45 stories about modern art jewelry, such as Greenwich Village designer Arthur Smith
Sleek, modern, space-age, intricate, architectural, political, satirical, and comic – all descriptions of the array of modern-art jewelry selected by the Museum of Arts and Design exhibition, 45 Stories in Jewelry: 1947 to Now, on display on the second floor.
The second-floor space features a tour through modern-art jewelry’s evolution from a craft pioneered by studio artists like Art Scott and Alexander Calder to its current status as a respected and valued sector of today’s international art market.
MAD has shown art jewelry since it was founded in 1956, and its full collection now numbers 930 pieces. After redesigning its art jewelry exhibition area, MAD decided to mount a show to honor the extraordinary scope of its collection and place selected artworks into the broader context of art history.
1966 sterling silver body ornament by Arlene Fisch
Two rings of white cases offer visitors opportunities to peer into each story, see a spectacular or provocative piece, and read about its designer and context.
In every visit to this show, we saw jewelry lovers fully engaged, pouring over every detail of the craftsmanship.
The first case that drew our attention was a Constructivist pin by Margaret De Patta, a passionate California artist became immersed in modernism through her New York art studies in the Twenties, but really hit her stride in the Forties after training with Moholy-Nagy in Chicago. (This spectacular pin is prominently depicted on the museum’s timeline of modern art jewelry.)
John Paul Miller’s 1969 molten gold Armored Polyp
The museum highlights the stories of Forties artists working in studios, like Art Scott, who created body-conscious pieces for the jazz artists and modern dance innovators who visited his Greenwich Village studio.
Another early innovator honored in the exhibition is John Paul Miller, who created stunning gold pieces using ancient, forgotten techniques discovered in his archeological research.
Stories from the Fifties show how an entire generation of American designers was influenced by Danish design, particularly the sleek work of master silversmith Henning Koppel, whose work was featured internationally through the Georg Jensen brand.
Charles Laloma’s 1968 inlaid silver bracelet and 1960 bracelet with inner turquoise inlay
Art works from the Sixties include the way-out sterling body ornament by Arlene Fisch, space-age jewelry by Danish designers Gijs Bakker and Emmy van Leersum, and modernist Hopi jewelry design Charles Laloma, a ground-breaking Native American artist.
The timeline in the exhibition details how art jewelry grew in popularity, entered museum collections, and began being shown at international art fairs.
Take a look at some of our favorites in the exhibition in our Flickr album and be sure to visit MAD in person.
Meet the 45 Stories committee members, who selected which works in MAD’s collection that embody key developments in the evolution of the art form:
It’s a packed week with over 35 virtual events planned by New York City museums, featuring evenings with celebrities, conversations about society, the future of museums, and even an escape game. Find the daily listings for everything on our virtual events page.
Scandals recounted in the Tenement Museum’s Tuesday YouTube Live book talk
Tomorrow afternoon (January 12) at 6:30pm, the Fraunces Tavern Museum again collaborates with the Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center to explore the role apples played in food, drink, and the economy of colonial and revolutionary America in the continuing “Tavern Tastings” series.
At 7pm, the Tenement Museum hosts Tyler Anbinder, to talk about his book, Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World’s Most Notorious Slum.
Mystical transformation with St. Francis and the Morgan Library on Wednesday
At 8pm, travel to the mountains of Arizona with the Newark Museum, whose planetarium experts host an evening of stargazing with Steward Observatory’s Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter.
On Wednesday (January 13) at 2pm, train fans can take a rare trip deep into the Transit Museum archives.
At 5pm, art fans can travel back to the 15th century with the Frick Collection to explore Bellini’s paintingSt. Francis in the Desert.
At 6:30pm, the Center for Brooklyn History (formerly Brooklyn Historical Society) hosts a discussion and book talk “The Authoritarian’s Playbook,” which links 20th century history with the events of the last week.
A talk with David Byrne and Maira Kalman about their new American Utopia book at the Museum of the City of New York
The “standing ovation” meet-up at Poster House featuring an array of posters of the world’s most celebrated theatrical performers and five cocktails to match.
MCNY hosts collaborators David Byrne and Maira Kalman on Wednesday. Photos: Jody Rogac, Cyndi Stivers
On Thursday (January 14) at noon, visit the Salman Toor painting exhibition at the Whitney, and at 3pm, see (and hear about) nature paintings in the collection of the New-York Historical Society.
There’s more on Friday and Saturday, so register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule.
On Saturday at 2pm, be sure to join MAD to meet acclaimed architectural artist Brian Clarke, whose work is on display for the next month. Don’t pass up this chance to encounter a legend and hear about the entire scope of his incredible international body of work.
And a reminder for Sunday (January 17): at 1pm, take a tour of the incredible costume exhibition at the Metropolitan, About Time: Fashion and Duration. Even if you’re in New York, it’s not easy to snag a ticket to this show, so the virtual visit is the next best thing.
Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
At MoMA, 1923 Gum department store lightbulb ad by Rodchenko and Mayakovsky’s ad agency
Museum Updates
We visited MoMA this past week for last looks at the Felix Feneon, textile, and Judd exhibitions. The galleries were full of visitors looking at the Parisian posters, African carvings, Seurat and Matisse paintings, Anni’s loom, and Judd’s super-slick sculptures.
Lots of Russian avant-garde, typography and collage running wild, and branding in the early 20th century that you’ve never seen quite like this. The extensive exhibition uses many works from the little-seen Berman collection, so you’ll be in for some surprises when you see it.
Although its virtual events are still happening, the Museum of the City of New York has announced a temporarily closure on Fifth Avenue for some emergency construction work.
Entrance with Noguchi’s 1945 Kouros and Rodin’s controversial 1876 sculpture
The Met has pulled out all the stops on its 150th birthday show, Making the Met, 1870-2020, on view at Fifth Avenue through January 3 – incredible installation, intriguing stories, and a phenomenal digital showcase. So even if you can’t come to New York to see it in person, the Met website has it all!
The exhibition tells the story of the Met over the last 150 years – from its first incarnation in a house on 14th Street to its ever-expanding footprint in Central Park – shows the incredible art that benefactors donated, and relays the stories of the men and women who made it happen.
Head of a Hindu god, Bhairava, made by 16th c. Nepalese artists
Walking into the dramatic exhibition entrance, you’re surrounded by figures from different eras and cultures – a little girl from 5th century Greece holding two doves, a gilded mask of a Hindu god beautifully crafted by Nepalese masters of the 16th century, and Avedon’s 1957 portrait of a pensive Marilyn Monroe.
At the press opening, senior researcher associate Laura Corey explained that these were chosen to encourage visitors to think about the people behind the Met – collectors, curators, artists, restoration experts, and other staff. According to Laura, the African power figure from the Republic of Congo was one of the first artworks chosen for the welcome gallery. He’s looking right across to Marilyn, and they are sharing a similar expression and mood.
1906 photo of The Great Hall
At Noguchi’s Kouros sculpture, you can look left or right down a “street” lined with arches – portals that beckon you to step into different chapters of the Museum’s history. Each arch proclaims the decade and the theme. In between, there are huge slideshows from the museum’s past – how the Great Hall used to look, ladies in turn-of-the-century hats taking their art appreciation classes, Fifties moms and kids looking at art.
We’ve included our favorite artworks in our Flickr album, but the Met has produced a spectacular multimedia walk-through (posted on Google Arts & Culture), where you can experience all ten stories through photos, films, and links to blogs. Definitely watch the silent 1928 “Behind the Scenes” film showing museum shops, painters, gilders, and photographers at work. No surprise that the museum was into multimedia way back then!
Houdon’s 1778 bust of Franklin and reflection of Manet’s Young Lady in 1866
Through the first arch titled “The Founding” (the 1870s), you pass a huge Cypriot head (the first director was into archaeology) and the first paintings donated by the founding trustees. Houdon’s spectacular Ben Franklin gazes quietly (and slyly) at Manet’s Young Lady in 1866 – the first contemporary painting in the Met’s collection. It depicts a life-size, modern gal in her dressing gown – an image that shocked early visitors to the Met’s classical galleries! Of course, Ben looks on approvingly.
Next, you’ll see a 15th-century Turkish turban helmet and 17th-century Japanese armor. The story here is that the Met green-lighted Bashford Dean, a zoologist and world traveler working at the AMNH, to begin the arms and armor collection. Other curators began collecting works on paper, textiles, lace, wallpaper, musical instruments, and contemporary designs. In the Twenties, curators headed straight to the UK to scoop up samples from Morris & Company.
1479-1458 B.C. statue of Hatshepsut, and Cleopatra’s Needle (1450 B.C.) in Central Park
Around the corner is a tribute to the deep-pocketed donors like Morgan and B. Altman, who gave the Met lots of upscale, princely treasures – paintings by Vermeer and Ingres, fancy furniture, and tapestries. A treasure trove gifted by generous benefactors fills a wall – pistols for kings, cosmetic cases for Egyptians, bedazzled tablewear, and Middle Eastern glass.
Back into the main “street,” you’re right next to an imposing, reconstructed sculpture of Egypt’s female pharaoh Hatshepsut with a stunning view of Central Park’s Egyptian obelisk through the window.
These lead to the stories of how the Met collected art via excavations of archaeological sites – the Kharga Oasis (1908), Egypt (1880-1931) with Wah’s tomb stuff, Nimrud (Iraq), and along an ancient trade route (1934). The intrepid Bashford Dean enters the story again – excavating a Crusader castle, but only bringing back “dismal finds,” such as Crusader lamps, melted chain mail, and shards of stained glass, and (our favorite!) a projectile from a Crusades-era catapult (1250).
1864 A Gorge in the Mountains by Sanford Robinson Gifford
Apparently, it took a lot for a fancy museum to turn its attention from Europe to collecting art from the Western Hemisphere, but wealthy patrons had the goods. The American room features Sargent’s best-dressed “Madame X” and an enormous 1830 honeycomb quilt by Elizabeth Clarkson, the first quilt to enter the Met’s collection in 1923. There’s also a gorgeous Catskill Mountain landscape by Sanford Robinson Gifford, once owned by AMNH’s long-serving president, Mr. Jessup.
A gallery packed with work by Degas, Monet, Cassatt, Cezanne, and their Japanese masters tells the story of the Havemeyers, the Met patrons who lavished the museum with Tiffany glass (likely picked out by Mr. Tiffany himself), impressionist masters (picked out by Ms. Cassatt herself), and much more.
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928) by Demuth
At the midpoint of the exhibition, you learn that Stieglitz had a rough time trying to convince the Met to honor contemporary photography. The Met also refused Ms. Whitney’s collection in 1929. Gertrude’s response was to start her own museum, which joined MoMA (which debuted in 1929) in celebrating modernism. The Met finally did accept modern works through Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1949 gift, and proudly displays a Demuth and Kandinsky in the show.
The Monuments Men story looms large, with Met curators playing a major role in discovering and returning art looted during World War II. There’s a 1945 model of an Army helmet prototype designed by the Met’s armor expert, hand-crafted in solid aluminum.
1965 Yves Saint Laurent Mondrian dress and 1966 Balenciaga coat
The largest gallery in the show tells the story of how the Met beefed up its collections and expanded gallery space during what it calls “The Centennial Era” – Islamic art, fashion, Asian and African art, and modern art from the 20th century.
The final story about the Museum’s current focus – adding works by artists and from regions that are underrepresented in its collections – is represented by a large El Anatsui piece, an embellished Tibetan saddle, a wall of art guitars, a large Faith Ringgold story quilt, and other intriguing works.
The museum’s done a tremendous job online telling all the stories via its digital primer. Click here to hear in-depth stories on the Met’s audio guide with Steve Martin, check out this video with his narration, get the backstory on every artwork in the show, and definitely visit the multimedia walk-through .
And check out this exhibition video showing how the museum’s architecture evolved to house these growing collections. In the 1880s, Olmstead and Vaux assigned a spot in Central Park for the Met. It’s interesting that one of the initial designs (which no one liked) was not scheduled for completion until 1990!! It’s a microcosm of 150 years of architecture and history.
Dragonfly Lamp (1900-1910), by Clara Driscoll of Tiffany’s Women’s Glass Cutting Department (Cooper-Hewitt)
With Thanksgiving festivities this week, the list of virtual live events happening at NYC museums is a bit shorter. Find the links to these and other museum events on our virtual events page here. Some of the highlights we think you’ll enjoy:
Have you heard the story about the women of Tiffany & Co, who were so integral to the success of the design lab in the early 20th century? If not, you owe it to yourself to join the Queens Museum today (November 23) at 12pm to hear the talk by the Queens Public Library on Women at the Tiffany Studios in Queens.
Gather the family around tomorrow (November 24) at 5pm for a special live event at the Tenement Museum. Meet Victoria Confino, a 14-year-old girl living on the Lower East Side in 1916. Hear about her story of immigration in 1913 and take a tour of her apartment on Orchard Street – all based on the story of the actual young woman who grew up there.
Actress portraying Victoria Confino in her Orchard Street apartment
If you using the weekend to catch up on hand-craft projects, be sure to take advantage of this special behind-the-scenes tour of the lace collection in the textile department of the Met on Saturday (November 28) at 10am. Their collection spans centuries, and it’s a rare chance to poke through all the drawers with one of the curators. (If you want to see what we’re talking about, check out our Flickr album on a past Met exhibition on Fashion and Virtue that featured this amazing collection.)
1910-15 lace evening pouch by Callot Soeurs (The Met)
Check out this week’s schedule and register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule. Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
Museum Updates
This week, we got in to see the Met’s fashion exhibition About Time: Fashion and Duration, which was delayed for months by the citywide museum shut down. Fortunately, it gave Andrew Bolton time to tweak the display, which presents a mesmerizing, time-shifting look at the past and present of fashion. If you want to see this, be sure to get to the Met before 11:30am, since tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Plan to spend your day inside the museum, since your ticket may not grant you access until late in the afternoon.
#ICPConcerned – what photographers were seeing around the world in March 2020
There are two must-see exhibitions at the new Essex Street home of the International Center of Photography. If you are in New York, go down ASAP to experience Tyler Mitchell’s installation, I Can Make You Feel Good, and to look through the global response to #ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis. The walls of images from around the world is a time-warp experience that is no less affecting than the more elaborate, theatrical About Time galleries at The Met.
We also attended the press briefing at The Whitney this week on its new photography retrospective, originally mounted by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond – Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop, which looks back at the work of its 14 founding members back in the Sixties at the birth of the Black arts movement in New York. Go see it.
Politics and rage all laid out in cartoony form in Peter Saul’s retrospective at New Museum
Congratulations are also in order to the New Museum of its two hit shows – Peter Saul’s first-ever NYC retrospective Crime and Punishment(two floors of off-the-charts social and political commentary) and Jordan Casteel’s first solo museum exhibition in NYC Within Reach, filled with her masterful uptown portraits. Visitors linger in the galleries in an effort to digest the rich experience.
And if you are binge-watching The Crown, we’ll again plug the Brooklyn Museum virtual exhibition with Netflix, where you can examine all the fashion up close in virtual reality.
Recreation of Manhatta by the Welikea Project, presenting virtually with NYPL
On Tuesday November 10, New York museums and cultural institutions have packed the digital schedule with events that look to the past to inform our understanding of nature, the history of fake news, and the sometimes-forgotten participants in Veteran’s Day – the millions of WWII home-front workers:
At 1pm, the New York Public Library hosts a session with the ground-breaking Welikia Project, which recreates ecosystems that existed in New York City before Henry Hudson sailed into the harbor 400 years ago. The program will explain how the city’s current built environment syncs with the marshes, ponds, rivers, and hills that the Lenape knew so well.
“A Warning to Libellers”, an 1804 broadside attacking vice-president Burr. Collection: NYPL
At 6pm, the New-York Historical Society is taking the long look at the relationships between presidents and the press, going back to the time of the Founding Fathers, investigating how their surrogates spread fake news, and comparing then and now.
At 6pm, the Brooklyn Historical Society will take you behind the gates of the Brooklyn Navy Yard to present the stories and voices of everyday New Yorkers who kept up the riveting, launching, and maintenance of the Atlantic fleet during WWII.
1942 Brooklyn Navy Yard worker. Collection: Brooklyn Historical Society
Find the links to these and other museum events on our virtual events page here. Poster House is having all sorts of virtual get-togethers this week centered around its Chinese and Swiss poster shows, so look through our list. On other days of the week:
On Wednesday November 11 at 7:00pm, the Museum of the City of New York explores the history of celebrations in the city – parades, marches, and spontaneous outpourings of emotion on the streets.
On Thursday November 12, the Museum at FIT presents a conversation on sustainability in fashion at 6pm, and the International Center of Photography will present the five young photographers it commissioned to make work in response to the COVID crisis at 7pm.
On Friday at 3pm, there’s another chance to go on a virtual tour of the Morgan Library’s David Hockney portrait show.
Take a look and register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule. Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
Museum Updates
Last week, we dropped into the Metropolitan Museum to see if we could take a quick peek at the “rediscovered” painting in the Jacob Lawrence American Struggle series, but that didn’t happen, since the lines through the 20th-century wing stretched all the way back to the Rockefeller Wing. Anyone needing to get their Lawrence fix can see his historic Migration series on MoMA’s Fifth floor, and his WWII War Series in its own gallery at The Whitney.
Donald Judd installation at MoMA
Anyone needing to chill out in a clean, white space can have the Donald Judd show at MoMA all to themselves weekdays (MoMA is open 7 days a week). We swung by last Thursday and found a peaceful garden, empty Matisse Swimming Pool room, and acres of space around Persistence of Memory. Get there now!
If you missed the Museum at FIT conversation last week on Native America Fashion with designer Korina Emmerich and Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson, who currently has a three-gallery exhibition in Brooklyn, the conversation is now posted here on the museum’s YouTube channel.
Ed Ruscha’s “Our Flag” in Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Jonathan Dorado
Since it’s been serving as one of New York City’s early-voting site, the Brooklyn Museum is kicking the week off (today at noon) with a lively conversation on the role art plays in a democracy with artist Ed Ruscha, music entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine, and music producer/art collector Swizz Beatz.
On Thursday, Brooklyn follows up with another live power panel to wrap up the final week of its Studio 54 exhibition.
2019 Norma Kamali ensemble in Studio 54 at Brooklyn Museum
At 6pm, meet its creator, Ian Schrager, to look back with fashion innovator/icon Norma Kamali on the music, style, theatrics, and people that made the club an international sensation.
Also on Thursday, the Museum at FIT will host a conversation on Native America Fashion with designer Korina Emmerich and Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson, who currently has a three-gallery exhibition in Brooklyn. Although FIT pre-recorded this panel, YouTube viewers will be able to participate in the live Q&A.
Find the links to these and other museum events on our virtual events page here. Some serious science, history, and discussions are also happening:
2018 “Tribes File Suit to Protect Bears Ears” by artist Jeffrey Gibson at Brooklyn Museum
On Wednesday (November 4) at 7:00pm, the American Museum of Natural History hosts its popular monthly SciCafe. This month, a geophysicist will explain what happened when a comet hit the Earth 65 million years ago, weigh in on Cretaceous extinction theories, and explain how life recovers after a ground-zero impact.
At 8:00pm, the Tenement Museum will host a program explaining how Lower East Side immigrants dealt with the 1918 flu pandemic.
To round out the week on Friday (November 7) at 5:00pm, the Rubin Museum is co-hosting an online Himalayan heritage event in honor of Diwali, the Festival of Lights. At 7:30pm, the Guggenheim team will host a rough-cut viewing of some of the dance projects commissioned and developed during the pandemic in its Works & Process series.
Take a look and register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule. Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
Museum Updates
Entrance to Making the Met exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
If you missed, the Met’s event last week that previewed its current exhibitions and live events, the YouTube is available here, featuring short tours of Making the Met and About Time: Fashion and Duration.
This week at the Met, there were long lines of people waiting to get into the Jacob Lawrence exhibition on the last day and into the new fashion exhibition in its first week.
Screenshot of The Queen and the Crown online exhibition on the Brooklyn Museum website
Detail of 2019 watercolor and ink mantra by Charwei Tsai, displayed at the Rubin in last year’s exhibition The Power of Intention
For anyone needing a calm-me-down hour, the Rubin Museum is offering a wonderful service every Monday at 1:00pm, including today’s Mindfulness Meditation with Tracy Cochran. Next Monday (November 2), Lama Aria Drolma will be guiding you through the session.
You should know that the Rubin has lots of Himalayan tranquility available on its YouTube channel. Check out the Rubin Daily Offerings videos – short meditations on art offering lessons on navigating changing and challenging times – and last week’s virtual gala stream, Inside the Mandala.
Tonight, Poster House teams up with the China Institute to take you inside one section of The Sleeping Giant: Posters and The Chinese Economy. At 6:30pm tonight, listen as an expert on Chinese visual culture talks about Posters in the Mao Era, and then get down to 23rd Street to experience the full story on gorgeous posters from the Twenties through the 1990s.
Countertenor John Holiday performs Tuesday in a free program by Met Live Arts
On Tuesday (October 27), the Met Live Arts presents countertenor John Holiday in Hold On! Freedom is Coming! – a special program featuring selections from classical Italian opera and Africa American composers of this century to honor the legacy of Jacob Lawrence. This program will begin at 7:00pm on the Met’s YouTube channel.
Find the links to this and so many other great museum events on our virtual events page here. The schedule is tight, so plan wisely. For your consideration:
Tonight, get ready for Dia de Muertos with El Museo del Barrio’s 6:00pm event with Fanny Gerson, who will share her recipe for Pan de Muerto (“Bread of the Dead”) and the story behind it.
The preserved 1904 City Hall Station. Photo courtesy: New York Transit Museum
On Tuesday (October 27) at 6:00pm, get in on a virtual tour of a spot on everyone’s bucket list in New York – the New York City Transit Museum is offering a look at the old, abandoned City Hall Station. It’s always impossible to get a ticket for the live underground tour, so donate $20 and see the treasured 1904 tiles and arches!
The same night at 7:00pm, NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is hosting the book launch for Red Rooster’s own Marcus Samuelsson, who has written on the rise of Black cooks and American food. Buy the book to donate to NYPL when you sign up.
Lattice Detour by Héctor Zamora on the Met rooftop
And with great fanfare on Thursday (October 29) at 6:00pm, the Met will fling open its virtual doors to recap John Holiday’s performance, zoom up to the roof for you to see Héctor Zamora’s installation, and preview About Time: Fashion and Duration with Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquiére. All free.
There are also more chances to catch ghostly goings on at the Merchant’s House Museum. Register for as many of the topics and events that fit into your schedule.
Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
Museum Updates
We want to make sure everyone’s read the news about the recent discovery of one of missing paintings in the series by Jacob Lawrence on display at the Met. A museum visitor saw the show and realized that one of the missing paintings was hanging in her neighbor’s apartment! Read this lead story in last Friday’s culture section of The New York Times.
We attended both Agnes Pelton presentations by The Whitney this week, and we just want to remind New Yorkers that the last day to see her show is Sunday, November 1. Her beautiful work next travels to her home town of Palm Springs.
Studio 54 fashion: Fiorucci blouse by Antonio, Stephen Burrows dress, and Zandra Rhodes gown. Courtesy: Pat Cleveland
The Seventies fashions in Studio 54: Night Magic, on display through November 8 at the Brooklyn Museum, slip, slide, drape, glitter, and sometimes seem like they’re not even there.
The entire point of going to the Studio 54 nightclub – assuming you could get in – was to shimmer, startle, reveal, exude fabulousness, and shine, shine, shine in the crowd and on the dance floor.
The Brooklyn Museum exhibition, a masterful curatorial achievement, pumps the music, flashes the lights, and runs the videotape while showing off the wunderkinds that made the Seventies 54 scene drip with glamour – Halston, Calvin, Kamali, and Burrows.
Norma Kamali’s swimsuit top and skirt made for dancing
Although Halston and others made custom gowns for clients (and there are plenty for Liza and Liz in the exhibition), the show highlights one of their other fashion innovations that the 99 percent adopted in the Seventies – the swimsuit. If you had a great body, fantastic hair, and dramatic make-up, you could just throw on a bathing suit, tie on a net skirt with little sparkle, and you were ready for the club!
Designers like Kamali and Sant’Angelo partnered with fabric companies to innovate body-hugging solutions, and turned out sexy bathing suits that doubled as disco-ready separates.
One of the galleries features the fun, transparent dance skirts Antonio designed for Fiorucci that he featured in the 1977 “Fiorucci Fantasy” event he staged at Rubell and Schrager’s Queens club, The Enchanted Garden, which predated Studio 54. A video shows how Antonio’s supermodels set the New York fashion and nightlife scene ablaze.
Studio 54 coverage in the Daily News, May 4, 1977. Courtesy: Ian Schrager
For all of its influence in pop culture, it’s hard to think that Studio 54 had a lifespan of only 33 months between 1977 and 1979. The exhibition explores all of facets of the phenomenon – paparazzi, the daily tabloid fodder, Grace Jones, Andy Warhol’s goings-on, disco jeans, Interview magazine, fashion shows, and product launches.
It’s surprising to think that Doris Duke, Alan Greenspan, Lillian Carter, and Bella Abzug were just as likely to be in the club as street performance artists, Bianca Jagger, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Halston’s 1979 beaded chiffon ensemble for Liza Minelli.
To transform the old Twenties theater and TV studio into Studio 54, Schrager and Rubell tapped into the technical and artistic community to figure out how flying disco poles, set changes, and special effects could be orchestrated into a continual surprise for the partygoers. When the musical Chicago closed, designer Tony Walton repurposed his dramatic neon “Roxy” sign as a centerpiece for 54’s stage.
Some of our favorite items are the opening night guest list, Ron Galella’s celebrity photos, Antonio’s costume sketches for opening-night show by the Alvin Ailey dancers, the slideshow of their rehearsal by Juan Ramos, and the giant sapphire that Elizabeth Taylor famously wore to the club in 1979 (it’s in a safe).
Original celebrity photo portraits and Richard Bernstein illustrations for Warhol’s Interview magazine covers
Congratulations to the Brooklyn Museum staff who found and presented this amazing exhibition that lets everyone into Studio 54 to celebrity-watch nearly 40 years after the door closed on the party, and to show us how its influence still reverberates today.
There’s no fashion designer more rock-and-roll than Anna Sui, who will be (virtually) at Poster House tonight (October 19) to show posters from the Sixties and Seventies and explain how they’ve inspired her eye-popping, fun, funny, and magical runway looks. Take a peek at our Flickr album of her retrospective this year at MAD Museum, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Poster House, New York’s newest museum, has one of the best line-ups of virtual events in the City, so get in on this special “Poster Inspiration” event with Anna tonight at 6:30pm. Tickets are only $5, so chip in a few dollars extra to keep their programming rolling. This week, Poster house is also hosting “Lippert & Lowry: Fireside Chats” on Instagram (October 21) and a virtual tour of their fantastic poster archive on October 22.
Anna Sui channels Sixties Fillmore psychedelic in her MAD Museum show this year
Continue the rock-and-roll vibe with Thursday’s morning virtual tour of “Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” by the New-York Historical Society (October 22). Revisit the legendary Fillmore East and West. Find the links to this and so many other great museum events on our virtual events page here. Here’s a few:
A double header on Agnes Pelton’s show at the Whitney: On October 20, curator Barbara Haskell will answer your questions live, and she’ll be back on October 22 with the panel that had been postponed, “Seeing Agnes Pelton.”
On October 20, makers are invited to a panel at the Cooper-Hewitt on to learn how to launch a design project, which is part of National Design Month.
On October 23, the Met will host artist Dred Scott speaking about Jacob Lawrence.
On October 24, horticulturalists can get an insider’s look at the medieval gardens as the Fall season begins at the Met Cloisters.
Gardens at the Met Cloisters
There are also more chances to catch the Morgan Library’s virtual tour of the Hockney show, a full line-up of paranormal goings on at the Merchant’s House Museum, and more tours at the Tenement Museum. Take a look and register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule.
Most events are free, but an extra thank-you donation helps everyone, big and small.
Reopening Update
Just a reminder to fashion fans that the Met will soon open its much-delayed fashion extravaganza, which should have debuted the first Monday in May. It’s coming and we’ll keep you posted about a virtual event the Met has planned to give everyone a preview.
Kitchen on the Tenement Museum’s virtual tour of the Moore family residence
We’re happy to see that the Tenement Museum, one of NYC’s most beloved cultural centers, is not only offering in-person neighborhood walks again, but hosting virtual tours of the cramped quarters where our European immigrant ancestors first gained a foothold in America. This week, there is an opportunity (October 15) for everyone to climb those narrow stairs on Orchard Street, see the neighborhood (October 17), and help sustain the museum.
And speaking of small history museums, we also want to mention the virtual events being programmed at the Merchant’s House Museum, which continues to persevere despite the massive construction project happening on the other side of its 1830s walls. Check out their pre-Halloween programming this week and throughout the month, and see what it’s like inside the place deemed Manhattan’s “most haunted” house.
Disco reigns supreme at Brooklyn Museum’s Studio 54: Night Magic
On our list this week, we also want to draw your attention to:
The Fashion Institute of Technology and Museum at Eldridge Street’s presentation on Berlin’s fashion industry in the 1920s (October 13)
The Morgan Library’s discussion of European blockbooks in “Print-on-Demand in the 15th Century” (October 15)
The Brooklyn Museum’s program with three Studio 54-era disco divas, who talk about how their music shaped the era ($10 on October 15)
The Bard Graduate Center’s presentation on Eileen Grey and architectural drawings (October 17)
For Tiffany fans on October 13, the New-York Historical Society will show off its spectacular collection. If you’ve never seen the upstairs Tiffany gallery at NYHS and heard the stories behind the lamps, do not miss this.
Last week, the Whitney had to postpone its Agnes Pelton panel, but curator Barbara Haskell will be answering questions on October 20 in a virtual event.
Take a look and register for as many of the topics and events that you can fit into your schedule. Most of the events are free, but it’s always nice to add a thank-you donation.
Reopening Update
Poster featured at El Museo del Barrio graphic arts exhibition, Taller Boricua: A Political Print Shop in New York
The Bard Graduate Center Gallery had just opened its much-anticipated exhibition on Eileen Grey when the pandemic forced its closure. We’re happy to let New Yorkers know that BGC is opening up the doors to the in-person exhibition for two weeks, October 13-28. Reserve your timed tickets now.
We also checked out the newly reopened El Museo del Barrio to see the graphic arts exhibition on Taller Boricua, which presents over 200 works by artists at this historic print shop. There were plenty of visitors yesterday pouring over the works produced by activist Puerto Rican artists over the last 50 years. The museum at 104th and Fifth is open Saturday and Sunday.
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