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--)

SAN FRANCISCO PART 3: ART IN PUBLIC PLACES

San Francisco oozes artsy-ness.  I especially love the outdoor art.  Take a look (click on the individual picture for a close-up):

Sidewalk art in a back alley in Chinatown: "The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world."  -John Steinbeck

There were about a dozen of these.  "Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations."  -Lawrence Ferlinghetti

TO REMEMBER ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: "To be honest, to be kind. To earn a little, to spend a little less. To make upon the whole a family happier for his presence.  To renounce when that shall be necessary and not be embittered.  To keep a few friends but these without capitulation.  Above all, on the same grim condition, to keep friends with himself.  Here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy."

I especially loved all the murals.  I started paying more attention to murals when I first got interested in Banksy, the British street artist.  (See previous posts about Banksy here and here.)  San Francisco has some wonderful "street art."

This next series is my favorite piece (or pieces) of art from the entire Outdoor Collection.  See what appear to be white birds flying in front of the awesome mural on the building below?

It is actually a "flock of books" suspended high above the sidewalk with bindings spread wide like wings:

But be careful walking underneath those books; they are dropping their messes all over the sidewalk:

 

"San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel.  Every home a poem, every dweller within immortal. 

That is the whole truth."

-William Saroyan

SAN FRANCISCO PART 2: CHINATOWN

In January we spent some time with Andrew in Los Angeles's Chinatown, so we were excited to go to San Francisco's Chinatown and compare.  San Francisco Chinatown prides itself on being the largest Chinese community outside of Asia, as well as the oldest Chinatown in North America.  Wikipedia notes that it gets more visitors each year than even the Golden Gate Bridge.  Based on the day we were there, I can believe that.

A couple we struck up a conversation with in a restaurant on Saturday night mentioned they had taken a free "City Walk" tour.  When we got back to our hotel, I researched those tours on the Internet and discovered there was one in Chinatown available on Monday, and all we had to do was show up at the starting point, which was less than a mile from our hotel.  What a great deal!

Our tour guide was a retired high school history teacher with a love of the city.  He gave us the basic history, pointed out significant features and buildings, and took us down alleyways and into buildings we never would have ventured down and into on our own.  If you're ever in San Francisco and need a guide, we can recommend these City Walk Tours as a great place to start.

This is our guide (in the orange coat) and part of our group of about 20 walkers.

One of the entrances to Chinatown that happened to be located one block from our hotel

Our guide said this is the only "real" Chinese structure still standing.  Everything else is designed for tourism by American architects.

This mess of wiring didn't inspire confidence

Talk about prime real estate.  Chinatown abuts the poshest parts of downtown San Francisco's business district.

 Near the end of the tour, Bob and I were hungry and decided to branch off on our own.  We had seen lots of interesting food and were ready to try some.

If you need a live frog or turtle for dinner, this is your shop.  I was SO glad our hotel room did not have a kitchenette.

Bob selected some pork and a whole duck from one of the displays.  The shop's butcher cut it up into manageable-sized pieces for us to eat.

I think I would cut off my whole hand if I tried to use this cleaver.

We had some dim sum--Chinese appetizers--including chicken skewers, barbecued pork dumplings, and pork gyoza.

Tasty, beautiful desserts

While we were in the bakery eating our desserts, we noticed the banging of drums and clanging of cymbals out on the sidewalk.  As the ruckus got closer, we spied a dragon dancing in and out of the shops.  It had been the Chinese New Year celebration earlier that week, and we figured this was part of the tradition.  The dragon, a Chinese symbol of strength, power, and good luck, was bestowing his blessings on all the local business owners.  The drummers and cymbalists would stay out on the sidewalk making as much noise as possible while the dragon danced around in the shops.  When he came into our bakery, the women behind the counter made a point of reaching out to touch his furry head.

We did have one rather incredible experience.  As we were walking out of one of the shops at the Chinatown entrance near our hotel, we heard voice calling out, "Bob Cannon!"  It turned out to be Courtney Camp, a young girl from our ward in Redlands who has been attending the University of Utah and who was in San Francisco auditioning for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music graduate program in opera.  What are the chances?  It was a most auspicious meeting.  I think it had something to do with seeing the Good Luck Dragon earlier in the day.

All in all, San Francisco's Chinatown is fun, fun, fun!  We are looking forward to visiting a THIRD Chinatown in New York City in a few weeks.