Smithsonian Museum Day: Various

About a week ago I went back to the The Morgan Museum on the Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day (this year it was September 24, 2011).  Ok, so this is not specific to NYC.  In fact, this was a special event day that was available all over the country.  But I thought I would a least let people know that this day of free museum entry to hundreds of museums was available to everyone.  That's right--free admission--to some of the best museums around the country.

I really wanted to re-visit The Morgan and see what had changed since my last visit, and I was not disappointed.  First I had a light lunch in the beautiful cafe, seated with a friend just in front of a gorgeous fireplace.  Then we went exploring. 

While photography is not generally permitted, the current exhibit of "Drawings for The Living Word" by Xu Bing in the entrance lobby area can be photographed.  While I could not fully capture the magical nature of how the Chinese calligraphy transformed in "flight" into birds, I tried to impart bits of the scene (see photos throughout this post).  I had vaguely known that some Chinese characters were originally derived from pictograms, but this art installation really brought it home.  The wooden Chinese letters hung in the air by transparent string changed steadily until they became little wooden birds.  Truly, you should go to the museum to see this first hand.  It is breathtaking.

There were other great exhibits (permanent in the older parts of the museum and temporary/changing in the newer parts of the museum), but I won't go through it all here.  Needless to say, I am a huge fan of this museum and highly recommend spending a couple of hours here (the collections are diverse and the museum size is very manageable--unlike the Metropolitan and the Natural History, which could really take a few days to see everything), especially if you get to visit for free!

Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum: 91st St & 5th Ave

If you like diamonds or jewelry in general the current exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum is the place for you.  This museum, which was once the Georgian-style Andrew Carnegie mansion (which was the first residence in the country with steel frame and an Otis elevator), is located along "Museum Mile" just a block north of the Guggenheim Museum and is dedicated to historical and modern design.  For hours, admission information and times of free guided tours, check out the museum website at http://www.cooperhewitt.org/

The amazing and luxurious jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels is showcased beautifully; there is a free audio/visual tour that you can get on a borrowed iPAD (just bring your drivers license as collateral) that provides great insight into the exhibit.  The exhibit takes into account the architecture of the mansion's long halls, sun room, and various room sizes to feature the jewelry to their best advantage.  For example, the sun room has a giant cloche filled with enameled and diamond encrusted butterflies and the collections from famous personalities like Marlene Dietrich, the Duchess of Marlborough (nee Consuelo Vanderbilt), Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Elizabeth Taylor are displayed together down one hall.

As a person who doesn't put too much stock in expensive jewelry (my tastes lean more toward the outrageous costume with a hint of goth or whimsy), I wasn't expecting too much from this visit, as other exhibits are not currently open (although the fashion of Sonia Delaunay is starting to be shown beginning this Friday, March 18th through June 5th) and the garden (which is supposed to be lush and restful) is currently closed to visitors due to renovation work.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at the detail, creativity, and ingenuity involved in fine jewelry design.  In particular, the transformation pieces were really amazing.  Necklaces could be lengthened with bracelet additions, simple necklaces could be embellished with coordinating brooches, and single brooches could be doubled in size and complexity by locking single pieces together.  The piece that spoke most to me is the peacock brooch/pendant (see above right) that can be transformed as follows:  the wings come off to form earrings, the tail comes off to form a brooch and the pendant can be detached and worn separately on a necklace--fantastic!

The other part of the museum that is definitely worth visiting is the gift shop.  It has the requisite museum shop books and t-shirts, but it is also filled with original pieces of pottery, jewelry, housewares, bags, and sculpture.  All the items for sale seem to be "curated" and include both modern and vintage styles; many of them would make extraordinary gifts.