Brian and I met Ellie on the Upper East Side and went to the Neue Gallerie on 5th and 86th. Housed in a former Vanderbilt mansion, the building becomes part of the experience as a divinely elegant and intimate space for viewing top rate German and Austrian art. The famous Klimt painting Adele Bloch-Bauer I is here and it is breathtaking both for the technique and the story of its personal journey from the Bloch-Bauer family to the Nazis back to the family and then to America. Read this good Slate article on the purchase.
We also got to see this wonderful exhibition: BRÜCKE: THE BIRTH OF EXPRESSIONISM
IN DRESDEN AND BERLIN, 1905-1913 about a group of Artists known as the "BRÜCKE" or "Bridge." Very interesting. I especially loved Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's work.
This is one of my faves of his:Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) Berlin Street Scene, 1913-14
Afterwards we had coffee and Sachertorte at the swank and over-looking-5th-Avenue-and-Central-Park cafe, Cafe Sabarsky. Why live in a Starbucks world where for a few Deutschmarks more you can have lovely silver trays and sit in an old-time Viennese surrounding in a 5th Avenue mansion. The Kaiser Mélange (Fresh-ground coffee with whipped cream) für fünf Dollar ist wundervoll!
Every day is a jolly holiday with Ellie and Brian and the Neue Gallerie.
