Small Galleries in Big Cities

Sometimes the enormity of the world's great art galleries can be exhausting and overwhelming. There is so much to look at in the Louvre, where do you start? At such times a couple of hours in a small, more focussed collection can be invigorating and relaxing at the same time. Here is a list of some of my personal favorites.

The Neue Galerie
1048 Fifth Avenue (at 86th Street).
New York
If there is a more enjoyable museum experience anywhere, I cannot name it. Located in an Upper East Side mansion, the gallery contains a wonderful collection of 19th and 20th century German and Austrian art. The permanent collection houses important works by Klimt, Schiele, Beckmann and many others. There is always a similarly themed temporary exhibition, the current one titled "Vienna 1900: Style and Identity." The restaurant is a Viennese cafe, with period decoration by Loos, Hofmann, and Otto Wagner. Not to be missed.

Gustave-Moreau Museum
14, rue de La Rochefoucauld
Paris
The Symbolist painter created his own museum in his studio in 1896. It houses many important Moreau paintings, and over 4000 drawings. His apartment on the premises was closed to visitors for a hundred years (!), but is now open.

Leighton House
12 Holland Park Road
London
The home of the Victorian paintere Frederic Leighton, designed to display his immense collection of Middle Eastern tiles and other decorative items. The "Arab Hall" with tile work by William de Morgan is alone worth a visit.

Suan Prakad Palace
352-354 Sri Ayudhya Road
Rajathevi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
A fabulous collection of Thai pottery, lacquer, sculpture and architectural remnants located in the former home of a Thai princess. Bangkok is a crazy place, but the Suan Prakad Palace is a haven of beauty and serenity.

The Freer Gallery
Jefferson Drive at 12th St SW
Washington, D.C.
This one is not exactly small, but I love one part so much that I have to include it. James McNeill Whistler's masterpiece of decoration, the Peacock Room, which he designed for a London automobile magnate, was disassembled and brought to Detroit in 1904. The Smithsonian got it later, and now anyone can sit sit quietly completely surrounded by Whistler' dream of Japan.

Does anyone else have a favorite small gallery? Let me know about it!

ArtNet Auctions

Over the past decade, buying art on the internet has surfaced and resurfaced with degrees of success. I've always been very skeptical of the whole thing, personally. When we think of an auction, we all think of hushed rooms and voices, suave auctioneers, and glamourous dealers fighting each other to pay $50 million for a painting. Or we think of eBay, a rather different experience. As an appraiser, I am constantly faced with the eBay issue. A client who insists they know the value of a work they have, because they've seen something similar on eBay.

ArtNet, the industry's go-to resource for information, research, and examples of artists' works has launched its own auction site, ArtNet Auctions, which is changing the world of art auctions and art sales on the internet. It has online sales, divided by category, featuring works that are listed for one week. You can watch the bidding and see what people are buying. Additionally, provenance and condition reports are right there on the site. ArtNet stands behind buyers by giving them the right to return an item that is not as described. It's full of quality work you can look at and watch, with opening bids anywhere from $1,000 to $225,000 for the Francis Souza piece pictured to the right. I am curious about how much is selling. I'll be watching it closely to see if I can get a read on it. Check it out, it's going to be a real timesuck for me!

Khan Academy: My New Obsession

It has been far too long since I've posted, but my 2012 resolution is to get back to blogging. So here goes. . .

We all know that the internet can be a great timesucker. Khan Academy might be the best way to spend your time on the internet. There are hundreds of mini-lectures to be watched on a wide variety of subjects. I've only watched the art history lessons, but these are real lectures and focus on a small part of a piece of art. It's smart people talking about art.

I adore German Expressionism with all its angst and raw, savage, emotional impact. Ernst Kirchner has always been a favorite artist of mine; his work draws me in and I find it extremely powerful. Here's an interesting little debate about one of his masterpieces, Street, Dresden. I love this piece and find it subtly voyeuristic. I also see this as an example of the artist focusing on the human condition at the turn of the century. Loneliness and despair emanate from this canvas.

Feminist criticism has never been my personal focus, although I do find the issue of the male gaze fascinating. While I don't feel like it's an issue in this specific work, I do find the debate interesting. Watch it!