Frommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2015 (Easy Guides) by Pauline Frommer

Author:Pauline Frommer [Frommer, Pauline]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: FrommerMedia
Published: 2014-10-05T16:00:00+00:00

Uptown

Upper East Side

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum MUSEUM Architect Mies Van der Rohe famously said, “God is in the details.” That could be the motto for the Cooper-Hewitt, which has made a name for itself by taking simple subjects in the world of design—say wallpapers or super-strong textiles—and dissecting them to the point not of exasperation, but of fascination. The textiles exhibit, for example, showcased what looked like crocheted bags that were actually used in reconstructive heart surgery; and entire fabric-covered kayaks that weigh less than 20 pounds. Because the Cooper-Hewitt, which is a branch of the Smithsonian, is the only design museum in the nation to cover both contemporary and traditional design, its exhibits have a breadth and depth that’s quite unusual.

The museum was undergoing a massive renovation as this book went to press, which will add another floor of exhibition space. The planned re-opening is early in 2015. Be sure to check the website for current details on hours and costs.

2 E. 91st St. (at Fifth Ave.). www.cooperhewitt.org. 212/849-8400.

The Frick Collection MUSEUM/HISTORIC HOME Arguably the best small museum in the nation, the Frick provides a deeply satisfying experience on a number of levels. There’s the highbrow fun of seeing some of the world’s greatest masterpieces; the lowbrow kick of getting a firsthand peek at the home of one of the super-rich and famous; and the somewhat macabre thrill, akin to a séance in a way, of communing with someone long dead through his choices in art. In the end, the Frick Collection is as much about Henry Clay Frick and the world he created as it is about the art itself.

And that’s a good thing, as Frick (1849–1919) was a fascinating figure, an entrepreneur in the steel and coke industries with only 3 years of formal schooling, who became a self-made millionaire by the time he was 30. On his death, he bequeathed his enormous art collection and the grandly colonnaded neoclassical mansion that housed it (built by Carrere and Hastings, architects of the N.Y. Public Library) to the formation of a public museum for the purpose of “encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts” in the United States.

It’s not a large museum, but in each of the 16 galleries there are wonders to behold, paintings and sculptures from nearly every great artist in the Western Canon. Because Frick wanted viewers to have their own experiences of the art, there is very little wall text posted, nor is the art arranged in any “instructive” manner—different periods of art are mixed together, as are artists of various nationalities. Unlike the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia, Frick gave his trustees the right to change the arrangement of the works, and acquire new ones; a full third of what you’ll see was purchased after Frick passed away.

But most of the great pieces are from Frick’s era and they are a testament to his astute taste as a collector. This is a man who not only collected Rembrandts (a trifecta of them!)

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