Sunday, November 20, 2016

NYC: The American Art Fair, and Sotheby's Display area

Sunday, Nov 20, 2016 - On Nov 15, in my ArtfixDaily News Feed email, I saw a blurb about The American Art Fair in New York City over the weekend:


Well, doesn't that look like FUN!

Wendy & I left the house at 7:10 to usher at Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church 7:45 service; left there at 9 AM and pulled into the NYC parking garage at 1 PM:

We have discovered that it is MUCH BETTER to not do the "I-95 thing" into New York City. We go down to Hartford, then south on 91 to Exit 17, and take Route 15, known as the Wilbur Cross Parkway, which runs into The Merritt Parkway, which runs into the Hutchinson River Parkway (I have told my kids "Any time you can take a road with the word Parkway in it, do it."). Then into the Cross County Parkway, then south on the Saw Mill River Parkway, which runs into the Henry Hudson Parkway which takes you down the west side of Manhattan. It is a REALLY PRETTY ride and, according to Google Maps, only takes an extra 5 minutes!

On our way down, Wendy discovered Cafe Luca at 71st and 1st Avenue ("Local haunt serving a huge selection of diner standards from morning to night in a functional space."):

Parked at the garage at 1351 1st Avenue, walked down and had a great club sandwich & fries. Last night I hit Sotheby's website just to see what is on display this weekend and discovered they have a major American Art auction Monday evening, with viewing hours this weekend!

So we walked a block over to Sotheby's!:

and up to their exhibition/viewing galleries on the 10th floor:

Wendy looking a a beautiful Worthing Whittredge painting:

Worthington Whittredge - The Pine Cone Gatherers, 1866


Andrew Wyeth - Main Gaff, 1983 watercolor


William Bradford - Golden Rays on the Labrador Coast, 1868


Thomas Moran - Yellowstone Lake, circa 1874 watercolor


Thomas Moran - Tulolmne River Near the Head of the Great CaƱon, 1890


Albert Bierstadt - Sunset in California, Yosemite


Albert Bierstadt - Yosemite, circa 1875


William Trost Richards - Off Conanicut, Newport, 1904


Sanford Robinson Gifford - Indian Summer, circa early 1860s


Additionally at Sotheby's we saw works by
Frederic Edwin Church
Jasper Cropsey
Childe Hassam
Winslow Homer
Ogden Pleissner
Francis Augustus Silva
N.C. Wyeth
Felix Ziem
plus additional works by Bierstadt, Bradford, Gifford, Moran, Richards, and Andrew Wyeth

We then walked 1 1/2 blocks up, and 1 1/2 blocks over to the Bohemian National Hall, which was hosting The American Art Fair (17 dealers/galleries in 3 floors of a single building!).

All the dealers were very gracious; some highlights include:

William Trost Richards - On the New Jersey Shore, 1897 [Avery Galleries]


Alfred Thompson Bricher - Narragansett Beach, 1874 [Menconi + Schoelkopf]


Sanford Robinson Gifford - A Ledge in the Catskills, c. 1865 [Menconi + Schoelkopf]


Robert Seldon Duncanson - Short Mountain, Hawkins County, Tennessee, circa 1851-1853 [Debra Force Fine Art, Inc.]


Winslow Homer - Boys Fishing, circa 1873 [Debra Force Fine Art, Inc.]


But the highlight for my day is
Thomas Moran - Castle Rock-Green River, Wyoming, 1907 [J. N. Bartfield Galleries]

unfortunately, $4,500,000 is somewhat out of my budget.

This day, and this type of viewing, is a once-in-a-liftime experience. By the end of the week, these paintings might well be in someone's home, halfway around the globe, never to be seen in public again.

On our way down in the elevator we chatted with a man who had also been at Sotheby's, and then this "Art Fair", and he was now heading 2 miles over-and-down to Christie's (in Rockefeller Center). It being just before 4, I had had enough for the day, but when I got home, I researched Christie's - OH WOW!

Well, maybe next year...

Picked up the car at 4, Dinner at Five Guys in Manchester, CT at 7, listened to the 2nd half of the Patriots Game (Patriots 30, 49ers 17) - Home at 9. Excellent Adventure-Time with my Beautiful Bride! Thank You God for these Great Days!

Music today:

Yes - The Yes Album, 1971


various artists - 18 Modern Rock Classics From The 80's, 1996


Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Zuma, 1975


The Police - Outlandos d'Amour, 1978


Marc Cohn - The Rainy Season, 1993


Bruce Hornsby and the Range - Scenes from the Southside, 1988


Bruce Hornsby and the Range - The Way It Is, 1986


Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine (On Sept. 1, I joined Deede and Tad hiking Mt. Katahdin [Hunt Trail] - his final day on the AT!)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2016 - A nice trip to Wellesley with Wendy.

An hour down, then back to The Ship Restaurant and Christmas Tree Shops on Route 1, then home.

Last week I was reviewing their online database, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see that some of "my favorites" were now "On Display" at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College:

It is a misty/rainy day, but that doesn't stop the Dixons!

The building (4 floors) has a wonderful sense of space, and they do a great job using natural light:




Claude Monet - Waterloo Bridge, 1899-1903:


Albert Bierstadt - Horse on the Wilderness, 1859-60


Thomas Moran - View of Venice, 1895


William Louis Sonntag - Autumn in the White Mountains, ca. 1865


And there was a good write-up of 19th-Century American Landscapes, plus a map:


(my only concern is the two "Albany"s on the Hudson River).

Nice Lunch at The Ship Restaurant on Route 1 - I have been passing by it for 34 years, and finally got a chance to eat there; good club sandwich & fries & coffee! Errands at the Christmas Tree Shops next door, then home. Thank You God for these Great Days!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine (On Sept. 1, I joined Deede and Tad hiking Mt. Katahdin [Hunt Trail] - his final day on the AT!)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Niagara Falls & art museums - Day 2-of-2

Sunday, Nov 13, 2016 - Wendy has never seen Niagara Falls, so that is the trip this weekend!

Today = 532 miles. Left Super 8 at 7:30 for 8 AM Church Service, then Niagara Falls State Park, then over to the Canadian Side, then "Back in the USA" to Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (Utica, NY), then home.

detail map:


We made the 8 AM service at St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church:


Then headed up the road to see NIAGARA FALLS (Honeymoon Every Night!):



They had closed the Observation Walkway because it was SO WINDY.

So we walked over Green Island and around on Goat Island and took some fun pictures:





As you can tell, it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY - not a cloud in the sky!

Then through customs over to see the Canadian Falls

and look back at the American Falls:



I tried to fill up my travel mug at Tim Hortons

but they were "Closed For The Season". Oh well - back on the road!

Four hours later we were visiting the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (Utica, NY)

They have a very nice Steve McCurry exhibition (National Geographic photographer).

I had previously visited in November 2014, on my way back from seeing Deede in California. This time I emailed ahead, and FOUR paintings I like are on display now (they had been in storage 2 years ago).
Jasper Cropsey - Castle by a Lake, 1855

(pretty funky frame!)

Sanford Robinson Gifford - Galleries of the Stelvio-Lake Como, 1878


Sanford Robinson Gifford - Constantinople from the Golden Horn, 1880


Thomas Moran - Bridge Over the East Barranca, Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1903


Additional highlights include paintings by Asher Durand, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hooper.

Hum ... that sideboard looks VERY FAMILIAR


Dinner at Five Guys in Springfield - Home in time to watch the Patriots for a little before bed. Good Adventure-Time with my Beautiful Bride. Thank You God for these Great Days!

Music today - started with some God music on my phone, then:

Steely Dan - Aja, 1977


Steely Dan - Gaucho, 1980


And Then it was Time For Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band!!
2016/07/16 Rome, Italy

34 songs - 8 minutes shy of 4 hours! ?a little preview for Auckland Feb 25, 2017??

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine (On Sept. 1, I joined Deede and Tad hiking Mt. Katahdin [Hunt Trail] - his final day on the AT!)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/