From NEUE to Old

Marble portrait head of the Emperor Constantine I,
Roman, Constantinian period, ca. 325-370 A.D.

As mentioned last week, we rescheduled our visit to the Ronald S. Lauder NEUE GALERIE Museum for German and Austrian Art in Manhattan, and as expected this time around there were no lines. After a long stretch of good outings at New York City’s various art and cultural institutions, our luck finally came to an end and like young Icarus who heedlessly flew too close to the sun we inevitably came crashing back to reality and plunged into the turbulent sea of modernity.

With few exceptions, my friends and I aren’t fans of modern art, but we went with an open mind, hoping to discover something new and expose ourselves to fresh experiences. Sadly, except for a few interesting examples of decorative art (furniture, clocks, jewelry, etc.) from 1890 to 1940, a handful of Gustav Klimt’s (1862-1918) early figure drawings, and two miniature portraits of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830-1916), I found precious little to justify the exorbitant ticket price.

The old photographs of Klimt, various reproductions of his work, and copies of Ver Sacrum magazine, the official periodical of the avant-garde Vienna Secession art movement, were interesting for historical purposes. As for the permanent collection of paintings and ongoing Austrian Masterworks and Klimt Landscapes exhibitions, the nicest thing I can say is that they leave a lot to be desired. Normally, I would share examples but photography was not allowed.

We all agreed Gustav Klimt’s Idylle (1884) was our favorite, however, his portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1903-7) is clearly meant to be the Museum’s showpiece. Normally, whenever I see a celebrated work of art in person I can’t help but notice how the reproductions online or in print did them no justice (e.g. Botticelli’s Birth of Venus or the Leaning Tower of Pisa). Surprisingly, with Klimt, the exact opposite happened. I found his work to be drab and uninspiring. My less generous friend said, “It looked like he painted them with dirty dishwater.”

Like the Brooklyn Museum, NYPL, Whitney, MoMA, and Guggenheim—where I haven’t returned since the fantastic Chaos & Classicism installation in 2010—I have no intentions of ever going back until they host a special exhibit that I find worthy and interesting. Unless you like modern and decadent art, I cannot recommend visiting these institutions. Go at your own discretion.

The Osborn Gates, bronze, 1953, Paul Howard Manship

More than a little underwhelmed and dejected, we decided to walk over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to get our much-needed fix of high art. On the stroll over, we passed by the entrance to Central Park’s Ancient Playground at East 85th Street to admire the Osborn Gates. Dedicated to William Church Osborn (1862-1951) in 1953, the bronze gates were made by sculptor Paul Howard Manship (1885-1966) and depict scenes from Aesop's Fables. Without exaggeration, I enjoyed them more than the collection at the NEUE GALERIE.

Unsure what we wanted to see at first at the Met, we briefly viewed the Italian Renaissance Bronze Sculpture: 1450-1600 (Gallery 536) and the eclectic Jack and Belle Linsky Collection (Gallery 537) on the first floor before deciding to explore the museum’s extensive Greek and Roman Art Galleries.

Even though we knew it already and there are countless other indicators, I can’t begin to tell you how apparent the decline of the West is when you juxtapose the fruition of the downfall to the august dawn of Occidental Civilization. Going from the distorted and disturbing depictions of the early twentieth century to the beauty and grandeur of the Classical World could not be more jarring.

Astonishingly, considering where we’re at now and where we're heading, that period wasn’t even the nadir of Western art. Nor, in truth, was Greco-Roman art the zenith. Still, it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that the same people produced such divergent and incongruous art forms.

Spirits lifted and a bounce in our gait, we left the Met reinvigorated and inspired. Not even the canaglie on the subway ride home (another sign of Western decadence) could bring our spirits down that night. Believe you me, they tried but they failed.

~ Giovanni di Napoli, March 10th, Remembering the Martyrs of Tradition

(L) Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) and his son Philip II of Spain
(1527-1598), onyx, Leone Leoni (ca. 1509-1590), Milan, 1550.
(R) The Jungle Book, 1913, author Rudyard Kipling

Aquamanile in the form of lion, copper alloy, North German, made about 1200

(L) Wild Man, brass, Flemish, 16th century. (R) Virgin and Child Enthroned, Jet, traces of gilding, Spanish, Santiago de Compostela, possibly 16th century

Marble bust of the Emperor Hadrian, Roman, Hadrianic period,
ca. 118-120 A.D. Found in Hadrian's Villa at Tibur (modern Tivoli)

(L) Marble head of Homer, Roman, Imperial period, ca. 1st–2nd century A.D.
Copy of a Greek statue of the 2nd century B.C. (R) Marble head of Socrates,
Roman Imperial period, 1st–2nd century A.D. Copy of a Greek bronze
statue of ca. 350 B.C. often attributed to Lysippos

(L) Marble head of Herakles, Roman, Imperial period, 1st century A.D. Copy
of Greek statue of the second half of the 4th century B.C. attributed to
Lysippos. (R) Marble bust of Herodotos, Roman, Imperial period, 2nd
century A.D. Copy of a Greek bronze statue of the 1st half of the 4th
century B.C. Found in Benha, ancient Athribis, Lower Egypt

(L) Marble portrait of the Emperor Caracalla (M Aurelius Antoninus), Roman,
Severan period, 212-217 A.D. (R) Marble portrait bust of the emperor
Gaius, known as Caligula, Roman, Julio-Claudian period, 37-41 A.D.

Marble statue of the Three Graces, Roman, Imperial period,
2nd century A.D. Copy of Greek work, 2nd century B.C.

(L) Marble head of a Greek general (possibly the strategos Phokion),
Roman, Imperial period, 1st–2nd century A.D. Copy of Greek bronze
statue of the mid-4th century B.C. (R) Marble relief fragment
with the head of Mars, Roman, early 3rd century A.D.

(L) Marble portrait of a young woman, Roman, Trajanic period,
ca. 98-117 A.D. (R) Marble statue of Venus (Aphrodite) emerging
from her bath, Roman, 1st century B.C.–1st century A.D.

Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius
Synistor at Boscoreale, Roman, ca. 50-40 B.C.

Wall painting of seated woman wearing a diadem and playing
a kithara from main reception hall in the villa of P. Fannius
Synistor at Boscoreale, Roman, Late Republican, ca. 50—40 B.C.

(L) Marble statue of the Capitoline Aphrodite, Roman, 1st–2nd century A.D.
(R) Marble statue of Dionysos leaning on an archaistic female figure,
Roman. Augustan or Julio-Claudian period, 27 B.C.–68 A.D.
Adaptation of a Greek work of the 4th century B.C.

(L) Terracotta statuette of a goddess (Tyche ?), Greek, mid- to late
2nd century B.C. (R) Marble statuette of Dionysos Melanaigis (of
the Black Goatskin), Greek, early 3rd century B.C., said to
have been found at Koukouvaones in Attica

(L) Diabase statue of Aphrodite, Roman Imperial period, late 1st-early 2nd
century A.D., adaptation of a Greek work 3rd century B.C., known as
the Medici Aphrodite. (R) Marble statue of Aphrodite Anadyomene
(hair-binding), Greek, Hellenistic, 2nd century B.C.

(L) Life-sized bronze statue of an aristocratic boy, Roman, Augustan
period, 27 B.C.–14 A.D. Found on the eastern Mediterranean island
of Rhodes. (R) Bronze statue of Artemis and a deer, Greek or
Roman, Late Hellenistic or Early Imperial, ca. 1st century
B.C.–1st century B.C.–1st century A.D.

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, Greek, Hellenistic or Augustan, 3rd
century B.C.—early 1st century A.D. Said to from the island of Rhodes

(L) Bronze cavalry sports mask, Roman, 2nd century A.D. (R) Bronze
portrait bust of a young boy (Nero ?), Roman, Julio-Claudian, ca. 50-68 A.D.

(L) Bronze portrait bust of a Roman matron, Roman, ca. 50-65 A.D.
and Bronze portrait bust of the emperor Gaius (Caligula), Roman,
ca. 37-41 A.D. (R) Silver-gilt horse rhyton (vase for libations
or drinking), Greco-Parthian, Hellenistic, 2nd century B.C.

(L) Bronze statuette of Venus or Isis, Roman, 1st century A.D. (R) Bronze
plaque of Mithras slaying the bull, Roman, mid-2nd–early 3rd century A.D.

Pair of serpentine gold armbands representing male and
female tritons holding a small winged Eros, Greek, ca. 200 B.C.

Terracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finial, Greek,
Sicilian, Centuripe, 2nd half of 3rd century B.C.

Marble portrait head of the Emperor Constantine I,
Roman, Constantinian period, ca. 325-370 A.D.

Before breaking our Lenten fast with a light dinner (sans meat,
eggs and dairy) we stopped off at the Strand bookstore on Broadway
looking for a new art monograph. Instead, I found a couple of nice
paperback editions of poetry by Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935)