Museum of the Week: The Museum of the City of New York
Starburst on the floor in the foyer of the Museum of the City of New York, (c) Alaina Morgan, 2009.
A couple of weeks ago, the Real Estate-trix and I went to the Museum of the City of New York for their Speakeasy Wednesdays. We got a glimpse at the first floor museum galleries, and the interior of the building, which (as much as I hate to admit it) would be absolutely perfect for a wedding that spilled out onto the front balcony.
Although the exhibit didn’t provide access to the ongoing exhibitions, which include the museum’s collection of toys and New York City interiors, the three rotating exhibits were still plenty to see after drinking a very strong Cosmopolitan at the Speakeasy.
George Loring Brown, View of Central Park, 1862
Ever wondered what Manhattan looked like before someone came by and leveled it, only to replace its babbling brooks and ancient trees with skyscrapers and homeless guys. Well wonder no longer. The Museum of the City of New York’s Manhattan/Manahatta exhibit provides an in depth examination of what each of New York City’s neighborhoods looked like before they were developed, and then developed again, and then leveled and developed again. Like did you know that Murray Hill was actually, um… a hill. Or, that streams and estuaries used to abound on Manhattan Island? Yeah, I knew you didn’t.
Hendrik Kerstens, Napkin, 2009.
At first, I didn’t expect the Museum’s Dutch Seen exhibit to be that interesting, but thankfully I was incorrect. The unifying feature of the art that is displayed is that all of the artwork was made by contemporary Dutch artists. I am not an enormous fan of modern art, but the pieces that appear on the museum’s stock photographs of the exhibit, all done by Hendrik Kerstens this year are all intriguing. Each features a photograph of his daughter with a single white napkin on her head. If you look at it from afar, they look like colonial photographs of Dutch settlers wearing bonnets, but when you get closer you realize that the effect is created with a dinner napkin. I also enjoyed Jaap Scheeren’s photographs which attempt to recreate the discovery of Manhattan. Especially amusing is a photograph of a beaver by Jaap Scheeren. Scheeren bought the beaver on eBay for $250 and staged him in several photos in order to represent the beaver pelt as one of the key raw materials used in the New World.
Jaap Scheeren.
My least favorite was Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson, which commemorates the 400 year anniversary of Hudson’s voyage to the area. My favorite parts of the exhibit were the 400 year old maps ad globes featured. I, along with many other people I am sure, am so fascinated by the fact that even though some things are slightly off about the maps, somehow colonial cartographers knew the basic shapes of the continents and their relationship to each other. Even though we know that the Earth isn’t flat and that the sun doesn’t revolve around the Earth now, our understanding of the shape of the continents has barely changed. The rest of the exhibit I could have left, however.
All in all, I recommend a trip to the Museum of the City of New York before the end of August to see the Mannahatta/Manhattan exhibit and the Dutch Seen exhibit, unless you absolutely abhor modern art and can’t see any way around it. And go on a Wednesday night, you’ll warm up your insides with a delicious speakeasy style beverage. Note that if you decide not to go on a Wednesday night, admission is pay-as-you wish.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 212.534.1672.
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday: 10:00am-5:00pm; Wednesday 10:00am-9:00pm during the summer ($12 admission)
Suggested Admission: Adults: $10; Students and Seniors: $6
