Years ago, I worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – I waited tables at the Members’ Restaurant. To my friends who visited NYC, my employment at the museum somehow made me an authority and de facto tour guide. My tour of the Metropolitan Museum hit all the major exhibitions – the Temple of Dendur, the ancient Greek and Roman statues, a peek into the Gubbio studio, and a stop at the café by the American Wing overlooking Cleopatra’s needle.
The Metropolitan Museum is overwhelming for many people, and you can never get to see everything. Meandering through the crowds, it’s easy to get lost and distracted, and exhausted. There are so many amazing works of art at the Metropolitan, it’s very difficult to fully appreciate the details of each piece.
The current exhibit at the Olana State Historic Site, Spectacle, slows down the pace. You are not rushing through rooms of obelisks or sarcophagi. Spectacle has one painting, The Heart of the Andes, back from the Metropolitan Museum. There’s a video explaining the details of Frederic Church’s masterpiece, details you might have missed pushing passed the crowds at the Metropolitan Museum.
Frederic Edwin Church, The Heart of the Andes
The Heart of the Andes helped Church finance the construction of his Olana estate. The painting is a tribute to the flora found around Mount Chimborazo in South America. The video explains the artwork so that everyone can understand the painting’s importance within its time and now.
If you have a guest from out of town this winter, this is the perfect exhibit to visit.
After viewing this exhibit, I scurried down the mountain to Warren Street, hoping to catch the tail end of a gallery opening, featuring a local artist. The spirit of Frederic Church, and Olana, where Church did much of his painting, overlooks and blesses Hudson’s current vibrant art scene.
For more information on the exhibit, click here.
….and if you’re in NYC and want a tour of the Met, call me.