Category: Art

CAROLINA COMMENTS: READING & ART

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This week I’m sharing my thoughts on a new novel by Fiona Davis along with some works I found striking at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke. I’m continuing to consider some of our outings in Cary and beyond as other examples of Abroad At Home.

ENTERTAINING NOVEL: THE MET AND EGYPT

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

Fiona Davis (facebook.com)

True to form, The Stolen Queen, the latest historical novel by Fiona Davis, centers on an iconic building in New York City.  Earlier novels featured the New York Public Library (The Lions of Fifth Avenue), the Barbizon Hotel for Women (The Dollhouse), and Grand Central Terminal (The Masterpiece), to name just several.  For this work, it’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art and specifically its antiquities and Egyptian collections.

Set in 1936 and 1978 in Egypt and Manhattan, it’s the story of two women and their search for a stolen artifact (the queen of the title), a missing jewelry collar, and a lost daughter.  Charlotte Cross was a budding archaeologist in Luxor in the 1930’s when her life was upended by tragedy.  In 1978, she is an associate curator at the Met, keenly focused on her study of a female pharaoh, yet still torn by not knowing the fate of her infant.  Annie Jenkins is nineteen, loves fashion, and by happenstance becomes Diana Vreeland’s gopher in the run-up to the Costume Institute’s annual gala.  Due to some unusual circumstances, Annie and Charlotte join forces to search for the missing antiquity which involves traveling to Egypt and excavating the demons of Charlotte’s past.

The novel is a romp in the Met Museum, fun for anyone who has spent any time at all there, while simultaneously being a complexly threaded set of relationships and events.  The female pharaoh and a few other characters are based on historic figures.  It’s a quick read and enjoyable, even if it all seems to be resolved too neatly!

ABROAD AT HOME:  ART IN DURHAM

Nasher Museum of Art

Friends invited us to join them for an outing to the Nasher Museum of Art on the Duke University campus in Durham.  I knew of this museum but had never visited, nor had I ever seen it.  The building itself is stunning with a soaring wide lobby topped by angled metal trusses and lots of glass.  Designed by noted architect Rafael Vinoly and opened in 2005, it’s a light-filled welcoming space.  Galleries and exhibit spaces are off to the side in appropriately semi-dark rooms.  

Interior, Nasher Museum

Several exhibits are currently on view and some are small so, we were able to explore them all to some extent.  We spent the most time in By Dawn’s Early Light, a major exhibit marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 set against the historical backdrop of the Constitution and several key amendments.  The exhibit is wide-ranging in its coverage of people and documents through photography, painting, and sculptural pieces. Here are several works that I found striking.

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, a Native American from Montana, presents a map of the United States emphasizing its whiteness with white paint colors instead of state names.  The countries surrounding the US are multi-colored.  North Carolina is Breakwater White.

Fifty Shades of White, 2018
Detail showing North Carolina and neighbors

Americans have the right to bear arms. I found this Celtic cross composed of AK 47 rifles a chilling statement on what one might call “gun worship.”

Cross for the Unforgiven, 2002, Mel Chin

Another powerful piece for me was the historic Confederate flag, part of a performance piece in which the flag was deliberately torn. The colorful threads on the shelf at the bottom are formless and perhaps available for something new.

Unravelling, Sonya Clark, 2015
Tabaco, Diego Camposeco, 2015

Individuals from other lands come here seeking to fulfill the American dream for themselves.  Many of these are migrant workers, often Latinos. See Diego Camposeco’s print at right.

There is also moving section, “Freedom to Assemble” with images of Martin Luther King and others gathering and facing down armed troops at the Pettus Bridge in Selma in 1965.  Mounted on mirrored sienna glass, the photos are very reflective making it impossible to get a photo worth sharing.  

By Dawn’s Early Light is timely and worth a visit. It runs through May 11. 

The museum also has an informal café space offering tasty salads, sandwiches, eggs benedict many ways, and omelets.  We four enjoyed lunch there midst the Under 25 set.  We had escaped our home bubble for a student-filled campus bubble.  Fun!

Note: All unattributed photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo is of the massive bronze sculpture, MamaRay, by Nairobi-born artist Wangechi Muta. It was installed at the museum in 2021.

Manhattan: Food, Art, & Drama

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SPLURGE-WORTHY DINING

The Modern

In a delayed celebration of our anniversary, we dined at The Modern, the restaurant next to the Museum of Modern Art.  With a table by the window, we looked out at MoMA’s sculpture garden and December’s bare trees. Lunch was a three-course prix fixe. Everything was beautifully plated and delicious.  I opted for the cold lobster salad with citrus and burrata followed by sea bass with some agnolotti and then a cheese course. 

Lobster salad
Roast chicken & sweet potato cake

The Chief Penguin had hamachi over basil to start and then roast chicken on a sweet potato cake followed an elegant lime parfait.  Service was impeccable, and we enjoyed chatting with our young waitress.  This is a wonderful venue for special occasions!

MATISSE AND MORE

Hanging Out at MoMA

The other morning, we walked down to W. 53rd Street and spent a most pleasant hour exploring several exhibits.  We headed first to the 3rd floor for a look at Matisse’s Cut-Outs: A Celebration, works from late in his career.  These paper cutouts are amazing.  His paper “stained glass” window, Christmas Eve (Nuit de Noel) has vibrant colors, but the glass version he had crafted is most impressive and so luminous. 

Christmas Eve, Matisse, in glass

Also of note are the figures he did for his swimming pool.  Rather than add a swimming pool to his home, he created blue leggy figures and adhered them to a band of paper around the perimeter of his dining room.  The overall effect was feeling like being in the water.

The Swimming Pool, Matisse, 1962
Rothko, No. 16, 1958 (Black, Red, Brown)

Leaving Matisse behind, we looked at some works from the permanent collection from around the world.  I was struck by the muted intensity of Mark Rothko’s No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black) and by the mysterious figures underlying Blue Composition, c.1966-68, by Ethiopian artist Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian.  There appears to be both a horse and the snout of an alligator or crocodile. 

Detail, Blue Composition
Detail, No Shade but His Shade

And No Shade but His Shade by Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi is a compelling work all in browns including a man’s head with a bird perched on his scalp.

LIVE DRAMA

Left on Tenth (James Earl Jones Theatre)

I read Delia Ephron’s memoir, Left on Tenth, when it came out and was pleased when I saw that she was writing a script and working with Good Wife TV star Julianna Margulies.  The Chief Penguin and I went to the play and enjoyed it immensely.  The cast is small, just four people; Margulies and Peter Gallagher as the leads, two others who play cameo parts, and two dogs.  It is a story of newfound love, but it’s also about serious illness, specifically leukemia.  (A variety of that same disease took the life of Delia’s sister Nora.)

While one might expect this to be a depressing drama, it is not.  Yes, there are sad and tense moments, but there is joy and lightness.  The staging consists of a simple set, minor costume changes, and creative lighting and projection to change the mood or the season.  Margulies carries the work, projecting a full range of emotions, while Peter Francis James in brief roles as a friend, a gruff doctor, and a waiter adds a bit of humor and dance. 

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo of trees for sale along 3rd Avenue.

Sweden: Sculpture Park

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MILLESGARDEN MUSEUM

Sculpture terrace—MillesGarden

On the recommendation of our friends Mary and Joe, we visited the sculpture garden and house of Swedish sculptor, Carl Milles.  We took a cab from our hotel to a suburban residential area where the entrance to MilllesGarden is boldly signed on a quiet street.

Milles lived from 1875 to 1955, was in Paris for a few years early in his career, and then he and his wife Olga returned to his native Sweden on the outskirts of Stockholm.  Olga was also an artist, a painter, and Milles’ sister Ruth Milles too.

The grounds of the Milles property, built on several levels, include an expansive sculpture terrace facing the water, several pools, a couple of upper terraces, and their house. Many sculptures are mounted on tall pedestals.

Poseidon
Orfeus, (detail), 1936

Carl Milles collected antiquities and these pieces, along with plaster casts of some works, and art by both women, Olga and Ruth, are on display in the house.

Hylas cast, 1898-99
The Listening Woman, 1952

Milles favored classical and mythical figures from Europa to Orpheus in his work with the occasional fish or bison or other animal. It is an amazing collection (roughly 100 pieces) and was a treat to experience.

I liked several paintings by Olga Milles, one of a woman at the piano, and the other of some vibrant red poppies.

Lintschi Granner by the Piano, 1900

There is also a café, which we didn’t patronize, and a small shop where I purchased some note cards. There I got asked to do a visitor survey.  Using a QR code, I logged into the survey site on my phone.  Even after choosing English, it was not the easiest survey to navigate. I would have gladly provided some constructive suggestions, but was happy enough to just get through it! 

The desk staff called us a cab, and while we wondered for a bit if we’d be rescued, we were.  The taxi driver ferried us back and knew the streets well enough to turn away from a set of horses and riders slowly clopping their way down the road and backing up traffic.

OUTDOOR LUNCH

Bistro du Passage

This was Sunday, and many restaurants were closed, including almost all of them in Saluhall.  We spied outside tables at what we thought was Paula’s, but turned out to be Bistro du Passage according to the menu.  It was breezy and cool outside and I wanted to eat in, but the Chief Penguin insisted on an outdoor table. From our sidewalk seats, we watched family groups and individuals stroll by while we awaited our orders. 

Pappardelle with chèvre

This lunch was excellent.  I had pappardelle with chèvre which was lovely pasta with a goat cheese sauce and some little spears of asparagus, topped with thin slices of summer truffle, super yum!  The Chief Penguin had their chicken salad: greens, bell peppers, and sliced artichokes, all under a small chicken leg and thigh —some of the most flavorful chicken he’s had.  And I survived the gusty weather!

Note: All photos including header photo of sculpture terrace ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: Wyeth Family Art

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FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM: PART 2

Three Generations of Wyeths

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland is a center, along with the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa., for the artwork of three generations of Wyeths.  A former church building houses almost exclusively Wyeth paintings and sculptures, while the contemporary building has a variety of different exhibits, often one highlighting one Wyeth or another.   

The featured exhibit this year is Jamie Wyeth Unsettled.  It’s a collection of his eerie, sometimes spooky, and outright ghoulish paintings from several decades.  I didn’t love this exhibit. Some images I found too graphic and very disturbing, but I’m including a few works I did appreciate.  

There’s also a small exhibit of abstract watercolors by Andrew Wyeth, father of Jamie and probably the most famous of the Wyeth threesome.

N. C. WYETH

In a separate exhibit of works associated with Maine, I was struck by an action-filled painting by the first Wyeth, Newell Convers, known as N. C.  He lived from 1882-1945 and was both a painter and an illustrator.  He illustrated a series of Scribner’s classics, and he is likely best known for that work.  Born, raised, and educated in art in Massachusetts, Wyeth then moved to Chadds Ford where he made his lifelong home.  

Cleaning Fish, N. C. Wyeth, 1933

There is so much suggested motion in this Port Clyde painting with the flock of birds surrounding the fisherman while he calmly guts the fish. I also like the soft light and the almost pastel colors.

JAMIE WYETH: HAUNTED, SUPERNATURAL, STRANGE

Julia on the Swing, J. Wyeth, 1999

Jamie Wyeth Unsettled is a large exhibit divided into three sections.  They are “Strangers and Specters,” “Haunted Places and Disturbing Spaces,” and “The Natural and Supernatural Worlds.”  Paintings of indoor places and outdoor spaces are sometimes eerie or suggest imprisonment. In others, Wyeth uses bones to depict grotesque scenes, and in still another, an uprooted tree appears distorted into something threatening, possibly evil.  It’s a strange collection overall.

Gull and Windsor, J. Wyeth 1993
Farm Talk, J. Wyeth, 2016
Lightning Struck, J. Wyeth 1975

ANDREW WYETH:  WATERCOLOR STUDIES

Unseen Andrew Wyeth is a small selection of abstract watercolors, a stark contrast to the Jamie Wyeth exhibit.  These have never been displayed before and show Wyeth working with shapes and moods in blacks and browns primarily.  Some of these pieces were studies for later paintings, but not all of them.  For such a representational painter as Andrew Wyeth was, these works show a different side of his aesthetic.  Here are two of them I found striking.

Fog & White Dory Study, A. Wyeth 1941
Untitled, A. Wyeth

SUSTENANCE: MIDCOAST DINING IN ROCKLAND

WATERWORKS RESTAURANT

After an intense morning of art, where does one eat lunch?  We used to have a favorite corner grill that produced a good lobster roll, but it closed and became a cannabis shop.  Other places we’d tried after that were just ordinary.  This time I did some research and discovered WaterWorks on a side street not far from the Farnsworth.

Casual and attractive with lots of tables and a bar, WaterWorks delivered an excellent cup of clam chowder (one of the best we’ve had!) followed by tasty, not greasy, cheese and chicken quesadillas.  It was a delicious lunch and just what we needed.  Recommended!

Note: Header photo is of the painting, Boothbay Harbor by Edward Redfield, 1937. All photos taken by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)