Sunday, September 18th marked my first ever visit to the Jewish Museum. It was there that my seminar 1 class and I viewed the special exhibit of the Cone Sisters’ famous art collection, comprised largely of works by Matisse, in addition to plenty of Picasso and other artists. Normally, I am not the most attentive museum-goer unless the work is particularly avant garde, but I was pleasantly surprised that this exhibition- though not very radical compared to the art we have now, was wholly fascinating and lovely!

The exhibit wouldn’t have been the same without the special informational iPhone app that accompanied it, which allowed viewers to listen to commentary on many of the works on display. There was also ample biographical information given on the collectors themselves, the Cone Sisters, and many of their friends such as Gertrude Stein. Hearing about the rich, cultured lives of the Cone Sisters definitely made me see how important these paintings were back then, and how much more important they’ve become now. It made me want to become an art collector myself! The exhibit closes on the 25th, so there is still time to squeeze a visit in before then- Macaulay students with Cultural Passports should definitely take advantage of this very insightful, enriching experience! More information can be found here, at the Jewish Museum website.

Quite interestingly, my visit to the Jewish Museum also correlated quite well with a movie I’d seen just two days before, Woody Allen’s newest film Midnight in Paris. I went to see it with some friends from MHC Hunter at the only theatre still playing it, the Angelika Film Center. Having no knowledge of what it would be about, it ended up being a very charming film about a struggling writer who, while vacationing in Paris, comes across a vintage car that takes him back to the Roaring 20’s. The film just so happens to involve many of the artists mentioned in the Cone Sisters exhibit- I will not spoil too much of it for those who have yet to watch it, but the protagonist does end up meeting Gertrude Stein, Picasso, and many other prominent literary/art figures of the time. Seeing the film prior to the exhibit made me feel like I was an expert on these artists (I’m really not 🙂 And it also occurred to me how these artists influenced each other; even if their styles were completely different, they still managed to incorporate aspects of each other’s style into some of their works. It shows how important experimentation and open-mindedness really is. As a musician and writer, I am beginning to let the same thing happen to my work!

The trailer doesn’t give much of the plot away at all, but here it is anyway for your viewing pleasure: BYRWfS2s2v4