Lin | September 30, 2008
If one walks through the Egyptian collection at Met, he or she can easily get lost. There are too many terms from timeline (three major periods with three intermediate periods) to gods (names, relations, shapes, symbolism) to texts. There seems to be endless items to go through in one afternoon. On the other hand, he [...]
Hui | September 27, 2008
On the third night that Michael Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony Orchestra took the stage of Carnegie Hall, the program fell back into conventional: a compact symphony by Knussen preludes Beethoven 9. Knussen’s symphony has extremely crafted texture and colors: strings either contributed ghostly tremolos or chopped abruptly with percussion-wise sound. It is [...]
Geo | September 25, 2008
A recent Wall Street Journal article suggests it has, and I’ve personally seen evidence of it. One recent example is a 19th-Century slant-front desk at a New York auction house. It had minimal damage, I’m guessing a Connecticut piece that I’d expect to see at a show for more than $5,000. At an auction I [...]
Geo | September 21, 2008
Some of the Period Rooms, which had been temporarily closed, are open again at the Brooklyn Museum. The rooms had been off limits pending the installation of “Exhibitions: 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum.” If you go, don’t miss “Exhibitions: Jesper Just: Romantic Delusions.” I walked in out of simple curiosity, an [...]
Hui | September 16, 2008
Luck had it the two Schenck houses were saved by Brooklyn Museum. The Schencks were not dignitaries or high ranked officials, the fact that they were rescued from demolition is a pure timely coincidence of historical preservation, availability of funding and space, and devoted curatorial efforts. But Brooklyn was largely a Dutch town for more [...]
Hui | September 15, 2008
It is as hard to imagine music without late Beethoven as to understand why they were so cherished when I was younger. My tastes in fine art appreciation, in retrospective, seem to follow a similar route. Late Beethoven has forlorn the grandeur discourse and exceptional prowess, instead he expressed a sense of instability that roots [...]
Geo | September 13, 2008
There are three types of historic homes. The first is a historic home without historic furnishings, or without furnishings original to the house. The second is a historic home filled with the furnishings that were there when the original or notable owner lived there. The third is perhaps the most rare, historic furnishings that relate [...]
Hui | September 10, 2008
With Judy Kim, curator in Exhibition Division of the Brooklyn Museum, I had the opportunity of looking at the installation of the upcoming Gilbert and George exhibition opening on Oct 3, 2008. The exhibition installation is quite fa way from being ready, in fact all I saw is a model of the special exhibition space [...]
Hui | September 9, 2008
The ther day, I put the new bought Glenn Gould CD into the player and was ready for challenges from his intellectual and aesthetic aptitude. But to my surprise, it was the least contrapuntal sound from the eccentric pianist. Instead of speaking multiple voices with puncture, emphasis, tension and release, Glenn Gould was conversing amicably. [...]
Hui | September 8, 2008
The visit to Newark Museum of Art was really a delight and surprise. I was amazed by the extensive American Art collection, and decorative arts in particular the Ballantine House. I would definitely visit it again, probably very soon in the near future since it will feature a special exhibition of American Impressionism this month. [...]
