Flatiron, Manhattan
January 14th, 2018
Category: Chrono
The Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue
Those early buildings, assured and unassuming. Their understated beauty is not eye-catching; you can walk past them day after day, without ever noticing them. Perhaps because they are overshadowed by their more famous neighbours, like the one here. CUNY Graduate Center sits diagonally opposite the Empire State Building so, obviously, there’s no comparison. But once you do notice the wavy art nouveau canopies, the adorned columns, the wood carved doors, you’ll inevitably begin to wonder what took you so long.
365 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
November 19th, 2017
At the right place, the right time
At 10 a.m. precisely, the Chrysler’s famous spear is perfectly aligned with the corner of the MetLife Building.
At 1 p.m. the shadows recede and The Glory of Commerce, shines through. We are outside Grand Central Terminal on 42nd Street, walking past a masterpiece: the Tiffany glass clock surrounded by a sculptural group by Jules-Félix Coutan, representing Minerva, Hercules and Mercury – or to us Greeks, Athena, Hercules and Hermes.
Midtown, Manhattan
November 29th, 2017
Observation deck
Observing New York from high and low.
Venus de Milo sculptures by Jim Dine, on Sixth Avenue
November 26th, 2017
Master Drawings @ The Morgan Library
We were back at The Morgan to see the magnificent Old Masters’ drawings from the Thaw Collection, that were displayed at the time.
These are some highlights, which I hope you’ll enjoy.
Odalisque with Slave, 1839
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) and Jean-Charles Thévenin (1819-1869)
Black chalk and graphite, black and brown wash with white and grey opaque watercolour
Reading, ca. 1860
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)
Pen and black ink and grey wash with black fabricated chalk over charcoal
Woman Churning Butter, ca. 1855-58
Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)
Black Conté crayon
Leave It All to Providence, from the Black Border Album, 1816-20
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
Black ink and grey wash
Portrait of Arthur Rimbaud, 1872
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904)
Watercolour and white opaque watercolour over black chalk on light brown paperboard
The Spider, 1902
Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Charcoal and black pastel
The Fool, 1877
Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Charcoal with black chalk and fixative on light brown paper
Artist in the making
Nurse with a Child’s Carriage
Georges Seurat(1859–1891)
Conté crayon on Ingres paper
Vincent van Gogh
Letter to Émile Bernard, 7 June 1888
Energized by his visit to the seaside town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, van Gogh wrote enthusiastically to Bernard about his explorations of complementary colours (“No blue without yellow and without orange“) and his consideration of black and white as colours. He included several sketches to explain his ideas and enclosed a sheet containing drawings of canvasses in progress.
Vincent van Gogh
Letter to Paul Gauguin, 17 October 1888
Writing to Gauguin, who was to arrive later that month, van Gogh extolled the attractions of Arles and chronicled his progress on one of his masterpieces from the period, Bedroom at Arles (1888; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), even including a sketch.
Portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter, 1936
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Pen and black ink and wash
Caricature of a Sleeping Man, ca. 1755-60
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)
Pen and black ink and wash
Young Woman Wearing a Chemise, ca. 1718
Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)
Black, red and white chalk
Interior of a Library, ca. 1780-85
Étienne-Louis Boullée (1728-1799)
Pen and black and brown ink and washes over graphite with black chalk
Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection, on view November 2017
November 18th, 2017
Guardians
of the Gotham Galaxy
About the art:
Public art sculpture >> The Guardians: Superhero (2013) by Antonio Pio Saracino, in Three Bryant Park
From my collection >> Davros and Baby Groot reading the news about Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci, which had just been sold at Christie’s for a staggering $450 million, the most expensive painting in the world ever sold in an auction. The buyer was a Saudi prince and the painting was supposed to go on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi but he exhibition was cancelled without any explanation. Salvator Mundi has gone missing from the public eye ever since. Its whereabouts but also its authenticity are subjects of much debate and speculation.
At the Morgan Library >> An early sixteenth century figure of St. Elizabeth of Schoenau (1129-1165), a German nun who published three volumes describing her divine visions, probably the reason she is shown here holding a book.
November 16-18, 2017
Miami on my mind
Prismatic neon lights, palm trees and beach slides in a shop window on Broadway, in November. What else can a wandering mind do, other than dream of Miami?
Soon, soon…
November 12th, 2017
Bye-bye Chicago
It’s been a great trip, started in Ithaca and Cayuga Lake, went on to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, round Lake Ontario to Gananoque and the Thousand Islands, a few hours spent in Ottawa and finally, in Chicago. Here we are in 120 North La Salle Street, under a Daedalus and Icarus mosaic, father and son together in flight, their wings spread wide, as if to tell us it is time to take off.
And took off we did, so here we are, back to base with a little walk in Tribeca, taking in Manhattan’s crazy architecture. Hello New York! 
November 5th, 2017 – Chicago: Daedalus & Icarus mosaic designed by Roger Brown and painstakingly installed by Costante Crovatto.
November 12th, 2017 – Manhattan: walking in Tribeca towards the One World Trade Center, here seen behind the wing of Oculus.
Chicago || In the Loop
The elevated Loop, part of the iconic Chicago ”L” circuit, looping around a rectangle in downtown Chicago. It runs right in front of many windows of shops, gyms, offices – thankfully, no private apartments. Sometimes so close, it might as well run through them.
From the moment we arrived here, we felt that Chicago is what Manhattan would have been, had it not been an island: orderly, clean, with enough space for development; where pedestrians need not fight for the last millimetre of pavement space; and with its ”L” trains still running. 
Still in the Loop, almost time to leave but not before catching glimpses into two more lobbies: this is the City of Chicago City Hall and, further down, the One North LaSalle Building, with its lavish art deco cathedral for a lobby.
Lobby hopping in the Loop, Chicago
November 5th, 2017
At the end of the day [four]
Just when you think it can’t get any better.
Airplane views of Chicago from The Signature Room at the 95th, a cocktail bar located, well, on the 95th floor of the 360 Chicago tower, better known as the John Hancock Center. The cocktails must be good but who would remember after experiencing these dizzying views?
As if to prepare us for the experience, an explosion of light at the lobby: Lucent, an installation by Wolfgang Buttress, representing the 3,106 brightest stars visible with the naked eye from the Earth’s Northern hemisphere.
And, finally, a smooth landing back to Earth, walking past the iconic Wrigley Building on N Michigan Avenue.
Chicago by night on November 5th, 2017
The Humble Fabulist 