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| Venus and Cupid – Lorenzo Lotto |
I moved into this new apartment on 104th Street...a block away from Central Park....but only for a month. Newport wasn't bad but I am hoping this will be more fun during the summer. Spent some time at the Met yesterday. Its fricking hugh!! The only three galleries I managed to see (in 5 hours!!) were the Egyptian Art (including the temple of Dendur), European paintings and the 19th and early 20th century European painting. Don't know why i chose to see the paintings!! They weren't bad or anything...just that I don't exactly have any experience "appreciating" art :)
But here's what I figured out. I kind of enjoyed the paintings with detailed work and not random brush strokes. Dutch mannerisms (whatever that means...haven't wikied it yet) were the most discernible and hence more soothing to MY untrained eyes! Anyways here's a list of paintings (yeah I carried a small piece of paper around...weird I know!) I liked (and you must see!!) at the Met (in no particular order):
1. The Golden Age - Joachim Wtewael
2. The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment - Jan van Eyck (I really liked this one…its actually two different paintings in one frame…the one on the right is about Heaven, Earth and Hell..the God actually looks like some Japanese cult leader sitting in a Hindu God’s pose :) but the most stunning part is the depiction of Hell below earth..bodies mangled together overseen by the Devil…if I were a heavy metal crazy rockstar..that would be tattooed on my back :))
3. Allegory of the Catholic faith – Johannes Vermeer
4. Venus and Cupid – Lorenzo Lotto (Little Cupid peeing on Venus!!)
5. The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara - Lucas Cranach the Elder
6. The Judgment of Paris - Lucas Cranach the Elder
7. Samson captured by Philistines – Guercino (Boy this was some painting..the scale and the beauty of it was incredible…I am tempted to say this was probably the best among the ones I saw)
8. The Organ Rehearsal – Henry Lerolle (Another massive masterpiece)
9. The Weeders – Jules Breton
10. The Torment of Saint Antony (apparently earliest known painting by Michelangelo ..painted when he was only 12 or 13 years old...and the knowledge of that fact makes this thing even more impressive to look at..another one for my imaginary rock star body)
Among the other more famous ones (the ones that were recommended when I goggled the collection at The Met) I saw were:
1. Cypress – Van Gogh ..I think the trick with appreciating all these so called Impressionist is to go closer to the painting and observe the brushstrokes…its utterly chaotic (at least to an amateur like me) and then step back a few feet to see the overall painting. Anyway, don’t miss Van Gogh..something to brag about if you get stuck with one of those artsy kinds :)
2. Aristotle with a Bust Homer by Rembrandt
3. The Death of Socrates by Jacques Louis David (pronounced Daa vee dh as per the audio guide:))
Why the hell did I write all this down???
