaposition of the sharpness of the center of the image and the blur around the edges creates a movement (also in the shadows of the branches on the building).

As the title shows, this is a small portion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a megolith of a building full of treasures and beauty, yet it is awesome to see how simple, pure and beautiful this little corner of it's outside world can be through the eyes of an artist. Yet, this could be any corner in any city and that brings an additional wonder. Thanks Dad, for your passion and your eye. Happy Birthday to you again!

Check out more of John Huftalen's work at http://www.jlhphotographics.com/

59th St. Bridge

George Bellows (American, 1882–1925)
The Bridge, Blackwell's Island, 1909
oil on canvas
Toledo Museum of Art 1912.506
image: Toledo Museum of Art

While I seem to back in the habit of getting art up most days, Tuesdays are tough. I am taking a jewelry class on Monday nights and am usually a bit beat by the time I get home so for now we have Art of the Day, minus Tuesday.

I will also admit to my fall back of hitting up the small collection of works TMA has on their website when I am not feeling particularly alert to finding other art. But! This is never a bad thing since our collection is splendid! I love bridges, despite my still nagging fear of driving over them, I find them beautiful and fascinating, particularly when I am looking at them through a creative's eyes. The caption for this work on TMA's site mentions the Bellow's cropping of the bridge, "emphasizing its towering presence". I completely agree but what I find most comforting in the scene is the familiarity of the bridge. When we think of bridges we most like think of the bridge from a distance, the alluring view of it in its entirety, almost as a vista. Looking at this painting I think of the wonderful experience of viewing bridges from the perspective of the immediate shore. Of course, this bridge in particular holds a specific place in my history as it is was the bridge I traversed most often when I lived in Greenpoint.

I never really paid a lot of attention to this painting and while the image always looked familiar in some way I never realized that this was the Queensborough Bridge (59th St. Bridge) since the title refers to Blackwell's Island. I never knew this was an earlier name for Roosevelt Island.

I doubt I need to mention it, but the blue in this painting is gorgeous!

The Gates

The Gates, 1979-2005
Central Park, NYC
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
All images by A.L.H. (me!)

One of my favorite public art projects of all time (though my bias is strong since I worked with the project) is The Gates at Central Park. Not only did I have the first hand experience of visiting the gates, I worked for a week as an "Ambassador" greeting and talking with visitors and handing out swatches of the fabric from the curtains. It was one of the best experiences of my life so far.

This is an example of a temporary public art project. Public art is not always site specific, but The Gates is wholly specific. The Gates extend throughout all 10 miles of Central Park. As you can see from the date above it took almost 30 years for the project to be realized, from the first bid in 1979 to Mayor Bloomberg approving of the project in 2003. The Gates, all 16 feet high range in width based on the width of the walk ways

As with all public art there were mixed reviews, yet from my account it leaned toward positive rather than negative. It was amazing how strongly many people felt about the work, I had people hug me, people yell at me. I met people from all over the world (high turn out of Germans due to the Wrapped Reichstag). For many, it was pure fascinating at the spectacle of it all. Many people were angry that so much money was spent on the project (one woman going on about how you could open a hospital for sick children - note she is yelling at me in a fur coat and hat). Part of my job was to explain the details of the project in this regard and correct misconceptions Christo and Jeanne-Claude fully fund all over their projects, they use no local money (The city of nyc put no money into the project, in fact the project created temporary jobs and was a huge boom for street sellers and the Central Park Conservancy) or donations, money is raised through the sale of preparatory drawings of the project.

I basked in the awesome glory of a packed Central Park in the dead of winter. Sure, it is used year round but NEVER to this extent. It was fantastic that in the 2 weeks that the Gates were up the weather shifted so they could be seen on sunny days, snow covered days, windy and still. I could go on, but check our more pics on my flickr page.

Carrying On

Carrying On, 2004
Janet Zweig
Waterjet-cut steel, marble, and slate
frieze at Prince St. subway station, NYC
photos by Robbie Rosenfeld


Someone sent me a link to a work in the nyc subway and in the process of looking for more about it I discovered the subway art guide on nycsubway.org. I immediately scanned through to find recognizable works and yay! I found this by Janet Zweig. Read more about the frieze by clicking on the title. Also check out the subway art guide! My lunch hour is almost over, but I will add some more commentary later because I really love this work. Enjoy!

This may turn into a public art week.

The Sketch

Page from George Grosz's sketchbook, Manhattan Skyline, 1950-51
George Grosz (1893-1959)
38 pages of off-white wove paper; 23.3 x 15.3 cm.

My intentions were to share with you one of George Grosz's paintings of Manhattan but I had some trouble finding a good image of one, but I am including it here as well (Lower Manhattan, 1934, oil on cardboard, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) I did in my inquiry find something very exciting though, a digitization of a sketchbook focused on the Manhattan skyline and mice! Why mice, I'm not sure, but being able to see the sketches of an artist such as Grosz is excellent. The sketchbook was part of an the exhibition, Under Cover: Artist's Sketchbooks held at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard which has a large collections of intact artist sketchbooks. They digitized a portion of them, which can be accessed on the Harvard art museums website.

George Grosz is well known for his bitter satirical images but spent a lot of time with his adopted city of New York in imagery as well and being a sucker for nyc images, well, I think my choice is obvious. For today, I am more interested in the aspect of sketchbooks as an entry into the mind and work ethic of an artist, from vague sketches (check out Fragonard's) to full-fledged works of art.

More online sketchbooks

Fascinating little article from 1932, when George Grosz first came to the U.S. to teach at the Art Student's League.

Cranked Fish

Goldfish Bowl, 1929
Alexander Calder
Private Collection

As a child, Calder mobiles were some of my favorite works of art. I loved to just stand under them in galleries, waiting for a breeze to make them move (I think I even blew at them, but from a child's height it doesn't do much good). No wonder, considering their movement, and affinity with toys. I am happy that not only have I discovered a whole world of Calder I was unfamiliar with at the Whitney Museum of American Art a few years ago when I saw Calder's circus, but a new exhibition catalog at work has introduced me to where much of the wonderful came from.

Goldfish Bowl was Calder's first mechanized wire sculptures Calder made when he was in Paris (1926-1933). It is crank-driven and when cranked, the fish "swim"! ("Alexander Calder: 1898-1976, NGA press release 1998) These wire sculptures were his form of expressive drawing in space, which we can see by the fluid yet marked connections made by the wire.

The catalog was produced to accompany the exhibitions "Alexander Calder: The Paris Years 1926-1933" which opens at the Whitney October 16 and at the Centre Pompidou sometime next spring, so you must check it out if you luckily live in NYC (been experiencing some withdrawal syptoms this week) or Paris! The Whitney has Calder's circus up on permanent display (and play the film of Calder performing the circus) so next time you are in the city or just on the upper east side, stop by. Here is a taste... and notice in my blogroll, a new artistquote of the day...