Sunday, January 24, 2010

Art meets Mansions

Few NYC mansions remain in the city, most were bulldozed to make way for new buildings.  Fortunately, a few great mansions still survive and have been transformed into museums.

The Frick Collection

Henry Clay Frick was one of America's most successful businessmen, running Andrew Carnegie's steel empire.  Henry Frick was also an art lover and to help escape the rigors of his work he built one of the world's best private art collections.  One great aspect of The Frick is that the art is perfectly integrated into the house.  Unlike most art museums, there are no blank white walls here, no huge galleries.  The art collection is displayed as it was when he lived here.  Just as enjoyable is seeing this old NY mansion.  Whether you come here for the art, or to see the house, this is one of the best museums in the city.  Definitely take the audio guide and watch the short movie.  On Sundays you can pay what you wish between 11am and 1pm.  After your tour sit by the indoor pond for a few minutes, it is one of the most tranquil places in the city. Map

 
 

The Morgan Library & Museum
coming soon...

Neue Gallerie
Once the home to Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III, the Neue Gallerie is now devoted to early 20th century German and Austrian art and design (read more).  The museum is pretty small but contains works by such great artists as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Vasily Kandinsky.  This museum is best for those who appreciate this specific art niche the most or if you have some spare time after visiting the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art (which is unlikely).  The house itself is impressive and there are also two cafes, one of which is the Vienna inspired Cafe SarbaskyMap


Cooper-Hewitt
Housed in Andrew Carnegie's former mansion, the Cooper-Hewitt "National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design (read more)."  The Cooper-Hewitt has special exhibitions as well as over 250,000 design objects.  As this museum has a niche focus it will not be for everyone, however, the mansion is impressive by itself.  Map

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