Last Day in New York

Today I spent ALL DAY at the Met, it was fantastic!!

First off I had to track down Madam X, and discovered that they have devoted an entire gallery room to Sargent pantings. I was... agog. And the best part is it was nearly empty the whole time I was in there. (Maybe because they are renovating the American Wing so this layout is temporary, and also it is up and down stairs and rather hard to find and The Sargent Room is at the very end of rooms and rooms of American art. Anyway, I just felt I'd gone to heaven.)

What you can't see here are some exquisite landscapes on a wall to the right, including this incredible little painting of an Alpine Pool. And high up on another wall is The Wyndham Sisters. And truly, when you look at that painting, you can just about hear their silk gowns rustling on the white brocade couch.

Sketch after Velazquez' Juan de Pareja
approx. 6 x 6 inches, pencil on paper

This one is for my friend Shawn Kenney, who told me Velazquez' Juan de Pareja is one of his favorite paintings. So thanks to him mentioning that I sought it out and decided to do a little sketch.

Next up on my Met to-do list was to spend some time in the new Greek and Roman sculpture gallery. It has huge glass ceilings and a fountain making bubbling-water noises and as soon as you enter you start to breathe more deeply and slow down and really look. And there's lots to look at.

Sketch from an Aphrodite in Marble
Roman copy of a Greek orginal
Pencil on paper, approx 9 x 5 inches

Finally, I took another look at the Age of Rembrandt exhibit (see highlights from the exhibit here). This was actually my third visit to the Met this week, so I had already seen most the exhibit.

The exhibit was bigger than the Portland exhibit I went to last month, so it was nice to see a LOT of paintings. But, being the Met, it was really crowded. I would have loved to spend some time drawing Aristotle's Sleeves, but the place was just too mobbed.

So today was our last day in New York. I've added more pictures to my NY Picasa Album. Some are arty "photographs", some are just snapshots taken with the crappy camera phone. (The arty-est one is the blue billowing tarp over a dumpster, you have to agree.)

Next it's home and back to the studio. Stay tuned!!