ADAM RETURNS TO THE MET AFTER 12-YEAR CONSERVATION By Polly Guerin

Wonders never cease to amaze...ADAM in all its poetic glory is reborn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a near tragic ending when he crashed to the marble floor in 2002. It's the kind of fairy tale story that has a happy ending as does the fairy tale theme making New York City the land of make believe wonder. Here's the scoop!!!

Tullio Lombardo's Adam

TUILIO LOMBARDO’S ADAM: A MASTERPIECE: ADAM FELL OFF HIS PEDESTAL…but All the King’s Men:  dozens of scientists, engineers and conservators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art have put, the 500 year old sculpture, Adam, back together again. It is stunningly restored and will be on view starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10^th.

   Adam's fall  happened under seemingly mysterious circumstances, On one Sunday night, when no one was there, Adam’s downfall came unexpectedly in the silent gallery, His youthful head crowned with a halo of hair, the envy of any damsel, crashed to the marble floor and the rest of his body broke into many devastating pieces.  It was a dreadful blow to the Museum and it took twelve years to mend, put the gorgeous colossus black together again.  That in itself makes it worthwhile make a trek to the Museum to view the revival of the Adonis.

  Take time to view the videos which show how conservators Jack Soultanian and his colleague Carolyn Riccardelli and Michael Morris with dozens of other technical wizards recreated the statue, which by the way needed a new nose job, as well as hand, knee and foot replacements---all made to precise respect to antiquity and recreating the color integrity of the marble. It is such an amazing restoration that only an expert could tell that anything had happened.

   Feast your eyes, dear readers and find yourself stepped in history--- the sculpture dating back to 1490-1495 was commissioned for the monumental tomb of a Venetian doge, Andrea Vendramin, now in the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. It was acquired by the Museum in 1936.

Polly’s Movie Pick of the Week THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA subtitled in Japanese and dubbed into English take the viewer on a magical journey in an animated feature by The Studio Ghibli.  In his first animated feature in over ten years, the stalwart Isao Takahata (“Grave of the Fireflies”) weaves at tale that transcends the ordinary concerns of life into an exquisitely drawn imagery with watercolor delicacy that never fails to draw you into the depth of the story---

   A Japanese folk tale about a miniature country girl who is discovered in a bamboo flower. Enchanted the bamboo cutter who discovers her takes her home to his wife and as her parents they decide that she will be brought up to be a princess. The accompanying music throughout the film adds to the overall enjoyment right to the end when the princess ascends in the sky on a huge cloud populated with Buddha figures with captivating musical rendering that makes some us wish they could follow.

At the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, ifccenter.com. Check newspapers for local time schedule.

VAN CLEEF & ARPEL’S FAIRY TALE: Continues the fairy tale theme and casts a spell of romance on New Yorkers. The jeweler shows what fairy tales are really made as it unveils its holiday windows at the brands Fifth Avenue flagship shore, with its Peau d’Ane high end jewelry collection at the center of the luxury display.  The holiday windows mark the U.S. debut of the collection which originally was launched in France this summer.

   The name Peau d’Ane is the title of the fairy tale, written by Charles Perrault, from which the collection finds its inspiration. “It’s a love story and you have all the element of a fairy tale---a princess, a castle, et cetera,” Alain Bernard, chief executive of the Americas,  recently told Women’s Wear Daily. “We love to tell a story through our jewelry collection, and this was a way to retell the recurring themes of Van Cleef  & Arpels, which is all about nature, couture and, of course, romance.”

   Bernard explains, “We wanted the window to feel as though you are reading a book, and as you walk down Fifth Avenue, you’re turning the pages. Artist Douglas Little with a specialty in animation and envisioned and executed the engaging theme.  Take a stroll and find enchantment on 57^th Street.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! Veteran’s Day parade is tomorrow and for the first time, six heroic dogs will be honored on a float in the parade. I’m just saw Princess Kaguya…if you want your spirits lifted this is the film to see. Fan mail welcome at pollytalknyc@gmail.com  Visit Polly’s Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and click in the left-hand column where you will find topics on amazing women, visionary men, poetry and rare finds.

  

ARTISTIC IMMERSION AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (c) By Polly Guerin

The frigid weather is starting to send us indoors and what a delightful way to spend a day immersed in the arts and discovering ancestral painters, nearly forgotten. All three exhibitions discussed here are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on view now through February 1, 2015.. Here's the scoop!!!

Jupiter and Antiope (1595-97)  By Spranger

BARTHOLOMEUS SPRANGER: Splendor and Eroticism in Imperial Prague is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to view the first major exhibition devoted to this fascinating artist who served a cardinal, a pope, and two Holy Roman Emperors..

   You may ask, "Just who was Spranger?" It's no wonder we haven't heard anything about him before this exhibit. He is a forerunner of other great artists who emulated his oeuvre. Bartholomeus Spranger (1546-1611) emerged as one of the most prominent artists at the court of Rudolf II in Prague and the most significant Northern Mannerist artist of his generation. Through a selection of rare paintings, etchings and drawings his remarkable career is revealed.Image: Jupiter and Antiope, oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

  Spranger employed a bravura technique and elegant style and he had an immense aptitude for composing allegories feature amorous couples entwined in complicated and seemingly impossible poses. Where did Spranger get his training? Good question! 

   In the 1560s Spranger studied with Guilio Clovio (who was also El Greco's mentor) and garnered the illustrious patronage of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and Pope Pius V. He reached the apogee of his fame when he headed north: first to Vienna where he was court painter by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and then in Prague where he became a celebrated painter and draftsman.Works from Spranger's mature period comprise the bulk of the exhibition and include paintings Venus and Vulcan (ca. 1595) and the Allegory of the Reign of Rudolf II (1592).

   A kunstkammer, or chamber of wonders, has been especially created for the exhibition featuring exotic objects from nature along with the works of various artists.

PAINTING BY EL GRECO commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, (1541-1614) with the finest exhibition (European Paintings, Gallery 608, 2nd floor) that brings together all the artist's paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection November 4 to February 1, 2015. 

   In effect, it is a mini-retrospective of the artist, with ten paintings spanning El Greco's entire career from his arrival in Venice in 1567, through his move to Rome in 1570 and his long residence in Toledo, Spain, from 1577 until his death in 1614.

View of Toledo by El Greco (1598-99) 

   El Greco's religious paintings, portraits and The View of Toledo, a masterpiece of the Museum's collection, make this presentation a unique experience. Few Old Master painters have exercised a profound influence on modern art as has El Greco, one of the most original artists of the European tradition

CARLETON WATKINS' YOSEMITE And now an artist of a different venue I give you Carleton Watkins (1829-1916), the consummate photographer of the American West. Considering how encumbered he was in his travels carrying heavy equipment over the terrain on donkeys it is surprising that his photographs survived at all, but the quality of his photographs in those early years are very clear and in remarkable condition. The exhibition includes a suite of photographs made by Watkins during his encounter with the sublime typography of Yosemite in 1861 as well as a larger group of studies from his later visits to the valley in 1865 and 1866.Watkins was a virtuoso practitioner of the difficult wet-collodion process, and the remarkable clarity of this "mammoth" prints (18 x 22 inches) was unmatched in his day. Ir was partly due to the artistry and rugged beauty of these photographs that President Lincoln signed a bill on June 30, 1864, declaring the valley

inviolate and initiating the  blueprint for the nation's National Park System.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! I cannot wait to go to Yosemite, never been there, you should go there, too. Fan mail welcome at pollytalknyc@gmail.com. Visit Polly's Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and click on the Blog of interest in the left hand column.