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WD_288/ 2007
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Works on paper: Drawings 3 | | Medium: | oilstick on paper | | Size (inches): | 25.6 x 17.7 | | Size (mm): | 650 x 450 | | Catalog #: | WD_0288 | | Description: | Signed, date and copyright in pencil on the reverse.
New York - Upper East Side
The opulent Upper East Side stretches between 59th Street and 96th Street and is dominated by the decidedly upper-crust reaches of Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, with pricey designer shops and fancy brasseries lining Madison Avenue in the 70s and up. If the poodles and the plastic surgery don’t put you off, there’s more to this area than money and mansions. Although this part of Manhattan is regarded by many locals as a sterile part of the city, there’s nothing dull about the paintings, sculptures, historical artefacts and other wonders found in the area’s world-class museums.
Art lovers could spend days exploring Museum Mile, which stretches along Central Park’s eastern border. The cultural line-up kicks off at 104th Street with a colourful Latino display at the Puerto Rican-based Museo del Barrio and historical toys, ships and furniture at the lively Museum of the City of New York. Moving down to 92nd Street is the Jewish Museum, followed by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and its stunning garden. A distinctive spiral structure by Frank Lloyd Wright announces the presence of the Guggenheim Museum, a few blocks down at 88th Street, while the stately Neue Galerie sits on the corner of 86th Street. At 82nd Street is the unmissable Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose stairways and galleries swarm with hundreds of daily visitors. Just down the street and one block east is the Whitney Museum of American Art at 75th Street and Madison Avenue, which houses contemporary art in a Bauhaus structure, while the Frick Collection further down at 70th Street is an attractive mansion filled with classical art.
The Upper East Side is also home to its a fair share of rowdy bars and post-college crowds, perfect if you’re craving a bit of fraternity-style drinking after all that culture.
Sights -
Metropolitan Museum of Art:
1000 Fifth Av at 82nd St,T1-212 879 5500, http://www.metmuseum.org Tue-Thu 0930-1730, Fri and Sat 0930-2100, Sun 0930-1730; for times of guided tours ask at the information desk. $12 suggested donation, $7 donation for students and seniors (includes The Cloisters and a guided tour). Subway 4, 5, 6 to 86th St.
The Met houses one of the world’s most impressive collections of paintings, sculpture, objets d’art, artefacts, photographs and more. A complete tour would take several days but it is also possible to enjoy the museum’s riches on a shorter and more focused visit. With over two million objects to choose from, it would be difficult not to find something of interest among the costumes, furniture, Renaissance and modern art, photographs and antiquities.
The original museum was set up in 1870 in a small, red-brick, neo-Gothic building as a cultural enrichment centre for workers and grew rapidly in the late 1800s thanks to many well-heeled benefactors. Asian porcelains, European paintings, decorative arts and American arts were added to the collection in the following decades and, by the 1920s, a larger building had been erected. The Met has since been expanded and altered numerous times, making the vast space somewhat difficult to negotiate despite the fact that it is broken down into the seven different collections.
Enter the spacious, handsome Great Hall to pick up maps and get tour information. Behind the Great Hall is the medieval art collection but most visitors head first to the Greek and Roman halls to the left. This section was recently overhauled and provides a suitably grand introduction to the museum’s collections. The Cypriot gallery on the upper floor leads on to exhibitions of African, Oceanic and American art, including ceremonial African wooden masks and Mayan sculptures.
Beyond are two floors of modern art including Picasso’s Portrait of Gertrude Stein and works by Hopper, Pollock, Modigliani, Warhol, O’Keefe and others. The stunning European art galleries, encompassing works from the Renaissance right through to post-Impressionism, are housed on the upper level. This is the most visited part of the museum and it’s easy to see why. Visitors flock here to see Renaissance works by Vermeer, El Greco, Rembrandt and Raphael – including his Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints – and the 19th/20th-century art of Cezanne, Gaugin, Manet, Picasso, Renoir and Rodin.
The American Wing is tucked away on two floors at the museum’s northwest corner and contains a fascinating display of paintings by Cassatt, Homer and Cole, plus Shaker furniture, Tiffany stained-glass and, downstairs, an indoor garden court with a café. The northeast section of the upper floor is given over to Asian art, encompassing impressive pieces of Islamic art, as well as work from Japan, India and Southeast Asia. Don’t miss the wonderfully soothing Astor Court in the Chinese section, a perfectly recreated Ming garden, with a pagoda, waterfall and goldfish pool. At ground level, meanwhile, the ancient wall paintings and mummies of the Egyptian art collection surround the breathtaking Temple of Dendur, which is fronted by a serene pool of water. The temple dates from 15 BC and was offered as a gift to the USA by the Egyptian authorities in 1965.
A variety of special exhibitions are on display in the museum throughout the year and, from May to October, the Cantor Roof Garden offers one of the best views of Central Park and the Midtown skyline.
The museum is open until 2100 on Friday and Saturday, with live classical music, cocktails and appetizers served on the balcony of the Great Hall; it’s one of the most civilized ways to spend an evening in New York.
Frick Collection:
1 East 70th St at 5th Av,T1-212 288 0700, http://www.frick.org Tue-Thu and Sat 1000-1800, Fri 1000-2100, Sun 1300-1800. $12, $8 seniors, $5 students; price includes audio tour. Subway 6 to 68th St.
The delightful and lavish former home of the steel tycoon Henry Clay Frick is arguably the most pleasing destination on Museum Mile. Despite his reputation as a ruthless businessman, Frick bequeathed his house and its contents to the city. The mansion houses European artwork, porcelain and sculpture, mostly dating from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century, including pieces by Van Dyck, Vermeer, Renoir, Gainsborough, Ingres and Goya. It became a museum in 1935 but its 18th-century furniture and intimate atmosphere mean that you’ll feel like you’re entering a wealthy friend’s country estate. Sit calmly in the West Gallery to admire Rembrandt under a glass ceiling or retire to the Garden Court, with its playful fountain if you fancy a moment of peace.
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum:
1071 Fifth Av at 89th St, T 1-212 423 3500, http://www.guggenheim.org Sat-Wed 1000-1745, Fri 1000-2000. $15, $10 seniors and students. Subway 6 to 86th St.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s striking funnel-shaped building opened in 1959 and its curvy form is still sure to catch your eye amid the stately upright homes of Fifth Avenue. Although the outside is a bit tattered and chipped these days, the Guggenheim remains one of the most noteworthy buildings in the city. It houses the art collection of business tycoon Solomon Guggenheim, who amassed important works by major 20th-century artists including Picasso, Kandinsky, Klee, Braque, Giacometti and Chagall as well as fine Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pieces by Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and others. Photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, spanning the artist’s career are located in a dedicated gallery on the fourth floor.
Wright planned for visitors to see the museum from the top down, so catch an elevator to the uppermost floor of the rotunda and weave your way down through the temporary exhibits, wandering into the rooms on each level to explore the permanent collections. Redevelopment work in 1992 resulted in the opening of a ten-storey adjacent tower complete with café, sculpture gallery and exceptional views of Central Park.
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum:
2 E 91st St at 5th Av,T1-212 849 8400, http://www.si.edu/ndm Tue-Thu 1000-1700, Fri 1000-2100, Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1200-1800. $8, $5 seniors and students. Subway 6 to 96th St.
Quite apart from the fabulous array of pieces from the Smithsonian design collection, this museum deserves a visit simply for its art nouveau entrance, sumptuous Georgian interior and breathtaking garden with a café. Formerly the home of Andrew Carnegie, the two floors feature changing exhibitions that display some of the most avant-garde designs in the fields of fashion, packaging, technology, film, fabrics, ecological inventions and more. Even in the museum-rich surroundings of the Upper East Side, the Cooper-Hewitt is a highlight; take an hour or so to be inspired here.
Neue Galerie New York:
1048 Fifth Av at 86th St,T1-212 628 6200, http://www.neuegalerie.org Sat-Mon 1100-1800, Fri 1100-2100. $10, $7 seniors and students. Subway 6 to 86th St.
Opened to the public in 2001, the elegant former home of Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt III exhibits 20th-century work by German and Austrian artists and designers, including members of the Bauhaus and Expressionist movements. Works by Klimt, Schiele and Beckman are on permanent display, plus changing exhibits by the likes of Klee, Dix and Breuer (some are on loan from the Museum of Modern Art). Perhaps the best part of a visit is the chance to pause in the Viennese Café Sabarsky, where authentic Austrian pastries are served alongside the tastiest hot chocolate in the city.
Whitney Museum of American Art:
945 Madison Av at 75th St,T1-800 WHITNEY, http://www.whitney.org Tue-Thu, Sat and Sun 1100-1800, Fri 0100-2100. $12, $9.50 seniors and students. Subway 6 to 77th St.
When the Whitney opened in 1966, it fulfilled the desire of its founder, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who wished to showcase the work of emerging American artists in avant-garde surroundings. The museum’s maverick personality is exemplified by its harsh but effective concrete structure, which was designed to look like an upside-down staircase. Andy Warhol had his first museum show here and others, including Pollock, de Kooning and Jasper Johns, all got a boost by displaying work at the Whitney. This was also the first museum to present video and the Internet as valid art forms. The permanent exhibit includes many Hopper and O’Keefe paintings.
For brunch, visit Sarabeth’s in the Whitney’s Sculpture Court, which is open during museum hours.
Jewish Museum:
1109 Fifth Av at 92nd St,T1-212 423 3200, http://www.jewishmuseum.org Sun-Wed 1100-1745, Thu 1100-2000, Fri 1100-1500. $10, $7.50 students and seniors, free children under 12; pay as you wish on Thu 1700-2000.
A 1908 Warburg mansion houses the largest museum of Judaica outside Israel. The permanent exhibit traces the Jewish cultural experience and explores religious traditions dating back over 4,000 years through a vast and interesting collection of art, artefacts and media installations, many of which were rescued from Europe before World War II. Café Weissman downstairs is an excellent spot to sit and rest.
Museo del Barrio:
1230 Fifth Av at 104th St.T1-212 831 7272, http://www.elmuseo.org Wed-Sun 1100-1700. $5 suggested donation, $3 students and seniors, free for children under 12. Subway 6 to 103rd St.
Opened in 1969 as a tribute to Puerto Rican artists, the museum has grown to include some Caribbean and Latin American art alongside its displays of crafts and paintings. Housed in part of a school building, the colourful exhibitions aim to enlighten visitors on the social issues surrounding Latin cultures. The museum is a good place to start an exploration either of Museum Mile to the south or nearby Spanish Harlem, east of Fifth Avenue, where Latin music and food can be enjoyed from 96th Street up to 116th Street.
Museum of the City of New York:
1220 Fifth Av at 103rd St,T1-212 534 1672, http://www.mcny.org Wed-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700, suggested contributions $7 adults, $4 for seniors, students and children, $12 for families. Subway 6 to 103rd St.
History buffs and toy enthusiasts will enjoy this spacious museum, which has varied displays relating to New York, past and present. Shipping vessels and city art through the ages surround an huge statue of Robert Fulton, while the museum bookshop has a great collection of educational toys and trinkets to take home.
Central Park and the Upper West Side:
With 58 miles of scenic pathways, a six-mile perimeter, 26,000 trees and 25 million annual visitors, Central Park is the city’s emerald- green backyard. New Yorkers use their park to the full and are fiercely proud of it. From peaceful flowers and fountains to frisbee-throwing spaces, this park has something for everyone.
The Upper West Side is defined by its proximity to Central Park and is inhabited by bohemian intellectuals and yuppies, who can afford its pricey real estate. Rows of beautiful brownstones are interspersed with famous apartment buildings, including the Dakota, where John Lennon lived, on Central Park West. Here, too, is the American Museum of National History and its enormous collection of artefacts.
The busy intersection of Columbus Circle on Broadway from 58th Street to 60th Street is the gateway to the Upper West Side. Once the site of tenements and poverty-stricken immigrants, it is now being transformed by the arrival of the glossy two-towered Time Warner building. Beyond the cultural axis of the Lincoln Center, Broadway becomes the quintessential New York food shopping street, with famous grocers such as Zabar’s, Fairway and Citarella, located alongside all-night diners and a weekend flea market at 77th Street. Further north, Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues are home to countless bars, restaurants catering for the students from Columbia University, where a more laidback atmosphere prevails. Nearby, is the lofty but unfinished Cathedral of St John the Divine.
Stretching right the way along the western side of the district is Riverside Park, characterized by opulent apartment buildings, statues and sinuous paths.
Central Park:
59th St to 110th St between 5th Av and Central Park West, T 1-212 360 3456, http://www.centralpark.org Daily 0600-0100. Subway (West Side): A, C, D, 1, 9 to 59th St-Columbus Circle or C to 72nd St-110th St; (East side) 4, 5, 6, N, R to 59th St or 6 to 68th St-110th St.
Conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the English pastoral tradition, America’s first public park was designed as a place where people of all social backgrounds could mingle. It was intended to help change the city’s hectic image and to provide a public space that could rival Europe’s urban parks. The first section opened in 1853 and over the next 15 years more than four million trees, shrubs and vines were planted. Olmsted wrote that “every foot of the park’s surface, every tree and bush, as well as every arch, roadway, and walk has been fixed where it is with a purpose.”
Most New Yorkers insist that Central Park is the finest planned urban space in the world. You will see plenty of them jogging, rollerblading, cycling, boating, picnicking, playing baseball and badminton and, of course, people-watching within its borders. If you’re visiting in summertime, there’s also likely to be a concert, play or some other event taking place here. Check on the park website or in one of the weekly listings magazines to find out what’s on throughout the year.
The entrance at 65th Street on the east side provides access to the Wildlife Conservation Center and the Children’s Zoo, which is home to polar bears, sea lions and a rain forest. Further west is the Carousel, a folk-art merry-go-round from Coney Island. The original carousel was built in 1871 and was turned by horses but had to be replaced after two fires. The Mall, a wide promenade sheltered by a line of glorious American elm trees, stretches north of here. Every weekend it becomes a mecca for inline- and rollerskaters, who turn up to show off their skills and skate around to the tunes. To the east is the Sheep Meadow, an expanse of parkland that’s perfect for ball games or sun bathing.
Close to the north end of the Mall is Bethesda Terrace, a stunning piazza and angel-themed fountain that provides the setting for many wedding photos. To the west is Strawberry Fields, a small and quiet spot at 72nd Street, which honours the late Beatle, John Lennon, who was shot outside the Dakota Building across the street. The triangular memorial is decorated with a mosaic of inlaid stones and at its centre is Lennon’s famous plea, ‘Imagine’.
On the east side of the Lake is Loeb Boathouse, where you can rent a rowing boat, take a gondola ride, enjoy a relaxing cocktail or dine at the Boathouse Café. Smaller Conservatory Water (also known as Sailboat Lake) lies further to the east, just off Fifth Avenue. Here, ducks share the water with remote-controlled model boats, kids scramble over the Alice in Wonderland statue and birdwatchers scan for birds of prey, which nest on the nearby buildings. Other birds to be found in the park include herons, egrets and cormorants.
North of the Lake is Belvedere Castle, formerly the home of the city’s weather station. It now contains educational exhibits and weather-monitoring instruments and offers a stunning view from the top. Beyond 79th Street, the Delacorte Theater, on the shores of Belvedere Lake, offers performances of Shakespeare during the summer, often with a star-studded cast. Above 86th Street is the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, where the former First Lady used to enjoy jogging.
Hidden in the northeastern corner, near Harlem Meer, is one of Central Park’s secret treasures. The Conservatory Gardens are often overlooked but the flowers, fountains and hedges here form one of the prettiest spots in the city and a peaceful escape from the noisy streets. The statue, depicting The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett, was erected during the Great Depression as a tribute to children.
Tavern on the Green, near 67th Street on the west side, is Central Park’s best-known restaurant. First used as a sheepfold in the 1870s, it reputedly turns more tables than any other restaurant in America, raking in a whopping $30 million every year. Come to see the lights and manmade snow, but not for the food.
Central Park West:
Subway B, C to 72nd St, 81st St or 86th St.
Some consider the buildings along Central Park West to be the finest architecture in the city, particularly the large art deco apartment blocks from the late 1920s and early 1930s. Two of the finest examples of the streamlined architecture of the period include the twin-towered Majestic at 72nd Street and the San Remo at 74th Street. The towering Century at 62nd Street and the three-crowned Beresford at 81st Street (across from the American Museum of Natural History) are also worth seeing. The first luxury apartment building in the city, however, was the Dakota at 72nd Street, which was built in 1884 and is most famous as the last residence of John Lennon.
American Museum of Natural History:
Central Park West at 79th St, T 1-212 769 5200, http://www.amnh.org Sun-Thu 1000-1745, Fri and Sat 1000-2045. Suggested donation $12, $7 children, $9 students and seniors; the IMAX and Hayden Planetarium cost extra. Subway B, C to 81st-Central Park West.
The whales, dinosaurs, butterflies and model planets that make up this expansive and interactive museum are sure to please adults and children alike. Most popular among the more than 30 million artefacts is the Dinosaur Exhibit on the fourth floor. It’s the largest in the world, with more than 600 specimens on display. Visitors are encouraged to touch the spiny Barosaurus and to get up close and personal with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The world’s largest blue sapphire, the Star of India, sparkles in the Hall of Gems and Minerals, while the recently opened Hall of Planet Earth, in the Rose Center for Earth and Space, takes you on a journey following the earth’s rotation. Also here is a planetarium and an IMAX theatre.
The museum’s original beaux arts structure opened in 1877 and the various halls, floors and rooms have been added piecemeal ever since, so the layout is slightly confusing. Pinpoint the galleries you want to see with a map on the way in and, if you’re a real natural history fan, consider buying one of the special passes that will allow entry into all 42 exhibition halls, plus the Rose Garden and the planetarium. A Starry Nights jazz evening is held on the first Friday of every month in the Rose Center and is a sophisticated and fun way to explore outer space, while sipping wine.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts:
62nd St to 66th St and Broadway,T1-212 875 5456. http://www.linconlcenter.org Subway 1, 2 to 66th St-Lincoln Center.
The white, 1960s concrete structures that make up the Lincoln Center could easily be tired and outdated by now but instead they are abuzz with some of New York’s finest ballet, opera, music and film. Formerly the site of tenement houses and slums – the inspiration for the hit musical West Side Story – the Lincoln Center was built as part of a massive urban renewal project and is an airy space with fountains, art and eclectic crowds. As home to the American Ballet Company, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera House and the Walter E Reade Theater, which hosts the New York Film Festival, the complex draws in scores of New York’s cultural elite. If you are attending a performance at any of the seven buildings venues, make sure to peer in to the Metropolitan Opera House to see the two enormous Marc Chagall tapestries hanging in the front windows. The atmosphere at night is glamorous and, in the summertime, free concerts and dance events take place around the sprawling complex.
Riverside Park:
from 72nd St to 159th St. Subway 1, 2 to 72nd St, 79th St or 86th St, 3 to 72nd St.
Upper West Siders are known for their elitist yet laidback attitude, which may have something to do with the fact that they have green space on both sides of them. Riverside Park borders the Hudson River from 72nd Street right up to 159th Street. This certified scenic landmark is dotted with sumptuous homes, beaux arts buildings, statues and monuments, with some industrial landscapes at its northern end. Joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers are attracted to the trails that snake through the park.
Start your exploration of the park at the 72nd Street entrance, watched over by a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt or, on a summer evening, join locals at the 79th Street Boat Basin to enjoy sunset over the Hudson River accompanied by a burger and a beer. Further north on Riverside Drive at 89th Street is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, built in 1902 for those who died in the Civil War. At 93rd Street is the Joan of Arc Park, complete with a statue of the Maid of Orleans atop her horse in full armour. The bronze sculpture contains stones from both Rheims cathedral and the tower at Rouen, where Joan was imprisoned. At 120th Street is the Riverside Church, built by the Rockefeller family in 1930. The Gothic church has a 355-foot tower that can be climbed in good weather for views across the river. The huge, bombastic granite dome that serves as General Grant’s Tomb is impossible to miss, perched on a hill at 122nd Street. Ulysses S Grant was a Unionist hero, who is given much of the credit for the defeat of Confederate forces in the American Civil War. The 1897 memorial has four rooms and statues honouring Grant’s life from childhood up until his presidency.
If you’re short on time but keen to see a few of the sights and leafy streets of the Upper West Side, take the M5 bus from Sixth Avenue. It drives right past Columbus Circle, the Lincoln Center and up scenic Riverside Drive, taking in many of the monuments mentioned above, before winding its way up to Harlem.
Cathedral of St John the Divine:
1047 Amsterdam Av at 112th St,T1-212 316 7540, http://www.stjohndivine.org Mon-Sat 0730-1800, Sun 0700-1900. Services Mon-Sat 0800, 1215, 1730; Sun 0800, 0900, 0930, 1100, 1800. Tours, Tue-Sat 1100, Sun 1300. $5, $4 students and seniors. Subway B, C, 1 to 110th St.
Far from going up in a New York minute, the largest cathedral in the USA has yet to be completed, although construction began way back in 1892. A style change from Romanesque to Gothic, not to mention bankruptcy in 1994 and a fire in 2001 has meant years of architectural reworking with the completion date now scheduled for around 2050. Stunning in size, the church holds a number of treasures including beautiful stained-glass windows, Raphael-inspired tapestries and a silver triptych in the shape of a Russian icon created by Keith Haring just before his death in 1990. As you walk around inside the church the combination of Gothic and Romanesque architecture becomes apparent. The sanctuary and the choir are the most significant examples of the original Romanesque design commissioned by the bishop in 1891, while the nave demonstrates the Gothic style introduced by the architect Ralph Adams Cram in the first half of the 20th century. The floor at Poet’s Corner is inscribed with quotations by great American writers, while the poetic offerings of current visitors are displayed on the surrounding wall. Kids will enjoy the playful Children’s Sculpture Park outside.
After visiting the cathedral, be sure to nip across the street to the Hungarian Pastry Shop for some delicious hazelnut and chocolate cake, see.
-www.footprintguides.com/New-York/Upper-East-Side.php
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