Sunrise, 1887, oil on canvas, George Inness
This post accompanies images from the Brooklyn Museum’s permanent collection and the surrounding civic architecture, which cast the essay’s conclusions in sharper relief.
I have to admit, when a friend invited me to see the ongoing Monet and Venice exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, I was not exactly enthused. I am no great admirer of either the institution or French Impressionist painting. I went largely in hopes of revisiting works I actually care about, including sculptures by Auguste Rodin, St. Joseph with the Flowering Rod by Jusepe de Ribera, and a few stalwarts of the Hudson River School such as Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt.
Naturally, none of that worked out. Rodin, Ribera, and several other significant paintings were not on view. Space that once housed masterpieces has clearly been reallocated for ideological display priorities, and what little remained was often sabotaged by poor lighting or baffling curatorial decisions. In the Arts of the Americas Galleries on the fifth floor, an entire wall of paintings was hung just inches above the floor, forcing viewers to look downward while the rest of the wall remained empty. I am not opposed to salon-style hanging in principle, but here it only emphasized the jarring disparity between works rather than creating dialogue or cohesion.
As for Monet and Venice, it was considerably better than expected, though not because of Claude Monet himself. Like my recent visit to the Morgan Library & Museum for the Renoir Drawing exhibition, I approached this show willing to give French Impressionism another chance. Ironically, the lone work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir here impressed me more than the entire Renoir exhibition at the Morgan.
While crowds clustered predictably around Monet, the real rewards lay elsewhere in the superb works by J.M.W. Turner, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Moran, James McNeill Whistler, and, of course, Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto). These works, not Monet’s, justified the visit.
Still, the overall experience was disappointing enough that I renewed my promise, first made in 2011, not to return unless the museum offers something genuinely worthwhile. Judging by the current trajectory, the days of exhibitions like The Treasure of San Gennaro: Baroque Silver from Naples (1987–1988) or Hands of Rodin: A Tribute to B. Gerald Cantor (1997) are long gone.
Before leaving, we walked past the Brooklyn Botanic Garden toward Grand Army Plaza, stopping to see the Bailey Fountain, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, and the imposing façade of the Brooklyn Public Library. Sadly, much of it was obscured by scaffolding.
Another great institution that went by the wayside, the library’s decline felt especially personal. I spent countless hours there before the internet and administrative dogma hollowed out both research and collections. Safer then, I used to read outside and admire Carl Paul Jennewein’s iconic Art Deco gilded bas-reliefs depicting the evolution of the arts and sciences on the massive bronze doors and towering pylons. Like much else in Brooklyn, the institution remains physically present but spiritually diminished.
~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 29th, Feast of San Tommaso Becket
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| A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie, 1866, oil on canvas, Albert Bierstadt |
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| Summer Showers, ca. 1865-70, oil on canvas, Martin Johnson Heade |
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| Lake George, 1870, oil on canvas, John Frederick Kensett |
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| Dreams of Arcadia, 1852, oil on canvas, Robert Seldon Duncanson |
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| A View of the Two Lakes and Mountain House, Catskill Mountains, Morning, 1844, oil on canvas, Thomas Cole |
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| (L) Inside a Tobacco Factory in Seville, 1900-1904, watercolor and graphite on paper, Emily Sargent. (R) Meadow Flowers (Golden Rod and Wild Aster), ca. 1892, oil on canvas, John Henry Twachtman |
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| (L) Diana, 1890, Bronze, Frederick William MacMonnies. (R) Diana of the Tower, 1895, gilded bronze, Augustus Saint-Gaudens |
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| The Greek Slave, 1866, marble, Hiram Powers |
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| Girl with Apple, 1909-10, oil on canvas, William James Glackens |
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| William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River, 1908, oil on canvas, Thomas Eakins |
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| Note how these paintings are hung unusually close to the floor. (L) Girl in a Japanese Costume, ca. 1890, oil on canvas, William Merritt Chase. (R) Aaron Augustus Healy, 1907, oil on canvas, John Singer Sargent |
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| (L) Peter Beckford, 1797, oil on canvas, Benjamin West. (R) General John Charles Frémont, 1857, oil on canvas, Charles Loring Elliot |
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| (L) Pygmalion and Galatea, ca. 1880, oil on canvas, Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson. Incorrectly identified as "Venus" on the gallery placard. (R) George Washington, 1796, oil on canvas, Gilbert Stuart |
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| A Pic-Nic Party, 1846, oil on canvas, Thomas Cole, in the Visible Storage and Study Center |
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| (L-R) Caricature of King Victor Emmanuel II, 1866, oil on canvas, Thomas Nast, and various marble busts and statues in the Visible Storage and Study Center |
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| Spacelander Bicycle, 1960, fiberglass, metal, glass, and rubber, Benjamin G. Bowden, in the Visible Storage and Study Center |
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| (L) The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, dedicated October 21, 1892. (R) Obstructed Façade of the Brooklyn Public Library |
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| Details of Carl Paul Jennewein's gilded bas-reliefs |
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| I still have my exhibition catalogs for The Treasure of San Gennaro: Baroque Silver from Naples (1987–1988) or Hands of Rodin: A Tribute to B. Gerald Cantor (1997) |
