19. Across the River to Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum is housed in a very impressive 560,000-square-foot Beaux-Arts building, and is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the US. Its roots extend back to 1823 and its world-renowned permanent collections - ranging from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art - represent a wide range of cultures.

My visit to the Museum was primarily to view its comprehensive American Art collection.

Standing in the Foyer is this impressive piece of marble with an equally impressive backdrop ..

The Fallen Angels - Salvatore Albano - Italian - marble on stone base - 1883 

Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps ( self portrait by the artist ) - Kehinde Wiley - USA - 2005

 

detail ...

 

A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt Rosalie - ( 210 x 360 cm ) Albert Bierstadt - USA - 1866

 

detail ...

 

detail ...

 

detail ...

 

detail ...

 

The Sisters - Rembrandt Peale - USA - 1826

 

The Sisters - Abbott Handerson Thayer - USA - 1884

 

Cherries and Gooseberries - Levi Wells Prentice - USA - 1891

 

Four Botanical Subjects - Elizabeth Otis Lyman Boott Duveneck USA - 1882

 

Afternoon by the River at Grez - Willard Leroy Metcalfe - USA - 1884

 

Reflections - John Henry Twachman - USA - 1893 

 

The Peaceable Kingdom - Edward Hicks - USA - 1833

 

The Sculptor - John Koch - USA -1964

 

... even the museum's huge storeroom is on show ...

 

... all artworks are displayed in state-of-the-art glass and steel cabinets + are numbered for reference on a database ...

 

Handsome Morning - A Dakota - Harry Edwards - USA _ 1921

 

Westward Ho ! - James Gillender & Sons - USA - pressed glass - 1875

 

Dans un Café a Paris - Lewis Malou Jones - USA - 1939

 

Late Afternoon, New York Winter - Frederick Childe Hassam - USA - 1900

 

Ram's, White Hollyhock & Hills - Georgia O'Keefe - USA - 1935

 

Diana at the Bath - I. Lorser Feitelson - USA - 1922

 

The Dinner Party - Judy Chicago - USA - 1979

 

The Dinner Party was created by feminist artist Judy Chicago, with the assistance of numerous volunteers, with the goal to "end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record."
The table is triangular and measures 14.63 m (forty-eight feet) on each side. Each place setting features a table runner embroidered with the woman's name and images or symbols relating to her accomplishments, with a napkin, utensils, a glass or goblet, and a plate. Many of the plates feature a butterfly- or flowerlike sculpture as a vulva symbol. A collaborative effort of female and male artisans, The Dinner Party celebrates traditional female accomplishments such as textile arts(weaving, embroidery, sewing) and china painting, which have been framed as craft or domestic art , as opposed to the more culturally valued, male-dominated fine arts.
The white floor of triangular porcelain tiles, called the Heritage Floor, is inscribed with the names of a further 999 notable women.
The artwork did visit Australia ( ACT ) in 1988.

 

I found the Brooklyn Museum a delight to wander through - it is a beautifully spacious museum with worthwhile collections that have been curated in a most interesting manner.  As a bonus, the Museum was not crowded even though our visit was on a Saturday ...