Every time I go to the Brooklyn Museum, I spend the whole day there. I fully intend to venture out towards the other attractions of Prospect Park, I just get sucked into the place! It’s the perfect size museum to do in a day, special exhibitions included; the cafeteria is scenic and peaceful for a solo casual meal and the restaurant is viable for a business meeting.
On a beautiful day, the sunny plaza in front is also a great place to sit and eat something from the food trucks that line up outside. There’s usually popcorn, ice cream, pretzels, hot dogs/fries/classics and halal available.
Unfortunately photos were not permitted in the Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving exhibit, so stay tuned for an additional post discussing that with professional images.
Meanwhile, I checked out Infinite Blue, a collection of art & objects dating from 3500 BCE to the present focusing on “spiritual, powerful, beautiful blue”; Arts of Korea, featuring decorative arts through the centuries and Kwang Young Chun: Aggregations, very recent work from a contemporary South Korean artist; Eric N. Mack: Lemme walk across the room, the first NYC solo exhibition by the artist; and the iconic permanent installation The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago.
I was losing steam by the time I sauntered through One: Egúngún, and finished my visit breezing through the permanently installed Period Rooms and Decorative Arts collection I am so familiar with.
The Brooklyn Museum permanent collection is also so great at teaching American history through art; it’s a lot more digestible than the American Wing at the Met.
For me, the fun in going to museums is noticing little things I never have before. On this visit I noticed how Klimt must have been familiar with and inspired by 18th and 19th century Korean or Chinese portraiture when creating his famously gilded, ornate, abstract, two dimensional backgrounds; I also got up close for the first time and observed how 3D and textural the best stained glass is, with rocks cut like rocks, and petals softly rounded like petals. The effect was sadly impossible for me to catch on camera in the limited time I had before the gallery closed!
I wasn’t able to eat in the neighborhood, but at least I took the time to stroll past the Brooklyn Public Library and Grand Army Plaza monument to the next subway stop. What a lovely day!
