The Arts in New York City: Form, Content, Context

Group 3: Cody Butler, Christina Christodoulou, Regina Fojas and Anastasya Rubunov

[oral presentation:  A–    published form:   B+  –JMS]

The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) in Chelsea is a building not as grand looking as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or noticeable like the Museum of Modern Art. One can easily pass by on the corner of 17^th Street and 7^th Avenue and not realize that it houses hundreds of Himalayan artworks. It was once a Barney’s Department store before Donald and Shelley Rubin purchased it. RMA is dedicated to the “preservation, understanding and appreciation of Himalayan art.” The life-size artwork of Tibetan deities that welcome all visitors at the entrance and the aroma of curry and spices in the lobby café set the mood for cultural transportation perfectly. The fact that the café serves food from the Himalayan region and not just continental food reflects the museum’s mission in educating museum visitors not only about Himalayan artwork, but also its culture.

The precise construction of an environment with Himalayan region influences guides the first-time viewer of this type of art to fully appreciate the experience. This was the exactly what the museum’s co-founders Donald and Shelley Rubin intended. When they purchased their first work of Tibetan art in the 1970s, the Manhattan couple had very little money, butfell in love with the painting.  They did not even know where the Himalayas were located. However, it was the emotional connection they had with this painting that is most important. It is also something that Donald Rubin emphasizes during a visit to the RMA. Most of the artwork is unsigned by its artists, which allows the viewer to mold more of a enlightened and heart connection to the piece, rather than artificial excitement because a piece is by Monet, Van Gogh or any other famous artist.

Donald Rubin was the not only the co-founder of RMA, but of a managed health-care network called Multi-Plan, Inc. The success of his business allowed him to fund his vision of the Rubin Museum of Art. However, the museum’s patrons also include federal and state government organizations such as the following: National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. There are also personal contributors like multi-millionaire Donald Trump. The support of several organization and people allows the museum to renovate and finance exhibitions and events. The museum is also an affiliated with the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center and Himalayan Art Resources. These organizations provide the museum’s exhibitions with useful information and allow others to learn more about Himalayas outside the museum setting.

Upon entrance into the museum one encounters the modern designed staircase that spirals upward from the middle of the lobby floor to the sixth floor. As attractive and sleek as this staircase may be, it does not create an effective acoustic system for the museum. All of the noise, babies’ cries and cell phone rings from the lobby floor escalates in volume as one ascends the staircase. Although this noise reflects a growing audience, it does become distracting when someone is trying to appreciate that art on display in a serious manner. On a typical Saturday afternoon, the museum if filled with a diverse crowd of tourists, sometimes in very large groups, families and individuals who are curious about Himalayan art. In fact, most of the visitors of museum who go to the museum have a genuine interest in the Himalayan region and culture. As stated previously, artists do not sign the artwork. So tourists do not flock to this museum in herds because of a famous artist’s work on display.

RMA succeeds in its mission to preserve and educate about Himalayan arts in the specific way its exhibitions are organized. There are four main exhibits on display during our visit to the museum.  Each of these exhibits is filled with warm earth tone colors of red, green, yellow and brown. These colors are associated with a majority of Himalayan art. In addition, lightening is dimmed so that the viewer’s attention is focused only on the artwork in the spotlight. The second floor is focused entirely on the four basic questions concerning Himalayan art: Where is it made? What is it? Why is it made? Who makes it? A visitor’s introduction and quick tutorial of Himalayan art is locatedon this floor.  In order to better explain differences and similarities in Tibetan, Indian, Chinese and Nepalese art, there are sections on each floor entitled Explore!. These sectioned off areas delve deeper into the specifics of Himalayan art through hands-on activities, books, magnifying glasses and informative videos.

The second floor provided general and broad knowledge of Himalayan artwork. However, the third and fourth floor is dedicated to more specific forms of art. Currently on exhibit is “From the Land of the Gods” and “Mandala: The Perfect Circle.” Both of these exhibits study the ideas and values behind the religion of Buddhism. The statues and paintings (Fig. 1) in “From the Land of the Gods” portray the religion’s many deities and demons complete with multiple arms and heads. These statues are made with bronze, wood and marble. In Eastern art and religion the mandala (Fig. 2) is an important symbol. Each one is a tediously crafted spiritual map, that teaches the spectator a lesson in enlightenment achievement. The last exhibit on display present is centered on Jainism, another religion found in the Himalayan region, in the country of India. The art in this section consisted of many beautifully slender and rigidly straight-backed statues of sages enveloped in complete tranquility. Each piece was so still and serene it was hard to imagine an artist ever forging it in hot flames, every image seemed as if it had always been.

Although a first time visitor may feel overwhelmed with information about Himalayan art, he or she will definitely not leave the museum without any of their questions unanswered. RMA caters to people who have never seen this type of artwork and does not assume they know everything about the Himalayas. The approach in presenting Himalayan art is not intimidating because its founders and curators know that this is a different land of art that has not been discovered by the masses. Therefore, the museum has dedicated so much time and effort to dissect every part of Himalayan art and culture so that it can better enrich the knowledge of its visitors.  Moreover, the art is neither displayed as something totally exotic and foreign nor as decorative pieces in other museums such as the MET. Several of the pieces at the MET are placed alongside sliding doors, coy ponds and jade statuary appeal to a sensation of novelty or, at best an aesthetic augmentation to a particular space, rather than the individually rich pieces they are. On the other hand, RMA emphasizes a well-rounded understanding and enlightening appreciation of this type of art. After exploring every exhibit and taking a peek at the gift store filled with ornate crafts, imported scarves and postcards, our group all agreed that another trip to RMA was definite in the future.

WORKS CITED

Interview with Donald Rubin. Video clip. Donald Rubin on the Rubin Museum of Art. 31 Jan. 2009. BigThink. 30 Sept. 2009. <http://bigthink.com/donaldrubin/donald-rubin-on-the- rubin-museum-of-art>.

Linrothe, Rob. Paradise and Plunge: Chinese Connections in Tibetan Arhat Painting. New York: the Rubin Museum of Art, 2004. Print.

“Mission and History.” Rubin Museum of Art. Web. 25 Sept 2009. <http://www.rmanyc.org/pages/load/48>.

Muller, F. Max. The Way of the Buddha. New York: Abrams,

2008. Print.

Prtizker, David. From the Land of the Gods: Art of the Kathmandu Valley. New York: The Rubin Museum of Art, 2004. Print

“Shelley and Donald Rubin ’56.” Oglethorpe University: Alumni. Web. 27 Sept 2009. <http://www.oglethorpe.edu/alumni/profiles/ don_rubin.asp>.

Thankur, Laxman J. Visualizing a Buddhist Sutra: Text and Figure in Himalayan Art. Cary: Oxford University Press,

2005. Print.