A review of two exhibits in NY at the Met not to be missed (one with alt prints)

About this list Date view Thread view Subject view Author view

From: Thom Mitchell (tjmitch@ix.netcom.com)
Date: 11/09/02-12:30:48 PM Z


I was in NY on business yesterday and managed to play hooky in the afternoon
just long enough to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Richard
Avedon exhibit plus another little exhibit that truly made the trip up the
4,5,6 subway line from my midtown-meeting location truly worthwhile. The two
exhibits are perfect compliments to each other and neither one should be
missed.
    The Richard Avedon: Portraits exhibit was what you would expect. Huge
prints, subjects sharp and contrasty against white seamless, printed far
larger than life. No pinholes, no cooke-portraits lenses softening or
flattering the subject. The huge prints were interesting including the
wall-sized mural of Andy Warhol's factory which included full-frontal male
nudity with apparently no objection from the morality police. The prints
were mounted on what looked like polished aluminum/stainless steel sheets.
The portraits were of many subjects from all periods of his career including
Duke and Duchess of Winsdor, Marilyn and others as well as several portraits
from his American West series. Of his many varied subjects some of the
lesser-known ones were the most interesting; including a picture, from his
1976 series on powerful and influential people, of Donald Rumsfield, with
hair.
    But the most interesting series of pictures were of his father. The
sequence of pictures spanned a few decades with the last few taken when his
father was very old and close to death. Avedon photographed his father very
close so that only his head was visible. In doing so he perfectly captured
the pain, fear, confusion and vulnerability that is all too present among
some people as they age. The look in his father's eyes forced to the surface
of my mind memories my own grandparents struggles with Alzheimer's. This
intimate look into the artist's private life presented in a format too large
to simply walk by was for me the best part of the exhibit, because I hadn't
seen these pictures before and they were in such contrast yet very similar
to Avedon's other body of work. The anonymity of his pictures of the West
which lets the viewer see on an equal footing with the artist contrasting
with the intimacy of a subject Avedon knew so well yet the viewer knows not
at all. Looking at these prints gives a person darkroom envy for a 8x10
enlarger and space to make mural-sized prints.
    Sometimes size matters and sometimes it doesn't, However if one solely
viewed the Avedon exhibit the impression would be that size most definitely
matters. Luckily that misconception is soundly thrashed by a small, quiet
exhibit one barely noticed as the crowds pushed forward to look at the white
seamless. It was titled Portraits: A Century of Photography. Truly a gem and
well worth the price of admission alone (although the Met has a pay-what-you
want policy, nice for students and those on tight budgets). The pictures
were varied in size, period, content and method with only the loosely
defined subject of portraiture linking them. There are early Daguerreotypes,
salted paper prints, albumen prints, even a direct carbon prints well as
platinum and gelatin silver prints. There are almost 50 pictures in the
exhibit including the usual suspects of Arbus, Nagy, Sander and Steichen.
However several early Daguerreotypes from unknown photographers stole the
show, in my opinion.
    One of the truly astounding pictures was a Daguerreotype of Frederick
Douglas whose eyes were so sharp and whose expressions conveyed so much
emotion, dignity and suffering of the man who escaped slavery and championed
for it's banishment. All of the possibilities of Daguerreotype are conveyed
here and executed perfectly. This is what all Daguerreotype artists should
aspire to in their portraiture, in fact any photographer who takes portraits
should consider themselves lucky regardless of the medium if they are able
to convey this much information so simply and elegantly. The photographer
was unknown.
 Included in the exhibit is a direct carbon print by Edward Steichen of
which reproductions have always failed to justice (as too often happens with
Alt process prints). The composition was fine as was focus, but it was the
depth and richness of the blacks that captivated. Blacks so lush and so deep
you fall into them, truly and finally the ultimate black.
    There are more modern pictures, which are fine but many have been seen
before and frankly aren't even the best of each photographer's body of work.
The older photos are the stars of the show. To see so many prime examples of
a variety of rarer printing processes make this exhibit a must see for any
photographer and any student of Alt processes. Get thee to New York without
delay.
    In fact of the two exhibits, it is only the smaller, quieter one that
merits repeated visits. It's not that Avedon exhibit isn't worth a look, but
his pictures don't have the mystery, mood or magic of the best of smaller
exhibit's pictures. Information on exhibition length and location below.
Thanks for your time and if you liked this please let me your comments or
criticisms. Thanks, Thom

tjmitch@ix.netcom.com

Information on the exhibits

Hope you liked this

Richard Avedon: Portraits
September 26, 2002-January 5, 2003
Special Exhibition Galleries, The Tisch Galleries, 2nd floor

Portraits: A Century of Photographs
September 10, 2002-January 12, 2003
The Howard Gilman Gallery

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
General Information: 212-535-7710
TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551

Hours
 Friday 9:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
 Saturday 9:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
 Sunday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
 Monday Closed
 Tuesday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
 Wednesday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
 Thursday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
 Closed Mondays, January 1, Thanksgiving Day, December 25
*Galleries are cleared at 5:15 p.m., Sunday-Thursday, and 8:45 p.m., Friday
and Saturday

The continued support of the City of New York enables the Museum to keep the
vast majority of its galleries open at all times. Regrettably, however, on
Sunday certain galleries open at 11:00 a.m. Additional closings may also
occur occasionally during day and evening Museum hours.


About this list Date view Thread view Subject view Author view

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 12/17/02-04:47:04 PM Z CST