Sunday, October 29, 2017

Too Many

Years ago a friend of ours wanted to show off how his two year old could count.  She stood in her PJ’s in the bottom drawer of her chest of drawers and started, “1,2,3,4,5,6,7, too many”.  Ever since it has become a family saying and that is just how I feel about our up coming trip to New York.  Even though you will read this after we arrive, this is what we are facing.

In major cities when there is a big art event planned others try to pile on so that there is an incentive for as many as possible visitors and art interested individuals will come to town.  Such an event may very well occur on the day after we arrive.  It is the opening of TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair or Art Foundation) at the Park Avenue Armory.  I have written several blogs about this international fair, which started years ago in Maastricht, The Netherlands. It now has two incarnations in New York.  The Fall event concentrates on the old master world.  At the Javits Center The International Fine Print Dealers are having their annual event and The New York Satellite Print Fair is taking place across town.  Up on Park Avenue The Art & Antique Dealers League of America (I believe the oldest art dealers association in the U.S. is  having a fair  in a hall at a well known church and school.

TEFAF Maastricht 2013

Those are just the fairs.  If you are reading this you probably are aware of the plethora of museum exhibitions around  town. The night we arrive is an opening at the Neue Gallerie of an exhibition, “Wiener Werkstatte 1913-1932: the Luxury of Beauty” We have always had an interest in this field my wife curated at the Metropolitan Museum. The Morgan Library is showing “Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from The Thaw Collection”.  Gene and Clare Thaw have arguably given more drawings to the Morgan than J. P. Morgan himself.  Not to be out done, the Metropolitan Museum is having a show “Leonardo to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection”.  This is from a very large collection of many fields given to the Met by Lehman’s estate on the condition that it be kept together in its own space. Though it is an integral part of the museum, loan papers have to be made out if pieces are shown in another part of the museum.  Needless, to say the Met will have several other shows within its walls at that time.  A monographic show which I am looking forward to is at the Frick Collection, “Murillo: The Self Portraits” celebrating the 400th anniversary of the artist’s birth.  Because of my interest in Native America I hope to see a show at the Whitney Museum, “jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World”.  The reviews I have read have been positive but there has been controversy, particularly in the Native American World, over whether he has the right to call himself an Indian and why he should get a solo museum show when there are so many other artists who are as good and more Indian than he.  This is a subject one could devote at least a chapter to.

Robert Lehman Wing at the Met

I am not even going to touch on individual dealer exhibitions which are up in galleries 365 days a year and you can spend that time going to a different one every day.  I do have my eye on at least one Old Master show and one from the photography world.

We will be in New York for 6 full days and we already have several lunches and dinners planned, and might catch a show or two.  If your head is not swimming, mine is.  There is no way to do it all but we will get to as much as is possible.  Then I will have to make choices for Missives. Which ones would you write about?


Oh yes, we go to Mexico City from New York to be on the postponed “Frida Kahlo in Context” tour.


As I said “Too Many” but I will let you know about some of the highlights!

1 comment:

  1. I am envious of you two. It sounds like a wonderful trip. I hope you have fun and we will be anxious to hear the details.

    ReplyDelete