(Photo from Nassau County Museum website)
Most of us have an extended period of time off due to the holiday season, whether it be from school or from work, or both. What better way to spend one of your lazy, winter days off by stopping at a local museum and enjoying one of its new exhibits or spending a day in our cosmopolitan city by just hopping on the LIRR. It never hurts to learn something new and it is a fun activity to do with family and/or friends. Here are a few new and intriguing exhibits this January that you can visit and explore.
1 Maxfield Parrish: Paintings and Prints from the National Museum of American Illustration
Nassau County Museum of Art, One Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor.
Through Feb. 28.
Maxfield Parrish, one of the great American artists of the Golden Age of Illustration, will have his work on display. His original detailed and elaborate pieces and a collection of vintage prints will be shown. According to the museum’s website, during Parrish’s time back in 1904, an average American’s annual income was $500 or less, and Parrish, who characterized himself as a “businessman with a brush,” signed a contract for six years with Collier’s magazine for over one grand per month. The prices of his paintings increased to two grand each. His pieces date from the 1890s to the 1960s and were shown on the covers of magazines, postcards, ads, greeting cards, books and more.
2 Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., Manhattan.
Jan. 8 to April 11, 2016
Taken from the collection of Ricky Jay, German artist, musician and magician Matthias Buchinger’s (1674–1739), also known as the “Little Man of Nuremberg,” art work will be on display in this new installation at the museum. Buchinger was born with an unusual handicap: he had no hands and legs. Nevertheless, he was still able to be a successful artist and man. Buchinger was a well-known and respected man in his life. He showed off his many talents at numerous courts. Buchinger drew elaborate and detailed drawings which often included calligraphic inscriptions. You can purchase tickets in advance at www.metmuseum.org.
3 The Titanosaur
The Museum of Natural History, Central Park West & 79th St., Manhattan.
Jan. 15, 2016 to Jan. 19, 2019
Located in the Wallach Orientation Center on the fourth floor, this new permanent exhibit is coming to the Natural Museum of History in January. The Titanosaur will display the largest dinosaur ever shown at the museum, so get ready for this dinosaur lovers, because this will be a dinosaur exhibit that you won’t want to miss. The exhibit will display the form of a dinosaur that is 122 feet long. The remains of this dinosaur were recently dug up and found in Argentina in its Patagonian desert area by a group from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio. This dinosaur has only been recently discovered, and so paleontologists have not even named its species yet. Paleontologists believe the dinosaur was an herbivore which belong to the group titanosaurs. Their guess is that the dinosaur weighed about 70 tons, and that it lived about 95 to 100 million years ago. According to the museum’s website, this anonymous dinosaur is one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered.
(Photo from The Metropolitan Museum of Art website)
4 The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430–1540
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., Manhattan.
Jan. 20 to April 17, 2016
This collection of European hand-painted playing cards date back to the Middle Ages to early modern Europe; there are only three decks from this period that are available today. Most of this collection is taken from The Cloisters Playing Cards. According to the museum website, the art on these cards illustrates the altering of worldviews during a turbulent time of religious, economic and social change.
You can purchase tickets in advance at www.metmuseum.org.
5 Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings
The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th St., Manhattan.
Jan. 22 to May 1
As one of the earliest and most essential art collectors, Pierre-Jean Mariette changed the way we look at art; he presented his collection of pieces in unique ways. He would go at lengths to restore his art pieces in order to refine their appearances. His signature mark it seems, according to the Morgan Library website, is that he would put his art pieces that he collected in “frame-like blue mounts” which are “still highly prized by collectors.” Some of the works of art in Mariette’s collection include artists such as Parmigianino (1503–1540), Annibale Carracci (1560–1609) and Guercino (1591–1666).
