At this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, Picasso Sculpture, at the Museum of Modern Art through February 7, 2016, the viewer is treated to wonderful insights into the artist’s work. It's an epic showing of 140 pieces, arranged chronologically, with the sculptures occupying the museum’s entire fourth floor. What becomes clear as you walk from gallery to gallery is that sculpting was an integral, if spasmodic, part of Picasso'slife. In 1902, at the age of twenty and still living in Barcelona, he created a clay model known as Seated Woman. Five years on, Picasso would have a mind-altering moment when he visited the collection of African and Oceanic sculptures at the Musée du Trocadero in Paris. That visit, which came at the suggestion of the great painter André Derain, stimulated the young Picasso to try his hand at wood carving.

Art in New YorkBarbara DonskyDecember 6, 2015Abby Aldridge Rockkefeller Sculpture Garden, Georges Braque, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, Picasso, WORTH A TRIP Comments

Matisse and Me

MoMA pulled out all the stops for its exhibition: “Matisse: The Cut-Outs.” And rightly so. Before reaching these shores, the exhibition had been at the Tate in London whereit drew 500,000 visitors, making it the museum’s most popular show ever. With high expectations, I step off the escalator on the sixth floor to find -- good news-- there's no line. A ticket-taker waves me in, warning me that taking photographs is strictly prohibited. This is when I learn that MoMA has a selection of on-line images available to journalists and bloggers with permission.

Art in New YorkBarbara DonskyNovember 16, 2014Abby Aldridge Rockkefeller Sculpture Garden, Blue Nude, Danny Meyer, Isa Genzken, Matisse, Matisse: Th Cut-Outs, MoMA, Purple Robe with Anemones, The Barnes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art-, The Modern, Thrity-six foot rose Comments