First, took the long downward spiral ramp at the Guggenheim to savor “The Aztec Empire.” Aside from some minor misgivings such as “I thought the Guggenheim was devoted to non-objective art? …Contemporary Art?”
"The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was incorporated in 1937, and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, as it was then known, was established two years later. The museum ...took as its basis the radical new forms of art being developed by such artists as Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Piet Mondrian."
-from The Guggenheim Museum History
But, then again, this is where “The Art of the Motorcycle” drew record crowds of visitors not usually associated with the genteel and upper-crusty museum mile.
Cranky misgivings aside, once inside I was mesmerized by the sheer quantity of arresting sculptures, vessels, jewelry and statuary produced by this pre-Columbian culture. For sheer weirdness and necromancy this exhibit should also appeal to the bikers, tattoo artists, and alternative lifestyle crowd usually absent form mainstream gatherings of the art set.
Kudos to the curators for pulling off a surprising success from out of the proverbial hat.
Schlepped further on down Fifth Avenue, to the Metropolitan Museum to see the recently installed masterpiece by Duccio. At $45 million, this little gem is the most expensive piece of real estate to be seen in Gotham City. Let’s see… the painting is a little over 10 x 8 inches and cost a cool 45 million clams, that makes it about half a million per square inch. Donald Trump eat your heart out, better yet, go to the Guggenheim and let the Aztecs eat your heart for you.
Read about the painting here in The Art Newspaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment