Kudos to this show for being so panoramic in scope. There is every kind of medium: watercolor, wood engraving, oil, acrylic, fabric, photography, drawing and sculpture. There is every period of American art from the 1700's to the present day. There are male, female, white, black, and Native American artists represented. Everything is from the museum's collection which is quite good. it is as if we are walking through the ages, looking at American labor and leisure, from street urchins playing a mouth harp in the late 19th century, to a contemporary city family, up on the roof getting some sun and barbecue.
There is a young Native American couple courting, and though she must be looking at some beads or berries, since we're talking about 1914, it sure looks like she's looking at her phone. There are fishermen going to work in the early morning, men working and sweating under the street, building the subway, and people setting a bonfire in the snow.
The paintings I single out are based on my own subjectivity, everything is worth seeing.
My favorite painting was "Ladies Of Old Lyme", by Louis Betts (oil, 1932). Beautiful ladies in bonnets, revealed through large luminous blocks of color. "Foundations Of The City" by Stuyvesant Van Veenen (oil, 1937), is a powerful painting. Dark brooding colors, huge men under the street, and a very small businessman, up above, standing next to a giant machine.
For a contemporary perspective, there is Faith Ringold's "Tar Beach" (1990), a marvelously colorful quilt that shows a family having a picnic up on the roof. There is also a stunning twilight zone photograph in neon colors of a pregnant woman in a wading pool, while her mother points a hose, and her puffy son lies on the grass, "Untitled", (1999), by Gregrory Crewdson.
As for the leisure activity of dance, there is the dynamic expressionist painting in lively acrylic, "Deliverance Disco (1987) by George McNeil, and the charming "Swingtime" (oil, 1945) by Hilde Kayn, in which skirts swirl in pale pink and blue, with a dusting of white that makes everything sparkle. I found Gifford Beal's "Morning",(oil, 1920's-30's) of fishermen going to work, inspiring, with the dazzle of light on the early morning water. There is much to enjoy in this show.
There is a young Native American couple courting, and though she must be looking at some beads or berries, since we're talking about 1914, it sure looks like she's looking at her phone. There are fishermen going to work in the early morning, men working and sweating under the street, building the subway, and people setting a bonfire in the snow.
The paintings I single out are based on my own subjectivity, everything is worth seeing.
My favorite painting was "Ladies Of Old Lyme", by Louis Betts (oil, 1932). Beautiful ladies in bonnets, revealed through large luminous blocks of color. "Foundations Of The City" by Stuyvesant Van Veenen (oil, 1937), is a powerful painting. Dark brooding colors, huge men under the street, and a very small businessman, up above, standing next to a giant machine.
For a contemporary perspective, there is Faith Ringold's "Tar Beach" (1990), a marvelously colorful quilt that shows a family having a picnic up on the roof. There is also a stunning twilight zone photograph in neon colors of a pregnant woman in a wading pool, while her mother points a hose, and her puffy son lies on the grass, "Untitled", (1999), by Gregrory Crewdson.
As for the leisure activity of dance, there is the dynamic expressionist painting in lively acrylic, "Deliverance Disco (1987) by George McNeil, and the charming "Swingtime" (oil, 1945) by Hilde Kayn, in which skirts swirl in pale pink and blue, with a dusting of white that makes everything sparkle. I found Gifford Beal's "Morning",(oil, 1920's-30's) of fishermen going to work, inspiring, with the dazzle of light on the early morning water. There is much to enjoy in this show.
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