The only museum I have ever been to that features a 'mini -zoo,' complete with marmosets, owls, boa constrictors and fish a plenty. This is probably intended to make children associate animals with museums and therefore FUN. Or to entice adults, as it was the first part of the museum we visited. After our animal experience, onto art. One of the major strengths of the collection is eighteenth and nineteenth-century American painting, displayed in the permanent galleries under the rather bland title of "
Picturing America." Fortunately, the exhibit surpassed its boring title and did a great job of hinting at the diversity of American visual culture during the period. You're not allowed to take pictures in the galleries (a
little squirrel provided me with images below...) so I cannot show the dynamic hanging of nineteenth-century American small-format photographs that was in the first part of the exhibit. The highlight of the photography case were a few
tintypes, a direct positive format that people of modest means could afford, not often on view in museums. Several photographs featured African American sitters as well as soldiers, bringing issues of race and class to the forefront. Less dazzling was the wall text of a wonderful painting of a Newark storefront from the 1840s by an anonymous artist which refers to the black man in the lower righthand corner as a "worker:"
Unknown Artist,
The House and Shop of David Alling, c. 1840s, oil on canvas.
As any nineteenth-century viewer would have recognized, this man is no mere "worker." New Jersey, more than its northern neighbors, clung to the institution of slavery. It was not until 1846 that slavery was officially abolished. The status of the "worker" in this 1840s painting is therefore uncertain. Is he a free worker, a slave, or in
1840s New Jersey slave parlance, "an apprentice for life?" The questions posed by this painting merit mention in the wall text...in my humble opinion.
A temporary American nineteenth-century landscape exhibit was full of surprises including this painting by Mary Nimmo Moran that depicts the industrialization of northern New Jersey as a gathering gray cloud in 1879:
Mary Nimmo Moran,
View of Newark from the Meadows, 1879, oil on panel.
I love thinking about how Mary had to trudge out to the meadows in order to depict the contrast between the pristine outskirts of Newark and the smoky industrial center that was already becoming a part of the New Jersey landscape.
V and I decided we needed a few days of relaxation to prepare for the stress of the new school year and the pressures of the (almost non-existent) academic job market season. I found this adorable hotel in Roxbury, NY called The Roxbury. Every rooom has its own theme, decorated to the max, but not in a tacky way. The hotel manages to achieve a delicate balance between kitsch and comfort. We stayed in the Go Lightly A-Go-Go room, complete with tiara, tiffany blue glitter mosaic and pictures of Audrey Hepburn all over the room.
After the hike we were super hungry and wanted a delicious lunch. Unfortunately it was past normal lunching hours when we finished so the best we could do was a local diner: the awesomely named Bun N' Cone in Margaretville. Viktor had a very sad little hot dog and I had a killer american cheese grilled cheese on white bread. Probably made with margarine, but it was delicious nonetheless. I convinced V to split a banana split with me: vanilla/chocolate soft serve swirl, whipped cream, nuts, hot fudge and cherry on top. Ice cream fantasy realized!
Unknown Artist, The House and Shop of David Alling, c. 1840s, oil on canvas.
As any nineteenth-century viewer would have recognized, this man is no mere "worker." New Jersey, more than its northern neighbors, clung to the institution of slavery. It was not until 1846 that slavery was officially abolished. The status of the "worker" in this 1840s painting is therefore uncertain. Is he a free worker, a slave, or in 1840s New Jersey slave parlance, "an apprentice for life?" The questions posed by this painting merit mention in the wall text...in my humble opinion.
Mary Nimmo Moran, View of Newark from the Meadows, 1879, oil on panel.
I love thinking about how Mary had to trudge out to the meadows in order to depict the contrast between the pristine outskirts of Newark and the smoky industrial center that was already becoming a part of the New Jersey landscape.
The first Sunday of every month in Paris is free museum day which means that all of the gigantic wonderful museums (Louvre, Orsay, Pompidou) fill up with people and make for a less than ideal museum going experience. If you want to avoid the crowds on Sunday (or any day really), the Musee de la Chasse should be on your list. Housed in a beautiful hôtel particulier just off the rue des Archives in the 3e arrondissement, this quiet museum specializes in creatively arranged taxidermy mixed in with marvelous animal art in various media and from a wide range of time periods. For example, one of my favorite rooms features the contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre's owl heads on the celiing and georgeous 18th-century sketches of birds on the walls. The domesticated dog room is another highlight: Jeff Koons' Puppy is displayed alongside an 18th-century genre painting of a misbehaving lapdog (pictured below) and dog collars from 17th-century dogs of Spanish noblemen. There are some wonderful dead animal still lives by Chardin and Desportes in the hunting-themed rooms mixed in with hunting accoutrements and taxidermy vitrines. Beyond the great artwork and the masterfully executed taxidermy (look at the way the eyes are integrated into the animal to see just how good these french taxidermists were!), the joy of visiting this museum is seeing how far the curators have pushed the envelope. Working here must be a blast.
Gambas a la plancha
Grilled Sardines
Croquette de crevettes grises (a belgian specialty not to be missed)
Because sometimes you just want a plate of veggies, nice service and bread procured by the best waiter in Paris.
