Friday, December 30, 2011

The Museum of the City of New York

Today, I saw two fascinating exhibits at The Museum of the City of New York:

Police Work: Photographs by Leonard Freed, 1972-1979

"Police Work: Photographs by Leonard Freed, 1972-1979 features a selection of vintage prints by the Brooklyn-born photographer who documented "life on the beat" with NYPD officers during the tumultuous 1970s. During a time when New York City faced near bankruptcy and was internationally notorious for its high crime rates and social disorder, Freed's photographs reveal the complexity, the harshness, and the camaraderie of the city's public safety servants and the people they protected. Highlighting a recent gift to the Museum of the City of New York by his widow Bridgette Freed, the exhibition is a gritty, realistic portrait of ordinary people doing a "sometimes boring, sometimes corrupting, sometimes dangerous and ugly and unhealthy job."" - from The Museum of the City of New York



Police Work: Photographs by Leonard Freed, 1972-1979

Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

"From the 1920s through the ‘60s, Manhattan’s artistic and social circles embraced British-born photographer and designer Cecil Beaton (1904-80). Cecil Beaton: The New York Years brings together extraordinary photographs, drawings, and costumes by Beaton to chronicle his impact on the city’s cultural life. Beaton’s relentless energy and curiosity spurred him to pursue new fields, from fashion and portrait photography to costume and scenic design for Broadway, ballet, and opera, and to put his own aesthetic stamp on each of these endeavors."" - from The Museum of the City of New York




Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

Sunday, December 25, 2011

West 153rd Street, NYC


On Tuesday, Sonny Rollins will receive a Kennedy Center Honor. In today's New York Post, he says: "When I was about 14, I got everything Coleman Hawkins made on record. He was my idol. I went waiting for him one day — at his stoop — with my 8x10 glossy. I’d cased the place and knew he’d be coming home around that time. So he came in and there I was, and I asked him to sign it for me. It was great. I didn’t tell him I played — I was a little too shy.”

This is a photo of West 153rd Street, where Coleman Hawkins lived, as it is today.

Coming soon!



This is Cabbage Row, a revolutionary war era structure, which housed a tenement in the early 1900s. It was known locally as “Cabbage Row." The building was the setting for the novel, “Porgy,” by DuBose Heyward, and the location was named “Catfish Row” because the story was set on the waterfront.

Coming soon: Porgy and Bess

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Jack Kerouac's house



This was the house, in Orlando, where Jack Kerouac lived.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Jazz!






I went today to see: Paris Blues Revisited: Romare Bearden, Albert Murray and Sam Shaw, at Jazz at Columbus Circle. It was a very interesting exhibit.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

James Whitcomb Riley museum home


This is the James Whitcomb Riley museum home, located at 528 Lockerbie Street in Indianapolis, IN. The area is quite historic, lovely, and picturesque. And here is a link to more historic house museums in Indiana.

"The Dump"


This is the Margaret Mitchell house, located at 990 Peachtree Street NE in Atlanta, GA.

The Rubin Museum of Art



I went today to the Rubin Museum of Art to see Hero, Villain, Yeti. I enjoyed the exhibit very much!