another New York City Day Trip

Tuesday, March 29, 2016 - Down to New York City, then back home:

490 actual miles; left at 6:10 AM, home at 9 PM (after dinner out).

Wendy's calendar for today says "ADVENTURE is out THERE" - well, it certainly looks that way!

Repeating my adventure from last November, I wanted to continue exploring this in-between-area in the world of art - the space between Public Museums and Private Collections. They are the commercial fine arts galleries/Private Art Dealers (Questroyal Fine Art in NYC) and auction houses (Sotheby's and Christie's in New York, Skinner in Boston), and they offer art-on-view for very limited times:

ArtFix Daily's announcement for Questroyal Fine Art:


and Sotheby's website:


Wendy and I left the house just after 6 AM, hit traffic on 128 South, but had clear sailing after that (well, 95 between New Haven and NYC had stop-and-go traffic) - I hit the NYC parking garage around 11:20 AM. A nice sunny 2-block walk over to Sotheby's on York Avenue, between 72nd and 71st Streets:

who's the classiest girl in New York City??!!

It was GREAT seeing a very large version (6 feet high by 8 feet wide) of Ansel Adams' YOSEMITE VALLEY FROM INSPIRATION POINT, WINTER, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, circa 1940, in their 10th floor viewing space:

The auction is Sunday April 3 at noon, and this piece has an estimate of $40,000 - $60,000.
(note from the future - this piece sold for $118,750!)

Other iconic Ansel Adams pieces at Sotheby's included:
'CLEARING WINTER STORM, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK', 1944


YOSEMITE AND THE RANGE OF LIGHT, 1945


There were also photographs by Helmut Newton (naked women), Robert Mapplethorpe (more naked women) and Irving Penn (more more naked women). Since this is a G-Rated blog, you will have to search for the images yourself.

We walked over to Third Avenue and had club sandwiches at J.G. Melon at the corner of 74th Street. Then up to 79th and Park; Questroyal Fine Art is on the 3rd floor, and they have a beautiful collection/inventory! I had a nice visit with co-owner Brent L. Salerno, and their holdings include:

Thomas Moran - Sunset, Amagansett, 1905


Jasper Cropsey - Autumn Landscape, 1885


John Frederick Kensett - New England Sunrise


William Trost Richards - Bouquet Valley in the Adirondacks, 1863


William Trost Richards - Seascape, 1883


Thomas Moran - Sunset, 1922


We walked past our old apartment at 108 East 81st Street, and then got out-of-town. Hit traffic on 95 in Connecticut, restaurant dinner in Danvers, home by 9 - Thank You God for a Great Day! - It Worked Out Perfectly!

Music: When I travel with Wendy, the music is secondary

Dave Matthews Band at Fenway Park


Sittin' In - Loggins and Messina 1st album


Tracks (1st cd) - Bruce Springsteen


Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire (I have done 41-of-48 thru October 2015)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Milwaukee Art Museum trip - Day 4

Sunday, March 6, 2016 - Mentor, Ohio - 2 museums in Syracuse - then home - 667 miles today (2,470 miles total trip!):


At 8 AM, it was 24º in NW Pennsylvania!

I saw 3 young deer grazing by the side of the highway.

Saturday I consulted the list of museums that I have visited, and I discovered that I have missed the two in Syracuse, New York. I called the Syracuse University Art Galleries to see if their Bierstadt and Kensett pictures were on display and I was told "YES", so that was my first stop Sunday (after driving 5 hours!):



Albert Bierstadt - Albino Doe and Two Fawns in Forest, c. 1875


John Kensett - The Fall in the Hills, c. 1850


There was a wonderful large canvas that certainly caught my eye:
(School of) Giovanni Paolo Panini - [Fantastic landscape with ruins and figures], c. 1715

The Display Info Card says that "Another potential author is Hubert Robert of Paris who created similar fantasy paintings in the early years of his career when he was in training in Rome."
detail:


I then went across town to the Everson Museum of Art:


Albert Bierstadt - Nevada Falls, 1863


Asher B. Durand - Artist Sketching Roman Ruins, 1841 graphite


and a nice surprise:
Andrew Wyeth - Hoffman's Slough, 1947


I hit Boston around 4 o'clock, got a car wash in Revere, and got home around 5. Wow-de-Wow-de-Wow - what a great walkabout!! Thank you God!!

Music for today was albums from my new silver nano:

Alone Together by Dave Mason, 1970 (1st solo album after leaving Traffic)


Anything Anytime Anywhere (Singles 1979-2002) by Bruce Cockburn, 2002


Bad Blood by Bastille, 2013


Bedtime Stories by David Baerwald, 1990

David Baerwald is one-half of David + David, whose 1986 album Boomtown is one of my favorites (their only recording). I listened to Bedtime Stories twice because I enjoyed it so much.

Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company, 1968


Live 2012 by Coldplay, 2012 (PLAY IT LOUD!!)


CSNY 1974 - First Set by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1974
CSNY 1974 - Second Set by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1974


line from Neil Young's "Old Man":
But I'm all alone at last.
Rolling home to you.

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire (I have done 41-of-48 thru October 2015)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Milwaukee Art Museum trip - Day 3

Saturday, March 5, 2016 - down to the Milwaukee Art Museum, then start the trip home - 538 miles today:


I had thought about going over the north side of Lake Michigan (through the Upper Peninsula), but it would have added too many hours and miles. So I just stuck to the plan. Left Font du Lac early (bad internet) and camped at a McDonald's for an hour doing yesterday's blog (paid the rent with a cup of coffee).

The Milwaukee Art Museum just completed a huge renovation/redesign - doubling their space, and they did a wonderful job! It sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, and of course has an excellent Nautical Flavor, like a boat out of Star Trek:




They are currently hosting an exhibition "Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School"


No Photography was allowed, which I found funny because high-quality images are available on the website for the New York Historical Society Museum:

Albert Bierstadt - Donner Lake From the Summit, 1873


Frederic Edwin Church - Cayambe, 1858


Jasper Cropsey - Sunset, Lake George, NY, 1867


Thomas Hill - View of the Yosemite Valley, 1865


And with other masterpieces from other Hudson River School artists, including the 5 paintings of The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole, and works by Asher Durand, John Kensett, Gifford, Haseltine, and Richards, it is a WONDERFUL exhibit!

Elsewhere in the Museum's Permanent Collection ...
Claude Monet - Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, ca. 1900


a JWM Turner-look-a-like
Edward William Cooke - The Pilot Boat (Trouville Fishing Boat in a Fresh Breeze), ca. 1839

People learn from the Master!
From the Tate in London, here are 2 by JMW Turner:
Dutch Boats in a Gale, 1801

and The Shipwreck, 1805


there were 4 beauties by Thomas Moran, including:
Grand Canyon of the Colorado, Arizona, 1912


Tranquil Day in Venice, 1900


Winslow Homer - Hark! The Lark, 1882


William Louis Sonntag - Autumn in New Hampshire, ca. 1865

detail:


Albert Bierstadt - Wind River Mountains, Nebraska Territory, 1862


Andrew Wyeth - Afternoon, ca. 1945


Thomas Hill - Merced River, Yosemite Valley, 1896


a FUN Paul Jenkins - Phenomena Blue Held Over, 1975


a lovely Ansel Adams photograph - The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942


and a final appreciation for the architecture, before heading down the road:


I left Milwaukee at noon, and 7 hours later arrived (8 PM East Coast Time) back at the Super 8 in Mentor, just east of Cleveland. WOW-What A Day! Thank you God!!

Music for today was albums from my green nano:

Sailor by The Steve Miller Band, 1968


Number 5 by The Steve Miller Band, 1970 (nice line: "When the wind blows you home ...")


Time-Life Classic Rock: 1966 by various artists, 1966


80's Dance Floor by various artists, 1980s (a lot of live versions of great 80s songs)


Ballads by John Coltrane, 1963


American Stars 'n Bars by Neil Young, 1977


line from "Will to Love":
I bought that ticket
and I'll take that ride.

Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989 by George Harrison, 1989


Best of Hot Tuna (2 cds) by Hot Tuna, 1998


Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire (I have done 41-of-48 thru October 2015)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/