NYC Museum Exhibitions Summer 2014

NYC Museum Exhibitions Summer 2014

“Charles James: Beyond Fashion,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Through August 10, 2014

The Charles James exhibition at the Costume Institute was a big disappointment.  In the dim lighting, the colors were uniformly muddy, and it was difficult to appreciate the details of the couture creations. Also inexplicably, the show is split into two parts which are exhibited in opposite wings of the museum.

For the serious student of fashion only.

“Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937,” Neue Galerie, Through September 1, 2014

I love the Neue Galerie,  which I visit often.  A tiny jewel box of a museum housed in a former mansion on the Upper East Side, the Neue Galerie is devoted to early 20^th C German and Austrian art and design. Strictly a niche museum, it is not usually crowded—until now.

The current exhibition entitled “Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937” has drawn good reviews and correspondingly huge crowds, which the museum is ill equipped to handle. With waits of thirty minutes or more (outside-there is no waiting area inside the building), I can’t recommend it.

However, I highly  recommend that you visit the museum on a later date.  Many of the same “banned” works are part of the museum’s permanent collection, and you can appreciate them at your leisure.  Be sure to visit the elegant (if minuscule) gift shop and enjoy an Einspänner (double espresso with whipped cream in a glass)  in the Viennese cafe!

Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library

There is always something new to explore in NYC! I had heard of  the Hispanic Society, but despite twenty years in New York City,  I had never been there.

Founded in 1908 by Archer Milton Huntington, the museum is housed in a Beaux-Arts building on Audubon Terrace in Manhattan.

In ambience, if not architectural style, the museum reminds me of the original Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston with its gloomy rooms, huge interior courtyard, and dusty artifacts.

Artists from Spain’s Golden Era such as Goya and El Greco are well represented, and there is a good collection of colorful ceramics.

As it was a beautiful day, my mom and I enjoyed our field trip to the Upper-Upper West Side. But this museum is not a must see unless you have a special interest in Spanish culture or Beaux-Arts architecture.