NEW YORK CITY: STATUES

Are statues and sculptures the same thing?  I looked up their definitions and found this:

SCULPTURE:

an individual piece of carving, modeling, welding, or otherwise figurative or abstract work of art in three dimensions, as in relief, intaglio, or in the round.

STATUE:

a three-dimensional work of art, as a representational or abstract form, carved in stone or wood, molded in a plastic material, cast in bronze, or the like.

Huh? Can any of you art experts shed further light on the subject?

Anyway, when we went to San Francisco in February, the dozens of murals painted on outdoor walls all over the city really jumped out at me.  In contrast, I didn't see many murals in New York City, but the statues/sculptures were fantastic.  Here is a sampling of my favorites:

Debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers after the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 knocked down a 100-year-old sycamore at a nearby church. The roots were used to create this awesome piece of art next to Trinity Church:

The oh-so-austere Apostles in the niches of the Trinity Episcopal Church watch over the tree roots, as if preventing future destruction in the city:

The grave of John Watts (174901836), a NYC politician, really stands out among more modest burial sites in the Trinity Church graveyard:

The Statue of Liberty stands on a city street. Wait! Shouldn't she be out in the harbor?

Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American to be canonized by the Catholic Church and the patron saint of Catholic schools, stands in one of NYC's churches:

A Pieta by William Ordway Patridge found in St. Patrick's Cathedral is not as powerful as the Pieta by Michelangelo in St. Peter's in Rome, but there are many similarities that made this very appealing to me, including Mary's tenderness and the limp peacefulness of the body of Christ:

Two statues in Chinatown: Lin Ze Xu (1785-1850, Pioneer in the fight against drugs) and Confucius (551-579 BC):

A 3-D model of Salvador Dali's melting clock from his famous painting The Persistence of Memory: 

Dali's sculpture The Snail and the Angel:

I love, love, LOVE this sculpture by Jim Shore entitled Keys to the Kingdom. It was outside the Lincoln Center Branch of the American Folk Art Museum. The artist is more commonly known for his resin Christmas figures that wear clothing painted with bright scenes. This angel is made from "found" objects. Her wings, for example, are made from keys:

I ADORED these gargoyle-like men hold up a balcony:

 

 

 

The Peace Fountain (1985) in the yard of the St. John the Divine Episcopal Church depicts the struggle between good and evil as represented by the Archangel Michael slaying Satan, whose head is hanging grotesquely over the edge of the platform:

Michael is snuggling a baby giraffe, a symbol of peace:

Saints and apostles stand as guardians to the doors of St. John the Divine. The figures are wonderfully human and approachable. Notice the small figures above the larger ones that have colored clothing and skin:

The columns show various NYC scenes, including the Twin Towers (left):

 In some ways St. John the Divine Cathedral reminds me of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Catedral in Barcelona, Spain--not quite finished, a mixture of styles, a very contemporary feel, and unexpected elements everywhere.  I'd recommend making a detour to see it if you plan a trip to NYC.

There is something in the heavy, permanent feel of a statue that fits New York City, just as the bright, airy, impermanent murals seem to fit San Francisco.

NEW YORK CITY: MoMA

Bob and I had a wonderful trip last week to visit our sister-in-law Mary who is serving a mission in New York City. She comes home this fall, so we knew our window of opportunity was narrow.  I had a week off for spring break, so the timing was right.  It was fun to see Mary in her element and to meet her wonderful companion, Sister Miller. We had a great time walking all over NYC with our own personal tour guide.

One of the places we visited was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA.). Someone has said that trying to understand modern art is like trying to follow the plot in a bowl of alphabet soup. While I can't claim to understand what I saw at MoMA, I LOVED this museum, partly because there were so many pieces I recognized.  I can thank Andrew for having given me an excellent art education over the last five or six years.  See how many of the following paintings you can name the artist of. (The answers will be at the end):

#1:

 

#2:

 #3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

(Hint: This artist is also known for his "sculptures" of a toilet seat and a urinal water fountain)

#7:

#8:

#9: 

#10:

#11:

#12:

#13:

#14:

#15:

#16:

#17:

 #18

It's a pretty amazing selection, isn't it?  Most of the paintings here should look at least familiar to anyone with a passing interest in art, with perhaps the exception of #12 and #18, two contemporary artists I would never have heard of if Andrew hadn't exposed me to them.  

Have you written down the names of each of the artists?  Are you ready for the answers?  Here they are:

1. Henri Rousseau (French, 1844-1910)

2. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

3. Paul Klee (Swiss/German, 1879-1940)

4. Amedeo Modigliani (Italian, 1884-1920)

5. Marc Chagall (Russo-French Jewish, 1887-1985)

6. Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968)

7. Vincent VanGogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

8. Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903)

9. Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)

10. Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872-1944)

11. Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907-1954)

12. Jasper Johns (American, 1930--)

13. Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997)

14. Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)

15. Rene Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967)

16. Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983)

17. Jackson Pollock  (American, 1912-1956)

18. Edward Ruscha (American, 1931--)

I used to think "modern art" and "contemporary art" were one and the same. Not so.  Modern art spans a definite time period, roughly the 1860s to the 1970s (at least according to that source of all knowledge, Wikipedia).  For the most part, I like modern art more than contemporary art, but as my understanding and education (thank you, Andrew) is expanding, I'm finding more to like in contemporary art as well.  All in all, I enjoyed this art museum, with its vibrant, exciting art, as much as any art museum I've been to.  

I'll end with two more pieces from MoMA: a painting I loved but whose artist I had never heard of, and a tongue-in-cheek poster that seems particularly relevant by an artist who teaches off and on in the  UCLA art department:

Dynamism of a Soccer Player by Umberto Boccioni (Italian, 1882-1916)

Barbara Kruger (American, 1945--)