"New Yule City"

New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Avenue
Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Earlier today, my mom, aunt, and I took the C train to 86th Street and walked upstairs and out into the sun and the mild afternoon air, only to see people enjoy a brisk jog, a leisurely stroll, and a call on their cell phones in scenic and forested Central Park.  Waiting with my mom and aunt on the corner of West 86th and Central Park West for the next M86 bus to the Museum Mile along 5th Avenue, I saw one occupied New York City taxi speed down the street...by the woods...after another.  Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Well, it's not nearly as interesting as the Vincent van Gogh sketches and paintings that are currently on display at the magnificent Metropolitan Museum of Art! Now open to the general public, the special exhibition Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings is a tour of black chalk, reed pen, gouache, graphite, carpenter's pen, ink, pastels, watercolors, and oils telling the tale of Van Gogh's humble beginnings and eventful career.  Lined along the walls in each gallery juxtaposing one another, the sketches and paintings constitute the artist's journey in chronological order, highlighting some of his most significant works, including "A Marsh" (1881), the "Weaver" series (1884), "The Woodcutter" (July-September 1885), the preliminary draft and finished painting of "Boats at Sea" (1888), a preliminary sketch of his "Caffe Terrace on Place du Forum" (September 1888), "Courtyard at the Hospital" (1889), and "Corridor From The Asylum" (1889).  Why are they indicative of a remarkable career? According to the narrators on the audio guide, these sketches follow each other to illustrate Van Gogh's growing proficiency in technique, insatiable appetite for new ideas (including the invention and refinement of a reed pen, perspective glass, and color line), and personal inspirations (e.g. the winter garden behind his father's vicarage and the countenances on the faces of farmers and weavers) and maladies (e.g. dementia) engendering his art...

This latest entry is an excerpt from my New York City 2005 notebook.  As this November comes to a close and another December begins in a matter of days, I thank God for memories.  You can't ask for a finer Christmas present than that, now can you?