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With Great Fanfare, the Modern Returns to Manhattan
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| The Museum of Modern Art, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi. Entrance at 53rd Street.
(Photo by Timothy Hursley) |
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New York City's newly renovated Museum of Modern Art has elicited so much publicity, you would have to be reclusive not to have heard about it. After two and a half years, and more than $425 million, the museum at 11 West 53rd Street reopened to the public on November 20, 2004.
Much well-deserved anger has been directed toward the new $20 admission fee and the long lines, but I think most critics are satisfied that the new building is elegant, its collections beautifully installed, and there can be no doubt that this is the premier collection of modern Western art from the end of the 19th century to the present. Admirers have certainly outnumbered detractors. And yet, when we look at art critic Roberta Smith's recent summing up of the best and worst of the new MoMA in the Sunday, December 26 edition of The New York Times, we cannot fail to notice that the "best" things she singles out are mighty slim pickings: the bathroom stalls, the new juxtapositions of a couple of 20th-century pieces, the new noise (a clacking of an airport arrivals-departure board), and a new "books-only" bookstore on the second floor. Is she kidding? The only significant things she likes are the garden and the lobby. She has plenty of abuse for the cost, the logistics, the lines, and the walls, bridges, and atrium.
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| The Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries. Third floor installation view.
(Photo by Timothy Hursley) |
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So, what do I think?
I agree that it costs too much to get in and the lines are too long, but once you are inside, it no longer seems crowded. The enlarged spaces facilitate the viewing of works of art, making it much easier than in the past. And that is the purpose of a museum, after all, isn't it? The architect, Yoshio Taniguchi, has achieved his goal of integrating the building into the bustle and vitality of New York City. I love the glass, the elegant structure, and the views across dizzying heights to distant, winding staircases. From almost every floor, you get different views of the sculpture garden and the city. The building materials of black granite, aluminum panels, and glass harmonize nicely with surrounding architecture.The first time I went, I was joined by a few art-historian colleagues, and we were overjoyed to regreet old friends, works we hadn't seen in a few years. They looked amazingly strong. The Mondrian room, the Dada and Surrealists, the Picasso and Cubism rooms have never looked so good! I love the way doorways frame paintings before you even get to them. It's a journey through the history of modern art, but there is no one, prescribed route through the galleries; rather, fluidity is emphasized. Each gallery can and does stand alone, and one can choose among a variety of pathways. It would be wonderful if we could all teach our classes by taking them through these rooms.
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| Fourth and fifth floor stairwell showing Henri Matisse's Dance (I) (1909) and the Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium.
(Photo by Timothy Hursley) |
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John Elderfield, the chief curator of painting and sculpture, wrote in his essay for the new catalog that the present decision about how to display the collection "privileges contemporary art." The 15,000-square-foot, high-ceilinged space on the second floor is meant to be the first gallery visitors see upon entering the museum. These galleries draw on all six collecting areas: painting and sculpture, architecture and design, drawings, photography, film and media, and prints and illustrated books. In this way, the curators hope to explore the diversity of the contemporary art scene.The third floor is dedicated to specialized galleries: architecture and design, drawings, and photography from the mid-19th century to the present. The fourth and fifth floors display painting and sculpture. Masterworks from the 1950s-'70s are on the fourth floor; works from the 1880s to the 1940s reside on the fifth. Special exhibitions take place on the sixth floor.The sculpture garden remains basically the same as before the renovation, but it has always served as an oasis. I'm glad it isn't much changed. (And it's a good place from which to view the new architecture.)
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| Pablo Picasso, Sleeping Peasants, 1919, gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper. © 2004 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. |
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On the other hand, I was bitterly disappointed to see Monet's Water Lilies reduced to seemingly postage-stamp size. In the old museum, they lined three walls of a room, creating a meditative atmosphere, akin to a chapel. Now, all in a row, the paintings seem lost in a vast space; it is hard to believe that this is the same artwork. Some observers have complained about the sometimes too-high ceilings, as well as a kind of "floating" quality caused by continuous empty spacing along the tops and bottoms of the gallery walls. These, however, didn't bother me.It is true that Matisse's great Dance (I), from 1909, is relegated to the top of a stairway, but it is worth the trip.On balance, the new museum is a success. Paintings, drawings, photography, prints, and new media are mostly magnificently displayed, with a few egregious exceptions. For me, it seemed just like the old Museum of Modern Art, only better—still one of the greatest of its kind in the world.If you would like to see for yourself, the museum is free of charge for Juilliard students at all times, and free to the general public on Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m.I will be giving a free tour for the Juilliard community on Saturday, February 12, from 1:20-2:20 p.m. (You may stay on afterward, on your own.) Space is limited, and you must contact me to reserve a place (gberman@juilliard.edu). The Museum of Modern Art is at 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It is open Wednesday-Monday, 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Friday, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. (It is closed Tuesdays.)Art historian Greta Berman has been on the liberal arts faculty since 1979.
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