Wednesday April 24, 2018 it was raining. I was tired and cold. I arrived at 68thStreet around 1 in the afternoon. As I walked to the museum I decided to look at what hour the museum’s pay what you wishpolicy begins. The pay what you wish policy begins at 2PM and when I checked my phone it was 1:13AM. I decided to stand under scaffolding for about 15 minutes and waited for the rain to pass. Then I decided to walk around Central Park until the time came. Time passed very slowly but I enjoyed walking through the park. When it was time I walked to the museum located on 1 East 70th Streetand got my bag checked. Then I walked to get my ticket. I paid a dollar. After that I got my ticket checked and proceeded to go explore the museum. I checked in with one of the employees to see if they allowed pictures to be taken. They did not allow photos anywhere except the garden. I took a couple of pictures in the garden and then entered the Oval Gallery. There was nothing special there, so I continued on to the West Gallery. At this moment I decided to take notes since I couldn’t take pictures.
The first painting that caught my attention was Hobbema’s Village with Watermill among Trees. This painting reminded me of the kind of genre paintings my mom likes. The landscape gave a quaint vibe. The green, blue, and grey colors gave the painting a slight feel of melancholy which I liked. The next painting that caught my attention was a Rembrandt. It was a portrait of a man which upon closer inspection one could notice the thin brush strokes which surrounded his beard. I looked at the art pieces for about 3-5 minutes each. Turner’s Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet Boat, Eveninghad very pretty peach tones. I really enjoyed this piece for the balance of peach and green-blue washes. I walked over to the Enamels Room. Gerard David’s TheDepositioncaught my attention because of its depiction of the foreground. At first, I thought it was odd or off but then after looking at it for about 4 minutes I realized that its depiction was alright. Barna da Siena, Christ Bearing the Cross, with a Dominican Friarwas done with tempera paint. Siena’s painting stuck in the back of my mind because the gold used in the background was so vibrant. Enclosed behind glass was a clock. A Clock with Astronomical and Calendrical Dialsby Veyt Schaufeel was interesting because it had the astrological signs engraved into it. Although I do not believe fully in astrology I found this aspect of the clock impressive. I understand that this room is small in size, but I was stared at a lot in this room which I did not appreciate. This happened in other rooms as well.
I finished looking at all of the paintings in the Enamels Room and walked back to the West Gallery into the North Hall. The North Hall caught my attention from before when I passed through the Garden Court. Walking into the hall I fell in love with the drapes. Comtesse d’Haussonville’s Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was beautiful. I could not find from at least my perspective any brush strokes. Everything was blended together seamlessly that it did not look like it was painted. I observed this painting for about five minutes not only because it was so well done but because I was in awe. I later looked up the painting and found out that it was oil paint, which is why the painting looked luminous and very pleasing to the eye. As I continued to explore I walked over to the Library Room. This room was memorable for two reasons. The first was because of Vase Japon. The vase had a lovely burnt sienna color with white and gold designs. The second reason the room was memorable because of the conversation I overheard of two elderly men. They spoke in Spanish with Spanish accents. The two of them stood in front of a painting. One of them talked about life, smoking and drinking while the other listened quietly giggling. I smiled to myself as listened to the man go on about what he had done back in his country.
The Portico Gallery was the last hall that had anything of interest to me. The Fired by Passion: Masterpieces of Du Paquier Porcelin from the Sullivanmade me want to buy porcelain tea sets. Everything in the collection was so delicately done that you could see the details of the faces of people distinctly. I enjoyed these pieces because of the lively burnt orange and blue colors in some of the designs. In all, I enjoyed the art very much. My favorite piece in the entire collection would be Comtesse d’Haussonville’s Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. I recommend everyone to look at this piece even if you’re not into art.
