A Year in New England: Weekend Nineteen

Though hardly a part of the weekend, I wanted to include the opening of Around the World in 80 Days at Playhouse on Park, where I have been volunteering the past couple of months. The theatre is very close to home, which is great for me. It's a small (163 seats) intimate space with a a ¾ thrust stage. And while chosen as Best Community Theatre in the area, the actors are mostly Equity from NYC, with nationally acclaimed directors and designers.

The show, which we saw a preview of on Wednesday night, is hysterical. Five actors playing a variety of comedic roles, tell the story which is well known. The actor that plays Passepartout, is especially funny, doing backflips and other physical bits to go with his French accent. I hope it is a successful run, as this is not a financially-secure group.

The weekend action began on Saturday (after tag sales) in West Hartford, with the Artwalk Festival. This redesigned event, which used to actually be an artwalk, was now located in a green space adjacent to the upscale Blueback Square. There was Art that could be hung from a clothesline for sale, and others who “demonstrated” their Art. Most were plein aire painters, but I came with a pile of pine and created Salvadore Doggie.

We got lots of nice comments from adults and children. And there was even one woman who might have bought a dog if I negotiated a lower price (which I did not, as the prices are already very low). After completion, he went, along with the other pieces painted that afternoon, to auction later in the afternoon. Have no idea if anyone bid on Salvadore.

That night we went downtown Hartford to the Riverside Stage to see Pilobolus Dance Theatre. There was a large crowd, shoehorned onto the grassy slope above the Connecticut River to see this internationally renowned, uniquely creative, CT-based group. Heck, it was free.

More athletic than dance-like, the men and women displayed strength and flexibility as they went through their routines. Photos were not allowed so I’ve included images from their website.

We did spot a wedding party on the way in:

And enjoyed the light show on the CT Science Museum on the way out:

Sunday we got up early and drove to New York for a day of Art. My main mission was recording images of more woman sculptors, but, as usual, we saw so much more.

Beginning uptown, in Washington Heights (Broadway & St. Nicholas Ave), we found a sculpture by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney called Inwood War Memorial, done in 1921. Ms. Whitney, if you are not aware, is the founder of the Whitney Museum, as well as a major force in modern Art in America.

And look what we found along the way:

We tried to get closer to the statue of El Cid Campeador by Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, but the gates were locked. This is at Broadway and 155th.

Here is someone else’s photo:

On the way to our next stop, we drove by Columbia University on Amsterdam Ave and noticed a large sculpture which I recognized as a Jacques Lipchitz. Since it was Sunday morning, we easily found a parking space next to an entrance to the campus. Here are few of the sculptures we found there:

Alma Mater is Minerva by Daniel Chester French (1903)

The Great God Pan by George Grey Barnard (1889)

Scholar’s Lion by George Wyatt (2004)

Le Penseur is a rare original cast by Auguste Rodin

Bellerophon Taming Pegasus by Jacques Lipchitz (1967)

Life Force by David Bakalar (1988)

Three Way Piece: Points by Henry Moore (1967)

The Tightrope Walkers by Kees Verkade (1973-79)

Curl by Clement Meadmore (1968)

And some Columbia runners:

And, of course, this Ivy Leaguer:

We found the sculpture of Harriet Tubman by Allison Saar (2008) at 8th Ave and W. 122nd. It was Marie’s favorite of the day:

Then we parked the car on Park Avenue near 109th Street, and walked over to Central Park. At the Central Park Conservatory Garden (at the Ave & 106th) we found this sculpture in the center of a great pool:

We thought is was the sculpture we were seeking by Bessie Potter Vonnoh, it turned out to be
Three Dancing Maidens by Walter Schott. Ms Vonnoh’s sculpture was elsewhere in the park. I will find it someday, as well as several others that have eluded me.

Continuing down 5th Ave we found this piece in from of El Museo del Barrio:

The Jewish Museum is at 5th and 92nd Street, where we went to see the show: Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore. There was a line of people waiting for the museum to open at 11, to see the show that would close at the end of the month. The cost was $12 each. We were heavily screened, bags searched and photos were not allowed.

As the title suggests, Henri Matisse was the most represented artist, with a variety of his paintings. My favorite was one of his wife after giving birth. Not a portrait at all. There were several odalisques and other women, which seemed to be the major theme Here are a few images I found online:

Seated Odalisque Left-Knee Bent Ornamental-Background and-Checkboard

Large Reclining Nude

Standing Odalisque Reflected in a Mirror (1923)

Matisse even did a bronze female nude:

There were also works by Corbet, Pissarro, and Picasso:

Pablo Picasso, Woman with Bangs (1902)

A Renoir, a Rodin, and a Gauguin:

And one (dare I say) not-so-great Van Gogh:

We took a quick look around the rest of the museum which, naturally, focused on Judaica. There also had a show by a Jewish artist who did children's books, Ezra Jack Keats:

singing bird from In a Spring Garden

After a quick bite at Heavenly Rest Stop on the 5th Avenue sidewalk in from of the Episcopal Church (large helping of curried chicken salad and a fresh mozzarella./tomato plate for $8 each), we went next door to the National Academy Museum. They were having an open house to celebrate the building’s renovation and admission was free. There were also free classes, but we didn’t have time to stay for those.

Tasteylingus by John Chamberlain, 2010

There was an exhibition of Will Barnett at 100, with a review of his paintings.

After taking this shot, I was informed that photos were not allowed, so I found these online:

Three Chairs (1991-92)

Self-Portrait (1981)

There were also rooms with 120 paintings by and of members of the National Academy from their history, which was founded in 1825:

Barrel of Fun by Reginald Marsh

The building was originally the Huntington mansion on Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile.

Just ten blocks south was the Henry Frick Collection. We didn’t go in, but the pediments for the main entrance were done by a woman sculptor named Sherry Edmunson Fry in 1913:

Then it was over to Lexington Ave near West 78th Street to visit the All Souls Unitarian Church. Inside was a memorial to Theodore Williams which was sculpted by Evelyn Beatrice Longman in 1923:

We caught the Lexington Ave subway downtown to the Fulton Street Station in search of Fred Dana Marsh’s tile murals that he did for the McAlpin Hotel in 1923 They were installed in the subway station in 2000. It appeared, however, that the entire station was under construction and the walls were covered by plywood. Here is a shot of one of the murals I found online:

Here's a piece of the original station decoration. Fulton's Folly:

The MTA has a long-standing program of Art for Transit which adorns the stations, platforms and connectors with a variety of Art by a wide range of artists. Here is a sampling of Art we found “en route:”

Blooming by Elizabeth Murry at 59th Street:

Oculus by Kristen Jones and Andrew Ginzel at Chambers Street:

Though our mission was to highlight women artists, I’ve included subway Art by both genders.

Life Underground by Tom Otterness at 14th St & 8th Ave:

Our last stop of the day was the High Line. The first section of his former elevated train line opened as an open space in 2008, beginning in the meatpacking district. Section 2 opened in June of this year. We began at 14th Street and 10th Ave and walked south almost to the end at Gansevoort to get pictures of Kim Beck’s Space Available show which was on rooftops along Washington Street:

Then headed north, along with the crowd of strollers, taking in the sights:

There was Julianne Swartz’s Digital Empathy:

And Still Life with Ladscape (Model for Humanity) by Sarah Sze:

And a whole lot of people watching.

Art at the northern terminus (30th St) is still in progress:

And downstairs was the High Line Rink and The Lot. There is an ever-changing selection of street food available. We chose Korilla, as two Korean women were eating from there as well. A huge platter of spicy pork, sticky rice, vegetables and kimchi for $8. We passed on the beer, also $8.