New York Stories - the Museums

As I said, most of my New York trips were for appointments or coverage, but there have been some windows of opportunity to see some museum exhibits. I’m still somewhat museum- (and movie-, concert-, sports-, friend-, and lots of things) deprived from my time away, but I always knew how lucky I have been to live in places here where there is so much going on. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York – all have so much to offer. One of the first things I saw was an exhibit of sculpture from Vietnam, at the Asia Society. I had just seen quite a bit of it in Vietnam, but it was a first for anything like this to be in the U.S. I was struck with how special it was to have been in Vietnam; it’s still so recent that it’s been open to us. And the art from there is just beginning to be discovered – and the Asia Society is a treasure, and New York is full of treasures, so full that sometimes you need a reminder of how special it too is.

Here’s a sample from Vietnam of the kind of thing I saw in New York (it may be a while before I get to the Vietnam writeup!):


Another Asia Society exhibit I saw was photographs of the glaciers in the Himalayas, then and now – needless to say, the glaciers are a lot smaller now. Sad. I also went to the Museum of Natural History for an exhibit on the Silk Road. Weaving, natural dye, spices, silks, pottery – now I look at all of these and compare it to what I saw in Morocco. You can see some differences but the similarities are remarkable - it’s amazing to think of the trade routes and the products and people that traveled them.

At the Museum of the City of New York, I saw an exhibit on Mayor Lindsay. I saw him once in a restaurant, after he was no longer mayor, and he just radiated charisma. I have seen that type of charisma in person from only three people in my lifetime – Mayor Lindsay, Arny Langbo, the president of Kellogg’s when I worked at its Mrs. Smith’s subsidiary, and Joe Namath (I’ve heard other people say that about Namath too). Last year I went to the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, curious to see if what history said about him matched with what I remembered from my youth. I had the same approach to the Lindsay exhibit – after all, it covered more or less the same time frame. And as I experienced last year, some aspects of the exhibit were familiar and some were new to me – and with the passage of time, things took on a different perspective anyway. The records and the legacy are mixed (well, for Nixon too, when you think about it) – those times were turbulent.




I went to that exhibit on September 11 – and the Museum of the City of New York had a showing of the HBO documentary on 9/11. I hadn’t been in New York City on a September 11th, so I decided to commemorate the day by watching it. So, so upsetting. I don’t have to watch that again for another nine years – or ever. So, so emotional. I went to the Mets game that afternoon – now THAT’s a good way to commemorate the day; they had a short tribute but also a ball game – and saw the Tribute of Light in the sky that night (another good way to commemorate, though it’s not certain that it will continue after next year – I’m glad I saw it in person at least once!).


I went to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art – something I have been meaning to do since returning last year from Southeast Asia! It took me until this year, and Rose being in town, to get there – I enjoyed seeing the ancient art, but even more I enjoyed the contemporary art – some edgy stuff that combines old traditions with new interpretations. I took one picture before they told me that I wasn’t allowed to (oops) – and I didn’t erase it (I would have had they asked me to) – it’s a Buddha made out of tiny kids’ stickers.... love it.


And recently I went to the Morgan for an exhibit of Roy Lichtenstein black and white drawings. Roy’s widow Dorothy is a prominent philanthropist in Southampton (I’ve seen her picture in the local society pages!), so I felt like I was supporting the neighbors. The exhibit delighted me – his art is fun - and I left with an extra spring in my step (but no photographs…). Oh, the power of art to move people!