Friday, July 17, 2015

Summer Day in New York: Neue Gallerie and Central Park

Yesterday we had what must have been a perfect summer day; hot but not too hot and barely humid, with just a touch of breeze. I had my eye on the weather for the week, trying to pick a nice day to head into Manhattan for lunch and a museum. Thursday was it!

Near the Metropolitan Museum
This week I visited the Neue Gallerie, a German/Austrian museum on the Upper East Side and sitting in the former home of William Starr Miller, a wealthy industrialist. The museum opened in 2001 and houses 20th century art, two cafes and a bookshop.

It's famous for its Gustav Klimt collection, including Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, that famous woman in a shower of gold. The line outside is always long; on its once-a-month free Fridays, it goes around two city blocks. When I visited I waited about ten minutes to get in but I still think they should institute some single-rider-line-style system so people on their own don't have wait behind big groups. But that's just me.

Anyway I got the audio tour and enjoyed seeing the Klimts, other paintings and the exhibit of Russian Modernism currently on display. Actually the Russian stuff was pretty fascinating even though aesthetically I can't say that it's really my thing. Sometimes art is about the ideas and not about being pretty.

After spending enough time in the museum I took a little walk uptown to visit the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, where I snapped some pictures and had a soft serve ice cream. Then I walked down to the Metropolitan Museum and sat outside for a few minutes people-watching and after that I was ready to head back home. I caught the bus and spent the last few minutes in the city gliding down Fifth Avenue.

3 comments:

Beth F said...

Sounds like a lovely day!

Allison E said...

I love the Neue gallery. I especially like the Klee pieces they have there. I like that it feels like a rich uncle's house in there for some reason!

Esther said...

That's one of the museums I haven't been to yet in all my trips to New York but it's on my list!