- New York MOMA
- San Francisco MOMA
- The Cloisters
- The Phillips Collection
- The Smithsonian Museums
- Unique Museums
I will never forget the first time I saw Van Gogh's Starry Night at the MOMA. I could not take my eyes off it. Since then I have followed Van Gogh's footsteps from his childhoold home in Eindhoven to his apartment in Montmartre, to Arles where he painted the Night Cafe and then to Auvers where he is buried next to his brother, Theo, at a cemetery close to the church he painted and made famous. There are more modern masters at this museum including many of the Impressionists. Two paintings stand out among the modern masterpieces here. These are The Dance by Matisse and Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso. I am also fascinated by Boccioni's sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.
The MOMA is located at 11 West 53rd St. between 5th and 6th Avenues. The museum is closed on Wednesdays. www.moma.org
San Francisco MOMA
This museum has been producing blockbuster exhibitions like the Magritte retrospective in 2000. My favorites here are Diego Rivera's The Flower Vendor, Jackson Pollack's Guardians of the Secret and Magritte's Les Valeurs Personnelles. Rivera's Flower Vendor is so evocative of his work on the burden the lower classes of society have to carry. The Guardians of the Secret intrigues the viewer and challenges him to discover the "secret". And Magritte's Les Valeurs Personelles gets you involved with the objects in the painting and what they represent. Spend some time in front of the MOMA building to better appreciate Mario Botta's architectural design. The building is a work of art in itself.
The San Francisco MOMA is located at 151 Third St. between Mission and Howard Streets. Closed Wednesdays. www.sfmoma.org
The Cloisters
This small museum which is at the end of a long bus ride on 5th Avenue is a gem. Five cloisters were transported from France and reconstructed at Fort Tryon Park, above the Hudson River. In one of the cloisters, herbs (of the variety planted during the middle ages in Europe) are grown here to complete the picture. Each cloister is distinct from the other and studying the different styles of columns in each one can be absorbing. The view over the Hudson river is refreshing and reminiscent of views from medieval European castles above the Rhine river. This museum is one of a kind.
The Cloisters is located at Fort Tryon Park. Closed Mondays.
The Smithsonian Museums
The breadth of the Smithsonian collection is impressive. At the Natural History museum you enter into the Dinosaur Hall and what a sight! The Hirshhorn has a vast collection of sculpture displayed indoors as well as outdoors in its beautiful garden. The National Air and Space museum has enough historical aircraft to keep you amused for days and is a great museum for children. They can explore the planes, ride them, touch them. The Apollo 11 module is on display as well as a lunar rock. The National Gallery exhibits a wealth of Western Art and its annex, connected underground by a walkway lighted by the glass pyramids of I. M Pei, displays modern and contemporary art. There are other museums on the Mall and the biggest problem is where to begin. There is something here for everyone and there is no entry fee. Spend at least a week here.
Location: The Mall, Washington D.C. Open daily except December 25. Nearest metro stop is L'Enfant Plaza.
The Phillips Collection
Renoir's The Boating Party (seen above) is the highlight of the collection. It is in a room by itself and you can sit in front of the painting and feel as if you are one of the "Boating Party". What is so intriguing about this painting is that one of the party is Gustave Caillebotte, an Impressionist painter whose works include Les Raboteurs (The Floor Scrapers) and Paris Street, Rainy Day (at the Chicago Art Institute and seen above). The Phillips Collection includes works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso and other American painters like Homer Winslow, Maurice Prendergast and Georgia O'Keefe. I especially enjoyed the Prendergast paintings.
The Phillips Collection is located at 1600-21st Street NW, Washington D.C. Closed Mondays. www.phillipscollection.org
Unique Museums
