My assault on the Smithsonian officially ends......maybe

New York, New York

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building or Met Life Tower. It was the tallest building in the world from 1909 to 1913. It is 213 metres (700 feet) tall.

The Chrysler Building. I am sure you will be seeing many more pictures of it. I just can't stop taking pictures of it.

So I have finally made my way back to the museums. I decided to start where I had left off by visiting the one Smithsonian museum here in NYC. This was the National Museum of the American Indian. It is located way down in Lower Manhattan just off Battery Park.....which pretty much anyone who is going to visit NYC will visit because that is where you catch the boat to the Statue of Liberty. You may walk by the museum and not know that a museum is there as it is located in a great New York landmark, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. The building is great and yes I did spend some time just looking at the moulding. I will have to head back to get a good picture of the entire building but hey it's not like I don't live in the city.

At the top of the steps to the Museum.

Above the doorway.

On the ceiling in the museum.

The ceiling of the Rotunda.

Lower Manhattan on the weekend is a very interesting place to visit. It is pretty much a ghost town......except for the tourists. Really after 6pm on any week day or the weekend the place is dead. Lower Manhattan is home to Wallstreet and the financial district (which really no longer exists) so once banking hours are over.......everyone returns to Queens or Brooklyn or the Upper East side or Jersey (etc, etc.), where they actually live. There was a bit of excitment today though as I happened upon the New York Romania Festival (yeah that's right), which was taking place right outside the museum.

See......I wasn't lying. The Romania Festival.

Anyway, back to the museum. Much smaller than the one in DC and I learned very quickly that they rotate exhibits between the two museums........so I had already seen one of the two exhibits that was there. That exhbit was the Identity by Design exhibit which is all about the tradition, change and celebration in Native women's dresses. Neat to see the second time around but meant it did not take me that long to get through it.

Should look familiar. It does to me anyways.

The other exhibit I did spend a bit more time in though. This was an art exhibit dedicated to artist Fritz Scholder called Indian Not Indian. He was a very controversial and prolific artist who embraced paradox. He was one-quarter indian (although he always said a quarter never made you anything) and although he was an enrolled member of the Luiseno tribe he often said he was not Indian and never really considered himself an Indian artist. His art really is interesting.......very abstract. He did paint some Indian figures......but he hated the cliche so did so in a very different way. For example, the first Indian figure he painted had green hair and he stenciled in the word "Indian" so that people would not be confused. It turns out the other half of this exhibit is actually on display in DC right now. Not sure if I will get a chance to see it or not. Sorry I could not take pictures but check out the Smithsonian website for more info. http://www.americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/scholder/

And with that I have seen all the Smithsonian Museums. Ok so I still have not been to the National Museum of American History in DC, although I did see many items in the museum last year. If you remember the museum was closed for renovations last year, but they moved some of the exhibits to the other museums so people could still see them. I guess I really should still try to get back down there to see it....especially with the movie coming out this summer.....you know....... Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian.

Anyway, from the museum I headed out to explore the very empty Lower Manhattan area.

I love the old fire escapes.

Some of the empty streets in Lower Manhattan.

More of Lower Manhattan.

Still in Lower Manhattan. Not the Empire State Building although I did have to look twice after I posted this picture.

Still in Lower Manhattan. I love how the old buildings and architecture have survived while being surrounded by all the new construction.

I also found the NYPD Museum but didn't check it out. Thought maybe I would save it until Steve and Heather get here. (Hopefully they will make it here this month...plans are still being made at this point in time).

Nothing like an old-school cop car.

I found the Brooklyn Bridge as well and I am sure I could find it again if I needed to......which I will need since I plan on heading to Brooklyn to check it out at some point in time.

I will walk across it before I leave this city.

So there is still a lot more to see and do. I will slowly start working through my list. Everyday it seems to gets a little longer. What else is new.

Julie

Back in DC and loving it!!!!

June 26, 2008

The Martin Luthur King Library in DC. Just one the random buildings I wandered by the other day.

Well I made my way back into DC to make some repeat visits to a couple Smithsonian Museums. My first stop was back at the Museum of African Art. A couple new exhibits have opened since my last visit so I had to go back. I was unable to take any pictures (usually you can't in the temporary exhibits) but they were very good. One of them was Textstyles and had examples of African textiles, garmets and accessories. There were also a lot of stories about how they were used, made and the influences that have caused change over the years. Very interesting. The second exhibit was a exhibit with the works of a Ghanaian artist named El Anatsui titled Gawu. (Gawu is derived from the word "ewe" in Anatsui's native language. It has several potential meanings including "metal" and a "fashioned cloak".) Both of these meanings would make sense considering Anatsui's work. He works with mostly metal fragments of things that have been discarded. He makes metal "cloths" that are constructed with the aluminum wrapings from the tops of liquor bottles, three-dimensional sculptures made of the discarded tops of evaporated milk tins and a crumpling wall made of rusty metal graters and old printing plates for a few examples. The items were all gathered in Nigeria where Anatsui lived for 28 years. The work really was quite brillant and really makes you look at trash in a very different way.

From there I headed back to the Hirshorn Gallery to see Part 2 of The Cinema Effect: Realisms. I saw Part 1: Dreams, a few months back and had to go back to see the next portion. I am not sure which one was better. I found "Dreams" a lot more dramatic but "Realims" was much more thought provoking. I must say though that my true feelins of Part 1 were not really complete until I saw Part 2. I am very glad I was still in the area so I could see both parts.

Both exhibits were collections of mostly video art by many different international artists the were combined to make one big exhibit. In Dreams, artists used the technology of cinema to recall the dream-like state induced by film viewing, transporting viewers out of thier daily lives to a place where definitions and understanding of reality are questioned. Realisms continues to play on this and how what we are viewing in cinema (and TV) distort our depictions of reality. In one case I watched a film (in Itailian with english subtitiles I might add) that appeared to be fiction but then you realize that the entire script is written from interviews with film students that are being played on TVs on one side of the room. So the situations in the film are fiction but all the dialogue is the combination of the interviews. In another room you walk in and on 4 walls there were shots from New York City, or at least it appeared to be New York City until you look a little bit closer and realize that the shots are in fact from a film set, in Los Angeles. Very, very interesting. If there exhibits ever land in a museum near you , I totally recommend taking some time to check them out, but make sure you allow yourself some time. You cannot just walk in, take a look and walk out and still get the full effect. You usually need to watch the full thing and in some cases that could be 20 minutes.

I then made a stop at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. I had wandered by here quite a few times on previous visits to DC but never wandered through. Now that everything is so green and the fountain was up and running it was a very pretty place to stop and had quite a few interesting large pieces of art. In the winter the fountain is usually an ice rink I guess but I missed that. Here are a few pictures.

The fountain in the middle of the garden... and no I don't know who those people are.

This is Aurora by American artist Mark Di Suvero. It points to the gate to get out of the garden just in case you get lost.

This is Magdalena Abakanowicz's Puellae (Girls).

This one is called Typewriter Eraser, Scale X (cleaver I know). The artists are Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen.

The next stop was at the old Post Office. This was another place I had walked past many times and had been told to take a few minutes to go up the tower. It offers very similar views to those on the top of the Washington Monument but the windows are open so you want to go up there on a nice day.

The Old Post Office.

The Old Post Office was built in the 1890's. At the time it was DC's tallest building. Today it is DC's third tallest building (the Washington Monument and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception are taller). The building served as the city post office from 1898 to 1914 but eventually the building became to small and was moved. In the 1970's the government had plans to tear it down but there were protests and all that kind of thing and instead it was renovated. It now houses offices including the Board of Education (you still have to go through security to get in). The view from the top is very good. You can also stop by the level that holds all the bells. The bells are rung by the Washington Ringing Society (seriously I am not making that up) for American holidays and other special events and that kind of thing. Apparently they practice thier bell ringing on thursday nights (also not making that up).

One of the big bells.

Looking toward the Capitol through the protective wires. The observation level is open to air but there is still something in the way from those perfect camera shots.

This side of the building has glass not wires. The domed building behind me is the Natural History Museum.

Julie

Another Air and Space Museum

June 25th, 2008

This is the piece of art that greets you as you enter the museum.

Well I have offcially completed my tour of the Smithsonian museums (well my first visists anyways.....there are a few I will make a second trip to). I made my way out to Chantily Virginia to visit the Air and Space Museum Udvar Center. It basically is a giant hanger that is filled with old planes. Not as much to read as the other one but lots to see. They say the Air and Space museum all the Mall in Washington actually only holds about 10% of the museums articles even though it gets the most foot traffic. Chantily is only about 45 minutes down the road so it was a quick trip (it seems everything is a quick trip from here). As with all the other Smithsonian museums, admission is free, however you do have to pay $12 for parking, which almost seems expensive now that I have been to so many free museums.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of thinngs that I saw and enjoyed.

Looking into the museum from the top of the stair case.

Although it looks like an air traffic control tower, it is actually part of the museum.

This is the Blackbird, a reconnaissance aircraft. It logged over 2,800 hours of flight times over 24 years. On its last flight on March 6, 1990, it set a speed record, flying from Los Angeles to Washington DC in 1 hour and 4 minutes. It made its final landing at Dulles International Airport and then was turned over to the Smithsonian Institute.

This is the Enola Gay. It flew advance weather reconnaissance in the second world war. It actually did the weather reconnaissance before the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The big white plane is one of the original concordes. When they were in service they could cross the Atlantic in less than 4 hours. Of course they cost too much and eventually went out of service but Air France agreed to donate one of the aircrafts to the Smithsonian when it was retired.

A replica of the space ship. I think it is made of foam blocks or something like that but looks pretty real...until you get real close. It really is as big as it looks though.

This is a Huey most well known for thier service record in Vietnam. They originally went into service during the Korean War.

A view of the air traffic control tower at Dulles International Airport from the fake air traffic control tower at the museum. It really did offer a great view from up there.

The outside of the museum from the fake air traffic control tower.

I found a couple things amusing as I was looking at the planes. All over the planes and helicopters there are warnings and instructions , like "don't step here" and "pull here to open". Here are a couple that I really liked.

This was on the front of a helicopter. And yes the press to unlock is amusing but so is the fire fight instructions.

Below is the warning on this one.

Potentially problematic considering its intended purpose.

Julie

The Hirshhorn Museum

February 29, 2008

Henry Moore's Stringed Figure No. 1

The last Smithsonian museum in DC that I had to visit was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. It is the Smithsonian’s international modern and contemporary art museum. A lot of very interesting pieces and of course a few that make you ask “What is art, really?”

Song of The Little Frog by Richard Stankiewicz

The above to photos are of Clyfford Still's 1962-D and 1950-M No. 1. I almost think I could paint one of these.....then again maybe not.

Spectre Riding a Headless Horse by David Smith

Theodore Roszak's Invocation I

Jean Tinguely's The Sorceress

The Drummer by Barry Flanagan. This is one of the many sculptures you will find in the sculpture garden.

With this visist I have now seen all of the Smithsonian Museums that you will find in Washington DC (except for the Museum of American History because it is closed until sometime later this year). I now only need to make my way out to Chantily Virgina to visit the other Air and Space Museum and visit the few in NYC and I will have visited them all.

Julie

The Hope Diamond

Of course no trip to DC is complete without stopping in to see the World’s most famous diamond, the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond. I guess I would say the diamond is about the size of a walnut or maybe a little bit bigger. Lots of people commented on how small it was but I assure you it really is impressive. The Hope diamond is surrounded by 16 white diamonds and connected to a platinum chain with another 46 white diamonds. Although it has been re cut several times over the years it has steadily increased in value.

The Hope Diamond was found in India. No one is completely sure how old it is but rocks in India where diamonds are found have been dated at 1.1 billion years old. It started out as a 112 3/16 carat diamond that was purchased by a French merchant named Jean Baptiste Tavernier. In 1668 Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France. In 1673 it was re cut to 67 1/8 carats. It became known as the Blue Diamond of the Crown or French Blue. The King wore it on a ribbon around his neck for ceremonial occasions.

In 1791 after an attempt by King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, all the jewels of the royal treasury were turned over to the government. In September 1792 it was stolen.

In 1812 a deep blue diamond believed to be the Hope diamond was documented as belonging to a London diamond merchant named Daniel Eliason. There is strong evidence that it was acquired by King George IV of England. Upon his death it was believed to be sold through private channels in order to help pay for his enormous debt.

A 1839 entry in Henry Phillip Hope’s gem catalogue is the first reference to its next known owner, that was of course Henry Phillip Hope who the diamond is now named for. They is no reference as to who Hope acquired the diamond from. Later that year Henry Phillip Hope died and the diamond was passed on to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope, and then his grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1902 Lord Francis Hope sold the diamond to pay off his debts. It was purchased by a London dealer who then sold it to Joseph Frankles and Sons of New York City. They kept the stone until they too needed money and sold it to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It was eventually sold to R.H Rosenau and later resold that same year to Pierre Cartier.

While in Paris on her honeymoon Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, was shown the diamond while it was at Cartiers. She eventually bought the diamond in 1912. Sometime later it was placed in the setting was we see it today. By the time it was acquired by Mrs McLean the legend of the Hope Diamond’s curse was well known (it seems a lot of people who owned it went broke and died). Mrs McLean actually found the stories of the curse amusing and had no issues with adding the diamond to her collection. Mrs. McLean died in 1947 and 2 years later her entire jewellery collection was purchased by Harry Winston Inc. Her collection not only included the Hope Diamond, but also the 94.9 carat Star of the East diamond, the 15 carat Star of the South Diamond, a 9 carat green diamond and 31 carat diamond that is now called the McLean diamond. Harry Winston Inc. donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in November of 1958.

There are still many mysteries regarding the Hope Diamond including some of its previous owners and the possibility that it was actually cut from a much larger stone and that there is in fact a sister stone out there somewhere. Really I guess the mystery and intrigue of the stone are part of the reasons why it is worth so much.

Julie

The Museum of Natural History

February 28, 2008

Depending on the door you enter, this may be the first thing you see. I actually had to wander around to find it but did. This is one the original Easter Island moai. It was obtained by the Smithsonian Institue in 1886. There are still around 1,000 moai on Easter Island although many of them were toppled in the 17th century during social disturbances. (There is a giant elephant in the rotunda at the other entrance).

I have to say that of all the Smithsonian museums to visit, the Natural History Museum was probably the one I was looking forward to the least. Don’t get me wrong, I was still excited to go but maybe not as much as other museums. Mainly this is because I have already been to 2 natural history museums in the last year and figured this one would be pretty similar. It certain cases I have to say I was correct but in other ways I was wrong. I very quickly bypassed all the stuffed animals and quickly moved to the Janet Anneberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals (yeah I know). Three reasons why I headed here first: Reason #1: this is the current home of the Hope Diamond (I will talk all about it in a totally separate post….and yes there will be pictures), Reason #2: this is the current home of the Harry Winston Gallery (or as I like to call it, “Men don’t bring your ladies here because there are some big ass diamonds and gems in this place”), Reason #3: the other museums really did not have anything like this.

This is the Mackay Emerald and diamond necklace designed by Cartier. It is 168 carats. This was donated to the collection by Anna Case Mackay who received the necklace as a wedding gift from her husband, Clarance Mackay, in 1931. Anna was a prima dona at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1909 to 1920.

This is the Marie Louise Diadem. It was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise. It contains over 1,000 diamonds totaling over 700 carats. It originally contained 79 emeralds but after the fall of Napoleon, Marie Louise fled to Vienna and the diadem was left to an Aunt. It was eventually sold in 1953,the emeralds were removed in 1956 and sold as individual pieces as emeralds "from the historic Napoleon tiara". The emeralds were replaced with tourquiose stones before it was donated to the Smithsonian.

Heading into the Hall of Geology took me back to my first year at the University of Calgary and my 2 geology courses. It also made me realize that I have retained NOTHING from those classes (that was money well spent). Good thing I don’t take care of rocks and minerals. Things were displayed in a very different way than I thought I would see. It was more like an art museum than anything. I guess it is true what they say, sometimes the most beautiful things are created by nature.

This is copper from the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan

This is gypsum from Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua Mexico

This is Crocoite from the Red Lead mine in Dundas, Tasmania Australia. The orange colour comes from chromium.

This one is calcite stalactites formed from tiny calcite crystals that grew as water containing dissolved minerals dripped from the roof of a cave.

No trip to a Natural history museum is complete without a visit to Egypt. I love looking at all the artefacts and of course the mummies.

This is Minister Cox (not his real name but named after the man who donated him to the museum). He died over 2,200 years ago.

Me with Minister Cox

A mummy mask or Mask for the Dead. It is from the 18th dynasty

There is currently a temporary exhibit called Discovering Rastafari which was very interesting. Of course when I am talking about Rastafari I am talking about the reggae playing, dreadlock wearing, “herb” smoking movement most often associated with Jamaica. The Rastafarian movement is so much more that though (seriously it is very interesting, I suggest doing some extra reading about it). It is religious movement (although most Rastas say it is not a religion but a way of life) that emerged in Jamaica in the early 1930’s. The smoking of Ganja or cannabis or the “herb” is a spiritual experience to Rastafarians. It is often accompanied by bible study. Rastafarians feel the smoking of the herb helps them reach a higher level of enlightenment. They feel that Africa, (Ethiopia to be exact) is the true home of black people. Repatriation which is the desire to return to Africa after 400 years of slavery, is central to Rastafari doctrine all though not all Rastas feel the return needs to be physical. Anyway, this is really just the tip of the Rastafarian iceburg. Just fabulously interesting. I totally recommend that everyone google it and read all about it.

The most interesting exhibit I saw at the museum that day though…..the homeless man sleeping on the floor. Not sure how long he had been there all I know is that a security guard did come around and woke him up, told him he couldn’t lay there and then walked away. The man picked up his stuff and promptly…....moved to another location, sat back down and continued his nap. He probably didn’t get kicked out until the museum closed. Hopefully by then he had somewhere else to go.

Julie