Journal Day #5 - NYC Eastside

Our first tour site of the day was Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It's referred to as the "Met."  It is the largest and most comprehensive art museum in the world (BG 326).  The museum has vast collections of Robert Lehman collection, modern and contemporary art, Medival art, Greek and Roman art, European sculpture, painting, and decorative arts, Egyptian art, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas,  ancient near Eastern art, Arts of the Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, central Asia and later south Asia.  It also has exhibitions of music instruments, prints, drawings, photographs, costumes, and some special exhibitions (BG 327-364).  It is impossible to even walk through all the exhibits in one day tour.  We started with American artist Richard Serra's drawings.  His drawings look very simple in color, shape, and material.  They are mostly done with ink, charcoal, lithographic crayon, and black paint sticks on handmade paper, canvas or linen. 

We also viewed some other artists' work such as French artist Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, and Georges Braque, Dutch artist Vincen van Gogh, Swiss artist Felix Vallotton, and Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, etc.  They all have different styles and expressions, but they are all phenomonon artworks. 

As I came down to the first floor, I visited the Art Gallery of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.  I saw beautiful exotic wood carvings of spirit canoes, Asmat Bis Poles, masks, and animal figures from mostly New Guinea.  I saw some beautifully carved jewleries from Southeast Asia.  When I tried to exit the museum, I walked through the Greek and Roman Art gallery.  I was amazed to be around all these ancient nude status.  Although I am not an artist, it feels great to be surrounded by the world finest artwork. 

After lunch, we went back to Central park to see the Boat Pond and the Strawberry Field.  The Boat Pond is a Conservatory attraction site created in late 19th century, a place for people to experience the pleasure of boating.  The pond also has an Alice in Wonderland statue to the north, and a sculpture of children's author Hans Christian Anderson reading his tale"The Ugly Duckling" to the west (http://www.centralpark.com/).  It is a great place for kids and adults to enjoy nature with fun.  The Strawberry Field was named after the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" to honor John Lennon, a singer and songwritter, who was assasinated in the courtyard of the nearby Dakota Apartment (BG 290).  It is a quiet and peaceful zone for people to mourn and rest in the park. 

We took a stroll down the Fifth Avenue before going to the St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Fifth Ave between 49th and 60th Street is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world.  I had no inttention of looking around the shops because I know I am not one of their customers, at least not at this time.  


The Great Organ

 I am more interested in the St. Patrick's Cathedral.  The Cadthedral is the largest Gothic style cathedral in the US and it has been recognized as a center of Catholic life in this country.  The Cathedral was first built and opened in May 1879.  The church has two organs, the Gallery Organ (the Great Organ) and the Chancel Organ.  The great organ is located below the Rose Window above the 5th Ave entrance.  It has 7,855 pipes, and was built and installed in 1920s.  It took three years and $250,000 to build it. The Chancel Organ is located in the north Ambulatory next to the Chapel of St. Joseph.  It has 1,480 pipes encased in a carved oak screen.  I have never seen this types of organ my life.  I did not even realize what I saw above the entrance was an organ! The Cathedral has total of 39 pictorial stained galss rose windows in place.  Each window tells a bible story.  The cathedral can accommodate 2,400 people at a time.  It receives over 3 million visitors a year.  The building was declared to be a National Historic Landmark since 1976. (The above information was obtained from fliers from St. Patrick's Cathedral visit.)



Lego Lion



Our last target was the New York Public Library.  I actually have been to the place for research purpose once.  I was in a rush to get my paper done, so I did not pay much attention to the library itself.  I did not know the two marble lions in front of the main entrance are named Patience and Fortitue.  I did not realize it is one of the most significant research libraries in the US.  We visited the first floor the exhibition room for "Celebrating 100 Years" of the library.  I saw Sumerian cuneiform tablets, a letter opener made with a cat paw, and George Washhington's manuscripts, etc.  We also went upstairs to the main reading room.  Besides the millions of books on the shelves, the beautifully decorated ceiling, the tall arched windows, and the furniture are all breath taking viewpoints.  The New York Public Library is an irreplaceable and complex institution, wonderful to use and always easy to access.