Open Mike: Seeing Art

Henri Matisse's cover for Henri Cartier-Bresson's The Decisive Moment

We got to go to Manhattan last weekend, and spent most of our free time there seeing art.

The highlight for both of us was the Matisse Cut-Out show at MoMA, which was a life-list kind of show. We got so lost in the art that we didn't even mind the capacity crowds that sometimes made it hard to move around freely in the galleries; I stopped noticing the people early on. It was fascinating to be allowed to track Matisse's thinking as he developed and perfected his cut-out method. Matisse is sui generis, really; there's no one like him and he has no real imitators. It's moving, lively, invigorating work which, like Calder, must be seen in person to really appreciate. Brave the lines, is my advice.

Many of Matisse's book covers based on cut-outs were also on display, including the original artwork for the cover of Cartier-Bresson's The Decisive Moment. (Coincidentally, I've been getting many reports this week that the reprint of that masterpiece photobook has finally begun to ship in America.)

The main gallery room at the Frick Collection at 70th Street and Park Avenue

On both Saturday and Sunday we spent time at the Frick Collection. I'd never been before. Built as a final testament by U.S. Steel co-founder Henry Clay Frick to house his extensive collection of old masters, it was technically his family's residence before it was a museum, but that's a bit disingenuous because it was built (or rather, extensively remodeled from a pre-existing building) specifically to be a museum, and in fact Frick himself only lived there for three years, from 1916 until his death in 1919. (His wife lived out her life in the house before it finally opened as a museum in 1935.) It's an astonishing place, where the priceless paintings are only the most obvious of many treasures, and the ambience of the breathtaking old mansion is a big part of the charm of the experiences. I was immersed in the study of old master painting when I was in high school and at Dartmouth, and many of the old masterpieces were both brand new to me (since I'd never seen the actual paintings in person) yet also deeply familiar.

I only saw one photography show, but it was an extraordinary treat. The show, also at MoMA, was "Modern Photographs from the Thomas Walther Collection, 1909–1949." The show consists of 300 photographs, mostly dating from between the two world wars. Vince Aletti, writing in The New Yorker, said, "One of the sharpest eyes involved in MoMA's terrific new exhibition...wasn't behind a camera. Walther himself is both sophisticated and shrewd. The German collector's adventurous sensibility is front and center in this show...."

MoMA itself calls the "Object:Photo" project of which this show is a part...

...A four-year collaborative project between the Museum’s departments of Photography and Conservation, with the participation of over two dozen leading international photography scholars and conservators, making it the most extensive effort to integrate conservation, curatorial, and scholarly research efforts on photography to date. That project is composed of multiple parts including a website that features a suite of digital-visualization research tools that allow visitors to explore the collection, a hard-bound paper catalogue of the entire Thomas Walther collection, and an interdisciplinary symposium focusing on ways in which the digital age is changing our engagement with historic photographs.

Emphasis mine.

Here's that interactive website of which they speak. The curiously named "hard-bound paper catalogue" (these are also known by the more familiar word "book") is here.

Whatever its provenance and its significance as an integration of research efforts, it's a smashing good show. We all approach shows differently, and I tend to look at art in terms of how it functions for me as art and from the perspective of the creative effort; I'm not so much concerned with conservation, curatorial, and scholarly research issues. So personally I'm not very fond of the overtly "modernistic" and (then-)experimental types of prints in this show. They look self-consciously arty, striving too hard for edginess and neomania, and so, paradoxically perhaps, they seem older than the more plainly photographic pictures also on the walls. Many are early explorations of effects that have by now been better done—or just overdone.

But there are so many pictures in the show that the ones which don't catch your fancy don't detract from the whole—there's plenty to look at and much to enjoy, no matter where your interest in early 20th century photography might happen to be. Although it was only the third best show we saw last weekend, it was a privilege, very rich and and deeply satisfying to see.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

HowardH: "I was lucky enough to see the Matisse cutouts exhibition at Tate Modern in London last year. Seeing so many widely reproduced works of art in real life and close up was an honor. You could even see the pin-holes Matisse left behind when he assembled the work in draft. I would wholeheartedly recommend the exhibition to anyone with even just a passing interest in Matisse as it gives a true insight into the mind of a creative genius."

tex andrews: "Oh, the Frick. One of the world's wonderful small museums. Many miss out on the Frick on a NYC trip, thinking, in a way correctly, that if you can only hit a couple of places then it's the Met and MOMA, maybe followed by the Guggenheim. But the charm of a place like the Frick is how manageable the viewing is, and how holistic the installation, as opposed to a great barn like the Met—and there are truly great works at the Frick.

"The more recent Neue Galerie is another charmer."

Joe Holmes: "How in the world did you get a shot of the Decisive Moment cover? No photos allowed!"

Mike replies: Oh, I didn't take that. I would never break rules that restrict my right to photograph.

[A different] Mike: "Nothing beats seeing art live. Doesn't matter how well a book is printed or a website is produced, the real deal packs a punch that cannot be replicated."

Comments

[D B]

Mike,

Did you know that I left a comment on your previous post about going to the Matisse show at MoMA? I was there about a month back. (The comment disappeared when it asked me to fill out the human-confirmation numbers etc.)

I floated through that place a few inches above ground. Like being drunk, in a very good way.

[MikeR]

Re The Decisive Moment, Amazon tells me I should have it in hand Monday afternoon.

[richardplondon]

Aah, yes. I caught the Matisse Cutouts while it was on in London. I agree that it's a try-very-hard-not-to-miss show.

During a Provence trip last summer, I also made sure to visit Matisse's tiled and stained-glass chapel at St Paul de Vence - of which the model and cutout maquettes of earlier schemes, are presumably in the NY show as they were in London.

Seen in the flesh, the chapel's far more self-effacing and nuanced than I had expected. Quite masterly: powerful forces, held on a tight rein.

[Benjamin Marks]

Lucky Duck. The Frick is a gem, a kind of space that may never come again, certainly not in New York.

[Hugh Smith]

You know. Matisse and HCB need to update their techniques.
Oh wait. They're dead.
Never mind.
Mi dos pesos.

[Robert]

We spent 3 weeks last summer in New York and Boston. New York is an outstanding World City, full of energy that grabs you, invites you in, asks you to be part of it and what can you add. Moma and the Metroploitan Museum of Art we would put high on our list of World class Museums and galleries. Whereas in Europe we are somewhat sedate and conservative, fencing off our best art. Here people were standing in front of $20M Jackson Pollocks taking selfies. The attitude was that this is art for the people and if that's how you see it, then that's fine.
We felt that The Metroploitan Museum of Art could be visited every day for a year and it could take that long to explore. By the time that you had finished you cou,d probably start all over again with new exhibits and exhibitions. It is not just what they have but the way that they do it. It had been suggested to us to visit the Frick but we had so many other things to do that it wil have to wait for another visit.

[Richard Newman]

Between museums, galleries, and public spaces, New York City probably has more spaces devoted to art - including photography, than anywhere else in the U.S. While I can't evaluate Paris, London or other overseas locations,I expect it rates high in the world. Next time, try to spend two weeks there to get a good sample. It'll be fun - but not cheap!

[Jim]

Take an informal poll in various places as to how many you ask have visited an Art Gallery in the past year or ever.
Most times I do this the answer is related to school assignments with many never going to any art galleries outside of a requirement by a teacher.
As a former Gallery owner I find it frustrating. As a viewer of art of various types I find it frustrating. I take the opportunity to visit Art Galleries of various sorts whenever I can.
The Arts are not emphasized in school(US) and that is a shame. Art can be enjoyed both as a viewer and participant all ones life.

[Keith I.]

Shortly after reading this my copy of the book shipped from Amazon. You must have been the signal they were waiting for.

[Henk]

Mike,

What a coincidence, the Dutch Museum "Mauritshuis" in the Hague will have an exhibition of a part of the Frick collection soon.

http://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/tentoonstellingen/the-frick-collection-art-treasures-from-new-york/

Keep up the good work,
Henk

[John Camp]

At first glance, I thought the bottom photo in your post was of your pools tables at TOP's new World Headquarters.

[Chris Lane]

Just curious. Will you be buying the reprint?

[Ben]

The Matisse show was wonderful. I loved it, my wife loved it, and my daughter, just four, was absolutely blown away. She's still talking about it a month after we went. I'd love to go back, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it back to NYC before it closes.

And it was nice to see those big prints of the Brown sisters on the way in.

The only thing that detracted from our visit was the sheer number of people who were also visiting the zoozeum of modern art!

[David Saxe]

Mike,
The Frick collection? The last time I was there (7-8 years ago) they would not let me in the place unless I checked my camera at the door. I made a bit of a stink and they allowed me in on condition. I promised not to take my camera out of my camera bag, These incidents are an ongoing issue with me over the past 40 years so congratulations on your success . A cell phone perhaps?