The Cool House: Awe inspiring

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Awe inspiring


The star of the exhibition “Gustav Klimt: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections” at the Neue Galerie in Manhattan, Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907). The painting was acquired back in 2006 for a record-breaking $135 million. I caught the exhibition at it's last weekend and the colors in the image don't do justice to the fabulous golden lustre of the original.
The exhibition also featured drawings for Hope and Fulfilment that are part of the dining room frieze of the Palais Stoclet in Brussels and for the Beethoven Frieze, a full size reproduction of which is currently on view at The Tate Gallery, Liverpool, UK. In tandem with the Klimt collections there was an exhibition of Wiener Werkstätte Jewelry, including Arts and Crafts brooches and necklaces by Joseph Hoffman, Koloman Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka and Dagobert Peche. Beautiful pieces exquisitely designed.
The Neue Galerie is housed in a Beaux-Arts style mansion at the corner of 5th Ave and 86th Street. It's worth visiting just for its beautiful staircase and the Viennese pastries in the Cafe Sabarsky.

2 comments:

Jean Martha said...

We went to this gallery yesterday on the way to the Met. Only stayed for a few minutes though - they have such odd hours.

modernemama said...

I think the cafes are open longer than the museum!