The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image: Hundreds of visitors spill out onto the front steps of the Met at closing time

I haven’t done a lot of gallery or museum visits during this New York stay. In fact, after six weeks I have only managed to visit the Museum of the City of New York, and the Museum of Modern Art (both for about an hour each), and put in extended visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters (an off-shoot of the Met). It’s not that I have no interested in art or artifacts, I do, but I have been into other things this time around. However, I may yet squeeze in one or two more museums before I depart this great city.

So anyway, I did get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the ‘Met’ for short), where I spent four fruitful hours getting lost amongst several thousand years worth of sculptures, paintings and jewellery; iconography from all the major religions; Egyptian burial items, hieroglyphics and massive sarcophaguses (see image); medieval tapestries and great suits of armour; modern and contemporary art, as well as folk art from every continent; photographic exhibitions; and musical instruments – ancient and modern – including Ringo Starr’s gold plated snare drum!

Image: Massive sarcophagus. Better hope you are well and truly dead when that lid goes on!

I also headed up to the roof to take a look at the Doug and Mike Starn installation, Big Bambu, a massive structure built entirely of bamboo on which only a fortunate few get to explore via bamboo ramps that weave and climb over the whole edifice. Unfortunately, timed tickets for the guided climbs are in high demand and therefore hard to get. As interesting as Big Bambu looked, it was a bit of an anticlimax to only be able to walk under the installation rather than over it.

I couldn’t help thinking, as I wandered through room after room of priceless object d’art: at what point did ordinary objects begin to assume greater value and importance than their makers or original owners gave them? Presumably it is because certain objects have survived hundreds and in some cases, thousands of years that they acquire their worth.

For example, a modern $500 wedding ring, as sentimental as it might be to its owner in 2010, is still ‘just’ a reasonably priced wedding ring. However, if the ring was to survive 500 years – instead of say, 50 – it’s value skyrockets way beyond its initial price. Now it is not ‘just’ a wedding ring, it has been transformed into a rare and precious thing – an artifact from the 21st century, no less. But after 500 years, isn’t it really just an old worn and battered gold ring? Does it automatically become priceless, simply because it has survived 500 years?

Image: The Sphinx of Hapshetsut (circa 1473 – 1458 B.C.)

And another thing. It seems to me that every major museum in the world contains massive collections of Egyptian artifacts. Some are tiny ornaments, others are massive slabs of marble and granite that must have taken great effort to excavate, pack, and transport around the world. I couldn’t help thinking as I examined room after room of the Metropolitan’s Egyptian collection that there can’t be much left in Egypt itself for visitors to look at.

I mean, apart from the pyramids, are there any artifacts left in Egypt worth making the trip for? And what about the locals? What do Egyptians think of the massive plunder that took place during the 1800s especially? They can’t be too happy about the loss of antiquity they have suffered.

Ok. I’m rambling, I know, but these things played on my mind as I wandered through the Met. Besides, someone has to ask the questions.

Anyway, I feel much better now that I’ve shared them with you.

Really.

Image: “We are the knights that say, Ni!”
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P.S. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is well worth a visit, and the admission price of $20. Just make sure you allow plenty of time to explore its extensive treasures. Even after four hours I still missed out on vast areas of its collections.

Pete Seeger - Living Legend

Image: Pete Seeger on stage at the Bearsville Theater, August 2010

R.I.P. PETE SEEGER 1919-2014

ADDENDUM: February 2014. As you can see by the date attached to this post, it was originally written in August 2010, after I had seen Pete Seeger in concert for the first and only time in my life.

Singer, songwriter, environmentalist, ecologist, humanist and socialist; husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, Pete Seeger was all these and much more. When Pete Seeger passed away on Monday, January 28, 2014, it is not overstating the praise to say that the world lost one of its great champions and humanitarians. It was a great honor to see him in concert, and the greatest praise his many admirers can extend to Pete is to honor his memory by continuing to sing his songs, and to get involved in the many causes and issues that were close to Pete's heart. Much remains to be done.

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I have set myself an impossible task – to capture the essence of a living legend. Not just that, but do it in a few hundred words. And rest assured, even if you have never heard of him, Pete Seeger is a living legend. He has been at the forefront of folk music – the people’s music – in America for over 70 years. Even at 91 years young, he continues to compose, perform, inspire, teach, and write. He has been a life-long activist and champion of the poor and oppressed; campaigner for the environment and world peace; defender of civil liberties and passionate advocate for human rights.

As a member of The Weavers, probably the first folk group ever to make it into the Top 40 charts, Seeger has tasted great success, but also knows exactly what it is like to fall from grace after being forced to appear before Senator Eugene McCarthy’s anti-communist House Un-American Activities Committee, during the 1950s. His appearance there and the accusations he faced, lead to him being blacklisted from television shows and concert halls right across the United States.

But Pete Seeger weathered that storm, just as he has many others. He has sung in venues large and small from America to Australia, and a hundred countries in between. His music and recording career has been lauded and honored by everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen. In fact, Springsteen released his own tribute to Seeger when he recorded We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in 2006. And of course, Bruce Springsteen joined Pete Seeger on stage at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2008 to sing Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land. Here they are performing that song…

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I first became aware of Pete Seeger and his music during the late 1950s via my older brother, Nick, who had some of the first Weavers albums. Unfortunately, I didn’t travel to Melbourne in 1966 to see Pete Seeger during what was I believe, his first and only visit to Australia, so I’ve had to wait over 40 years to attend my first performance by this icon of the folk music scene. This I did 0n Sunday, August 8th, at the Bearsville Theater*, just out of Woodstock, New York.

After a couple of preliminary songs from Princess Wow and Roland, a local couple intent on changing the world with their Smile Revolution, Seeger took to the stage.

Having taken to the stage, and before singing or playing anything, Seeger surprised us all by introducing two of his favourite banjo players, Eric Weissberg and Bill Keith. Eric Weissberg has secured his place in musical (and cinema) history as the composer of Dueling Banjos, the theme from the movie Deliverance. Bill Keith has spent a lifetime playing bluegrass music and has made significant contributions to the development of the instrument. Both men are now in their early 70s, and I believe both reside in Woodstock, or near-abouts.

Image: Bill Keith, Pete Seeger, and Eric Weissberg on stage at the Bearsville Theater, August 2010

As you might expect, at 91, Seeger’s best concert years are well behind him. His singing voice has virtually gone. The beautiful high vocal style that has featured on so many albums has been reduced to a battle-scarred rasp. His fingers, having plucked, strummed and picked millions of notes faultlessly for 70 years, now trip and stumble over much loved songs and tunes. His memory too, occasionally lets him down. And yet, those of us in the audience of the packed Bearsville Theater were not there to see a man at the top of his game, or to take pity on a legend who may be past his prime. We were there to honor the man for his commitment to a lifetime of music and activism – a commitment that continues to this day – and we were there to acknowledge his history, his humanity, and to say Thank you for the many years of joy and pleasure he has given us.

Of course, as always, audience participation is a hallmark of any Seeger concert. Pete has always been a great leader of songs, and early in his career he perfected the art of teaching songs to audiences even as he sang them. Now that his voice is failing him, this aspect of any Seeger appearance has assumed even more importance than it may have once had. In effect, we have to sing the songs for him. Not that I or anyone else was complaining. It was enough that we were in the same room with him, sharing the same space.

Image: Pete Seeger’s revised and updated book, Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

One of the booking options I took advantage of when reserving my seat was to also purchase a signed copy of Seeger’s revised and updated publication, Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

First released in 1993, Pete calls it a ‘singalong memoir’, and armed with a copy of his own book, he began working his way through the opening chapters as an aide memoir for himself.

He started with a story from 1939 when he was trying to find work with a newspaper. An aunt, who was a teacher asked him to sing to her class, for which he would be paid $5. “I took the money,” he said, “and stopped looking for an honest job, and I’ve been singing ever since.”

And weren’t we glad that he did?

He talked about the war years, and the group that was a precursor to The Weavers – The Almanac Singers, a group that included Woody Guthrie. He described Woody’s writing of the song (The Sinking of The) Rueben James, and how it originally had “10 or 15 verses,” mentioning by name all the seamen who drowned when the ship was sunk. The rest of the Almanac Singers complained that no-one but Guthrie could remember all the verses, and urged him to cut the song back and to add a chorus. Guthrie obliged by cutting the song back to five verses, and writing a great chorus for a song which is still sung today.

And thus with more songs and stories the performance proceeded into the afternoon.

On my way to Bearsville, I told myself I would be satisfied with 30 minutes in Pete Seeger’s presence. Seeing him on stage for an hour was more than I could expect. In the end, Pete entertained us with stories and songs for almost 90 minutes. More than I (or anyone else), could possible hope for. Personally, I consider myself blessed and privileged to have had this rare opportunity to see a genuine living legend during this visit to America.

As Eric Weissberg – who has known Pete for over 50 years – said at the end of this rare concert length appearance by Seeger, “How lucky are we to be on the planet at the same time as Pete Seeger?”

How lucky indeed.

Following the performance, Seeger was immediately whisked away from Bearsville by his family and/or carers. I had hoped to meet him (however briefly) to personally thank him for enriching my life with his songs and stories; his many recordings, and for his numerous books and music publications. I never got that chance then, so I’m going to do it now.

Pete Seeger, Thank you for the joy your music has given me these past 50 years. Thank you for your boundless humanity; your optimism; your humility, and for the ongoing examples you continue to set as performer, songwriter, mentor, and advocate for peace and justice. For all this and so much more, I thank you.
Pete Seeger Online:Pete Seeger’s official website, Pete Seeger Music…

Pete Seeger on Wikipedia…

Pete Seeger on YouTube: A search for “Pete Seeger” on YouTube seems to indicate there are several thousand videos of Pete available for you to watch and search through.

SingOut! Magazine: Ever since its inception, Pete has been associated with the American folk song magazine, SingOut!. You can find it at most Borders stores, or order a downloadable copy from the SingOut! website.

Image: Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, New York, NY

* As an interesting postscript to this entry, it is worth remembering that the Bearsville Theater was built by Bob Dylan’s first manager, Albert Grossman. In fact, Al Grossman is buried somewhere in the grounds surrounding the theater, although a quick look around the site did not reveal a headstone or anything marking an obvious resting place for this titan of the 1960s folk music scene.

The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan

Image: The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
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Finally paid a visit to The Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. The Cloisters is literally a 10 minute walk from my accommodations, and I’m glad I went there. It houses the most amazing collection of art from medieval Europe, dating from about the ninth to the fifteenth century.

The building itself was assembled from architectural elements that date from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. The structure and its cloistered gardens are treasures in themselves, and perfectly complement the approximately five thousand works of art housed there. The collection at The Cloisters is complemented by more than six thousand objects exhibited in several galleries on the first floor of The Met’s main building on Fifth Avenue. The collection at the main building displays a broader geographical and temporal range, while the focus at The Cloisters is on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Renowned for its architectural sculpture, The Cloisters also rewards visitors with exquisite illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and tapestries. [Source: The Cloisters website...]

Image: Floor plan of the main Cloisters building

Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters—quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade—and from other monastic sites in southern France.

Three of the cloisters reconstructed at the branch museum feature gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry, garden documents and herbals, and medieval works of art, such as tapestries, stained-glass windows, and column capitals.

I must say, not having a map of the floor plan during my visit made the experience of exploring The Cloisters and interesting one, in that it felt like I was walking through a rabbit warren of old passageways, dark subterranean vaults, and hidden rooms. This was especially the case when examining the exhibitions in The Treasury section of The Cloisters. Housed on a floor beneath the main building, the Treasury is particularly dark and sparsely lit, presumably to help protect the precious works of art on display there from deteriorating any further than they already have. It is for this reason too that flash photography is prohibited, as well as the touching of any sculpture or stonework.

Image: The Unicorn in Captivity

I have a book about the folklore of unicorns back home in Australia, and the image seen here of The Unicorn in Captivity is in that book (as are several of the other unicorn tapestries in the Cloisters collection). I had no idea the original tapestry was hanging in The Cloisters and was delighted to see this work as it should be seen – hanging as it might have been hundreds of years ago in a castle somewhere in medieval Europe.

Of course, the image does not do the original work justice at all. Dating from around 1495–1505, and ‘standing’ some 3.6 metres high and 2.5 metres across, The Unicorn in Captivity is a stunning work, woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads that vividly depict this elusive, magical creature.

There are seven individual hangings known as "The Unicorn Tapestries," in the Cloisters collection, and these are among the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages that survive. However, it is thought that The Unicorn in Captivity may have been created as a single image rather than part of the collection in The Cloisters or any other series of tapestries depicting unicorns.

Daily Garden Tours
The Cloisters museum has an extensive program of guided tours and talks scheduled throughout the summer. In addition to exploring the beautiful Cuxa, Bonnefont, and Trie gardens, these hour-long tours highlight botanical motifs in works of art. Garden Tours are offered at 1:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, and are free with Museum admission. Read more about medieval plants and the gardens of The Cloisters on the official blog, The Medieval Garden Enclosed.

Address:
99, Margaret Corbin Drive
Fort Tryon Park, New York
Ph: 212-923-3700
Hours:
Monday: Closed
March--October: Tuesday to Sunday: 9:30am to 5:15pm
November to February: Tuesday to Sunday: 9:30am to 4:45pm
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day

Admission
There is a recommended admission fee of: Adults $20; Seniors (65 and older) $15; and Students $10. This includes same-day admission to the main Metropolitan Museum of Art building on Fifth Avenue. Members of The Met enter free as do children under 12 (when accompanied by an adult). There is no extra charge for entrance to special exhibitions.

However, having arrived at The Cloisters 90 minutes before closing time, I was clearly never going to visit the main Museum building ‘on the same day’. I mentioned this to the cashier and she seemed happy to accept my contribution of $10.

If was to make one recommendation to The Met, it would be to extend the ‘same-day admission’ offer to at least two days, since a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue would easily absorb a full day. Trying to visit The Met and The Cloisters in one day would be exhausting and only help diminish the pleasures to be had from devoting as much time as possible to the magnificent collections in both buildings.

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Images courtesy of The Cloisters website...