Museum, and Film Crew, in the Big City
Museum, and Film Crew, in the Big City
With a discovery in Boston about (say what???) Tunbridge, Vermont
It is sweltering in Boston, the still-masked and the maskless dining in and dining out, disappearing into the underground of T stops, strolling the blessedly frigid shopping corridors of the Pru. The Museum of Fine Arts is open (but not its restaurants) and hosting at least three exhibitions.
No one, it seems, including me, ever tires of Monet. His paintings are back in “Monet and Boston: Legacy Illuminated” (on view until October 17, 2021), displayed over several themed galleries, with the works of Monet’s inspirations and artistic colleagues close at hand: Jean Francois Millet, the era of Japonisme, and the sculptor Auguste Rodin. Even with timed-tickets, it was the most crowded part of the museum, which makes it a place to view not just the art but also fellow humans viewing the art. I eavesdropped as two women tried to suss out whether the two Rouen Cathedral paintings were painted in morning or afternoon light. Oh, I had forgotten the pleasure of such company . . .
“Women Take The Floor” (on view until November 28, 2021) is an exhibition if you’re craving solitude rather than crowds. (Good for the viewer, less so for the artists.) Having read Ninth Street Women not so long ago, I headed for the gallery showing the works of the 1950s female Abstract Expressionists. There is a single painting each by Frankenthaler (above), Mitchell, Krasner, de Kooning and Hartigan. A real find and a little piece of the Upper Valley: a photo taken at the 1974 Tunbridge World’s Fair from a series called “Carnival Strippers” (below) in a neighboring gallery devoted to women photographers.
“Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation” (on view until July 25, 2021) will shake off the serenity of those Impressionist pastoral landscapes. This extensive exhibition is pulsing with the truth of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and other more contemporary artists who have been inspired by him, with a hip-hop sound track and a streaming video of a rapping Deborah Harry. Apparently Basquiat wanted to extend the canvas of art beyond well, . . . canvas, to each and every available surface, even an ancient refrigerator. I want this Basquiat-painted lab coat.
And more thematic Basquiat, for the wall, not for wearing:
A particularly fun big city note: While staying at our downtown hotel and being inveterate lobby rats, my husband and I kept noticing the comings and goings of well-groomed young men in suits with boutonnières. A wedding, I thought, odd (or maybe not) for a Wednesday. Later we learned that the wedding was a Hollywood fantasy. Scenes from a rom-com starring Emma Roberts are being filmed here at the hotel. So, is the wedding the place where the two romantic leads awkwardly meet, or were we witnessing the filming of the proverbial cinematic happy ending? Later in the evening, the lobby swarmed with extras dressed in wedding finery. We, alas, were not them.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.