Coca-Cola and Art

Christie's New York is offering Coca-Cola (3), one of the most famous Pop Art paintings by Andy Warhol in it's auction. The a painting is considered a founding work of the Pop Art movement. Meanwhile, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a Han Dynasty jar overpainted with the Coca-Cola logo by artist Ai Weiwei. The artist aims at "provoking viewers to recognize that China's engagement with the West has had both destructive and creative consquences."  

One Night At The Museum Mile - The 2013 Museum Mile Festival

 

Last night, the 23-block stretch of Fifth Avenue (82nd to 105th Streets) called the Museum Mile turned into a car-free pedestrian plaza when ten of the city’s most prestigious art institutions—including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of the City of New York—opened their doors to the public free of charge for three hours. The annual Museum Mile Festival featured musical performances, including Batala all-women Afro-Brazilian Samba Reggae drumming band, string quartets, and jazz ensembles, as well as entertainment for kids. The annual event took place from 5:45 PM until 9:00 PM.

"Sleeping Eros" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping

Bronze statuette of Aphrodite

Pair of gold earrings with a disk and Eros

Terracotta statuette of Eros playing a lyre

Sleeping Eros is an ongoing exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the representation of Eros, the Greek god of love during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The exhibit, which is at the Mezzanine of the Greek and Roman Galleries, continues through June 23rd.

From the Mteropolitan Museum of Art official website:

Eros, the Greek god of love, was capable of overpowering the minds of all gods and mortals. According to an early myth, Gaia (goddess of the Earth) and Eros were the source of all creation. Literary references of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. often portray Eros as a cruel, capricious being who causes burning desire. In Classical art he is usually represented as a beautiful winged youth. During the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.) a new image of the god as a baby took hold. The popularity of that iconography is linked to the myth of Eros being the son of Aphrodite, born of her affair with Ares (god of war). The most innovative and influential representation of Eros during the Hellenistic and the Roman periods was of Eros sleeping.

The Metropolitan’s bronze statue Sleeping Eros is the finest example of its kind. Scholars have long wondered whether it is an original Hellenistic work or a very fine Roman Imperial copy. Variations of the type are known from hundreds of sculptures, which, to judge from the number of extant replicas and adaptations, was one of the most popular ever produced in Roman Imperial times. It was also among the earliest of the ancient statues rediscovered during the Renaissance, when artists revisited the theme. This exhibition presents the results of a recent study of the Museum's statue, utilizing scientific and technical analyses as well as art-historical research, which supports its identification as a Hellenistic bronze but one that was restored in antiquity, likely during the Roman Imperial period.

Roman Blown Glass

These are some of the beautiful blown glass objects on permanent display at the Greek and Roman Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Glassblowing is a glassforming technique of inflating molten glass into a bubble using a blowpipe or blow tube. This technique was developed in the Syro-Palestinian region in the early first century B.C. and is believed to have come to Rome with craftsmen and slaves after the area's annexation to the Roman world in 64 B.C. 

Military Veteran Hot Dog Vendors In Manhattan's Most Lucrative Spot

One of the most lucrative spots to operate a food cart in Manhattan is in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art steps on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side. Military veterans have been setting up their hot dog push carts at this location for many years now, claiming that the prime spot has been set aside by the city for military veteran vendors. It has been reported that the city is frustrated with veterans’ crowding the spot and that the exact legality is complex and sometimes unclear. In the past, veteran vendors have been arrested for violations of their licenses. It's also reported that some non-veteran vendors pay anywhere from $70,000 to $200,000 a year for the right to set up their food carts in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Myth of the Unicorn - "The Unicorn Tapestries" at the Cloisters

Spotted along Central Park West in November 2010

The individual tapestry hangings known as "The Unicorn Tapestries" are some of the breathtaking pieces of Gothic art showcased at The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in the northern tip of Manhattan. Originally designed to protect medieval rooms from damp and cold weather, these tapestries from the late Middle Ages are woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads. They vividly depict scenes associated with the myth of the elusive, magical unicorn, which has been around since Ancient China and yet still appears in modern culture. Captured above are some of the actual unicorn tapestry hangings and doorway relief in a display room devoted to the unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters, as well as a "missing unicorn" sign that appeared in Manhattan streets two years ago.

Information from The Unicorn Tapestries by Sarah J. Albertini Danielle M. Pastor: 

The tapestries were thought to have been designed in France and made in Brussels. Therecipient of these magnificent tapestries are unknown. Some clues to the identity of this person has been left behind in the tapestries themselves. Much has been made of the initials A and a reversed E that are joined together by a bow. This was an insignia of Anne of Brittany, twice queen of France. The same theory suggests that in the sixth tapestry, the lovers who look at each other are Anne and Louis XII. 

Another equally plausible theory is that the noble La Rochefoucald family were the original owners. This is because in the third tapestry, the initials F and R are sewn into the sky. Also the A and E initials can be linked to Antoinette of Ambroise, wife of Francois La Rochfoucald. 

The theme of the tapestries is the fight between the unicorn and the humans who peruse it. 

The first tapestry, The Start of the Hunt, introduces us to the hunters but not the unicorn. The hunters are not dressed for hunting, but rather in clothing in rich colors and textures. 

The second tapestry, The Unicorn at the Fountain", is where the unicorn uses his magical horn to remove the snake's venom from the water. It is here that the theory begins that the unicorn is a symbol of Jesus Christ. Here the unicorn, Christ, saves all from the snake's poison, Satan. Even the humans who were hunting the unicorn are awed by this act. 

The third tapestry is The Unicorn Leaps the Stream. Here the serenity of the second tapestry is abandoned as one looks at a highly charged action scene. The hunters now have ugly and cruel faces--symbolizing the persecutors of Jesus Christ. 

For the fourth tapestry, The Unicorn Defends Himself, the unicorn becomes savage, kicking and butting people and animals. A new comer to the scene, a man with a horn, is thought to symbolize the archangel Gabriel.

Unfortunately, the fifth tapestry, The Unicorn is Captured by the Maiden", is now in fragments because of mishandling over the years. According to tradition, the unicorn can only be trapped by a virginal maiden. The enclosed garden that the two are in, was a medieval symbol of chastity. Also, the apple tree in the center of the tapestry has many religious meanings. The most obvious is a reminder of the Fall of Adam and Eve, hence suggesting that the unicorn, Christ, and is the Redemption after the Fall.

The sixth tapestry,The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle is wrought with emotion. The overall scene is centered the slain unicorn, who is bleeding in the upper left hand corner. All in the scene seem to be awed and shocked by the sight of the slain beast being brought towards them.

The seventh tapestry, The Unicorn in Captivity is the most famous of all the Unicorn Tapestries. The unicorn here is miraculously alive again. In this tapestry he rests chained to a circular wooden gate. The rise unicorn is symbolic of the risen Christ. However, since the unicorn is chained there is some confusion to this symbolism. One theory is that the unicorn, like Jesus Christ, is linked to life or humanity forever. The other theory is that the unicorn symbolizes a bridegroom secured by his lover. 

The Cloisters Museum

  

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Located in Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights in northern Manhattan, it was assembled from architectural elements, both domestic and religious, that date from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. Structures at Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville were all disassembled brick-by-brick before being shipped to New York. In the 1930s, the structures were reassembled in Fort Tryon Park. The images were taken during my recent visit to the museum on a snowy Saturday. The Cloisters boasts a collection of approximately three thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about the ninth to the sixteenth century.