Wednesday, March 07, 2007

On Art Nouveau

Louis Comfort Tiffany is my hero.

My favorite art period has to be Art Nouveau for its flowing wrought iron works and connection with nature. There's also something to be said for clean and curved lines. Yes, sometimes the details in architecture seem too complicated and overwhelming even, but I enjoy that more than the so-call minimalist approach to modern buildings.

I don't claim to be an art historian but I do think New York is full of arts. Just walking around the city, you can find many interesting buildings and objects. Even the subway stations has plenty of art. I know New York is well known for its Art Deco (i.e. Chrystler Building), but if you look closely, you'll find plenty of Art Nouveau as well.

Why the sudden post on art? I was looking at the MET website and remembered how much I enjoyed the Tiffany exhibit, which is still running until May. The MET and MoMa are my favorite museums in New York, although I haven't been to that many. I used to love the dinosaurs and gemstones of Natural History but who can resist going back to the knights and armor room at the MET? Am I the only one who always ends up in that room when I get disoriented by the massive MET?

For those of you who have some time to learn about art, the MET has a wonderful art history timeline which I should take note. I probably would have enjoyed an art history class at college, except for all the people who complained about the endless slideshows in a dark room where 90% of the class would fall asleep. Needless to say, I was not overjoyed to test my ability to stay awake. Funny enough, most of my art history comes from gallery visits and this art project assigned to the class back in Painting 101 in high school. Everyone picked an artist, prepared a brief biography, painted a work in that artist's style, and presented the art and bio to the class. I really had my heart set on Cézanne but ended up taking Chagall. The students who picked impressionists actually did a great job with the style. Looking back, I think I would have had a lot of fun doing research and imitating Amano.

Let's hope I get to visit more galleries and museums soon. New York days and nights go by way too quickly.

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