Travels in the 2nd half

  The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City always hosts major special exhibits. One of the current shows is a retrospective of paintings by John Singer Sargent.  Sargent and Paris (through Aug 3, 2025)   John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925) was born to American expatriates in Europe. His father was an eye surgeon based in Paris. Both of his parents encouraged Sargent’s interest in art, sending him to the Academy of Florence to study, and then supporting him in Paris as he worked under the portraitist Carolus-Duran . En Route pour la Pêche Atlantic Storm Staircase in Capri Portrait of Frances Sherborne Ridley Watts Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra Early in his life, Sargent traveled around Europe with his parents. He continued to travel as an adult, and incorporated what he discovered into his early works. Madame Ramón Subercaseaux Venetian Street Fumée d'Ambre Gris As Sargent matured, he concentrated more on his portrait work. In the 1880’s many artists were pai...

  In June, 2021, the COVID infection rate in New York City are at the lowest they have been since the March of 2020, and that has brought the crowds back, in force. This was in full evidence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I went to see an exhibit of paintings by Alice Neel . But this exhibition was worthy of the crowds. Alice Neel (1900-1984) was an artist who’s work centered on portraits of people in her life. She started painting in her early 20’s in Philadelphia , and quickly adapted the expressionist style of the “Ashcan School.” The Ashcan painters sought to portray the gritty reality of the lives of working people in the large cities of the United States. Neel moved to New York City, where she lived in neighborhoods that were centers of working class and left-wing political cultures. Neel had many friendships, and a few relationships, with members of the Communist Party U.S.A., and produced illustrations for both New Masses magazine and The Daily Worker Newspaper. ...

Degas and Doppelganger When the Whitney Museum moved to its beautiful new home in lower Manhattan, back in 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art leased its former home on Madison Ave. Renamed the Met Breuer , in honor of the building’s architect Marcel Breuer , the new Galleries have been home to some major exhibitions of modern art. Some of these have been instillations dedicated to particular artists, but two in particular have utilized the Met’s extensive permanent collection. In 2016 the museum staged “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible.” This exhibit featured pieces of art that were literally incomplete, either purposefully or due to the incidents such as the death of the artist. The museum explored the question – “When is a work of art finished?” The pieces exhibited were all from the Met’s permanent collection. The exhibit reminded me of the story about Cézanne. He was known to show up at exhibitions of his work, pull out a set of paints, and continue working on pieces...