Christie's NYC Oct 5, 2020

Monday, Oct. 5, 2020 - This quick trip allows me to write one of my favorite things: The Crossover Blog. Today's subject deals with art, which is the purview of my "Dixon Heading West" blog series (no National Parks this year, I'm sorry), while tomorrow's blog will deal with hiking in the Adirondacks, which is what "Dixon Heading North" is all about. Today was an Art Trip:

I left the house a little before 7, returned a book at the Waltham Library, and got to my SpotHero parking garage in NYC at 11:15 AM.

It is always a pleasure driving down the West Side Highway to get into The City:
and seeing the George Washington Bridge:

I think Wendy, Ellie and I had a meal here:

Times Square certainly looks empty:

Wow - I paid $23.99 (including taxes and fees) for 3 hours. Good thing I didn't just "show up here" - ($49.84 + 18.375% = $59.00):

Fun walking through The City:
Shades of Childe Hassam and his "Flag paintings"!

Christie's at 11:30 AM:
I was 30 minutes early for my appointment, but they allowed me in with no problem.

WHAT FUN - Tyrannosaurus rex named "Stan":
(Note from the future: According to wikipedia: "The auction house Christie's sold Stan in New York, as part of its 20th Century Evening Sale, on October 6, 2020. Stan sold for a record $31.8 million to an anonymous buyer.")

Today's Other Highlights include:

Auguste Rodin - "L'Ombre, taille originale dite taille de la Porte", bronze cast 1963:

Claude Monet - "L'église de Vernon", 1883 oil:

Claude Monet - "Falaise près de Dieppe", 1897 oil:

Jackson Pollock - "Red Composition", 1946 oil:

I don't know - I think the painting is a little small for my taste (19 inches by 24 inches):
and I like the poster outside a lot better:

"I think" that Jackson Pollock's "perfect period" was a rather narrow window - 1946-to-1953; but, as you can see, even then it was hit-or-miss:

Jackson Pollock - "Untitled", 1951 ink and watercolor on Howell paper:

Tiffany Studios - "Laburnum" Table Lamp, c.1905:

And then, simply because of its OUTRAGEOUS ESTIMATE ($35,000,000-50,000,000):

Cy Twombly - "Untitled [Bolsena]", 1969 oil:

Someone who reminds me of the Jackson Pollock paintings I like::

Sam Francis - "Untitled", 1986 acrylic:

Note from the Future - these pieces sold for:

Lot 59 - Tyrannosaurus rex - $31,847,500
(estimate 6,000,000 - 8,000,000)

Lot 556 - Auguste Rodin - L'Ombre, taille originale dite taille de la Porte - October 8 auction: unsold
(estimate 200,000 - 300,000)

Lot 21 - Claude Monet - L'église de Vernon - $4,710,000
(estimate 4,000,000 - 6,000,000)

Lot 47 - Claude Monet - Falaise près de Dieppe - $2,190,000
(estimate 1,500,000 - 2,000,000)

Lot 5 - Jackson Pollock - Red Composition - $13,000,000
(estimate 12,000,000 - 18,000,000)

Lot 42 - Jackson Pollock - Untitled - $600,000
(estimate 350,000 - 550,000)

Lot ... - Tiffany Studios - 'Laburnum' Table Lamp - December 11 auction
(estimate 250,000 - 350,000)

Lot 16 - Cy Twombly - Untitled [Bolsena] - $38,685,000
(estimate 35,000,000 - 50,000,000)

Lot 334 - Sam Francis - Untitled - $250,000
(estimate 200,000 - 300,000)

It is always fun to get a quick look "behind the scenes":

very nice walking back to my car:

And I feel like Claude Monet with my pictures of St. Patrick's Cathedral:

I then headed over, and up the West Side Highway, with the George Washington Bridge in the distance:

4 hours later I was up in the Adirondacks, looking for a mountain that Winslow Homer painted ("Burnt Mountain"). It turns out that there are at least 2 "Burnt Mountain"s up here, but it was a nice dirt-road-drive through the woods:

And it was lovely crossing the Hudson River on my way back to "civilization" (meaning "Interstate 87 North"):

521 miles driving - Checked into the Super 8 in Ticonderoga about 5:30 PM, Pepperoni pizza and Monday Night Football (Patriots and Chiefs in an early game)!! - Thank You God for a Great little adventure!!

Driving music:

Neal Stephenson (a sci-fi author I really like) wrote his opus Cryptonomicon in 1999, and I'm doing cds 7, 8 + 9 today:

then "music I don't usually listen to":

Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane - Rough Mix, 1977

then, because I was in NEW YORK:
various artists - Saturday Night Live: 25 Years Of Musical Performances, Vol. 1, 1999

Grateful Dead - Woodstock: 40 Years On, 1969
Only one song - "Dark Star" - 19 minutes 12 seconds.

Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People, 2015 (standard and acoustic versions)
chorus/lyrics for "The Next Storm":

But I don't want to spend the whole of my life indoors
Laying low, and waiting on the next storm
I don't want to spend the whole of my life inside
I want to step out, and face the sunshine

Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night, 1987
A really nice Fleetwood Mac album, from the late-1980s.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories, 2013
Um, the only "keeper" on this album is their hit "Get Lucky", which won the awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2014 Grammy Awards.