The MoMA
Steve and I have always loved the Museum of Modern Art. It had been years since our last visit, so dropped by on a rainy day. (Pro tip: if you are a MoMA member, during the holiday season there is a separate entrance for members with its own coat room - no waiting in lines!)
A new exhibit showcased highlights from the collection of Lillie P. Bliss, one of the women who co-founded the MoMA in 1929. At a time when ground-breaking artists like Cézanne, Seurat, and Picasso were ridiculed and dismissed, Bliss was a fierce champion. She generously bequeathed a large part of her art collection to the MoMA, and allowed for some of her pieces to be sold to fund new acquisitions. That’s how the MoMA acquired Van Gogh’s iconic painting The Starry Night. The image is practically ubiquitous nowadays, but still, there was something truly special about seeing the original painting up close. I tried to imagine Van Gogh applying those thick strokes of paint, and the torture and genius that must have driven him to create that remarkable night sky.
Another exhibit, The Clock by Christian Marclay, was completely different. It was a dark theater with comfortable sofas, showing a 24-hour film montage. Thousands of clips showing clocks, watches, and more were spliced together, each one synchronized to the actual local time, down to the minute. It was oddly fascinating. We watched for about 15 minutes, and most of the clips were from films we could easily identify. It was easy to imagine lounging on one of those sofas for an hour or more, waiting to see what film might pop up next.
We didn’t stay long at MoMA, but we did wander through a few other rooms on that level. As always, there was plenty of art that was surprising, illuminating, thought-provoking, and/or head-scratching. The oddest was an installation called Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites. The large room had suspended “clouds” made from old stuffed animals, and wall-mounted devices emitting air-freshener.
For me, the highlight of this visit was seeing The Starry Night. And I wanted to return and watch more of The Clock, but there wasn’t time (pun intended). Perhaps we’ll drop by on our next visit to Manhattan.
