Studio Ruthe

Art and history in Pittsburgh

The Frick Art and Historical Center is having an exhibit of nineteenth century printed views of Pittsburgh. The prints give a wonderful picture of the early growth of the city. Coming from the amazingly flat city of Chicago I am always intrigued by the hills and valleys of Pittsburgh, particularly the changes that were made in the downtown area by leveling Grant's Hill and using it as landfill. Both the Frick Building and the Allegheny County Courthouse were built with the expectation that Grant's Hill, which they were built into, would be removed. The basement of the Frick Building became the first floor and the facade of the courthouse was reconfigured. Knowing this, I have tried to envision what Grant's Hill would have looked like. I was hoping the prints would help me, but I the best picture I've found is here. It looks like the kind of hill I imagined as a child, something not too large rising off a flat surface. I can see where this could be completely removed. The map just below the Grant's Hill picture shows a pond in the middle of downtown. This was probably filled in using material from Grant's Hill. On Sunday, there was a special lecture about the show given by the curator. I was hoping he would talk mostly about the content of the prints, but he actually spoke about how so many of these views were copied and reissued without ever crediting the original creators. Copyright law was a different animal at that time.

Earlier in the week I went to the Carnegie International, a major survey of contemporary art presented by the Carnegie Museum of Art. Although I am not usually fond of contemporary art I found this exhibit quite interesting and plan to return and spend more time there. I can't say I loved any of it, but it was intriguing and gave me a lot to think about.

This week

It is almost two weeks since all of my bandages and bits of tape have been removed and I have showered every day, but I'm still finding adhesive on my body. It's finally showing up as dirty and I'm having to pick it off. I wonder if there's some on my back I can't see, where they fastened those electrodes.

I've been following an exercise schedule--working on my leg exercises and walking again. I've taken two walks with Mary and Phyllis, but not going all the way. There's a shady bench about two-thirds of the way down the path where I sat and waited for them. It's supposed to be cooler next week so I'll try going the distance the next time I walk. I'm alternating walks and exercises.

Eli came home on Thursday and Renee is here for the weekend. We spent much of yesterday afternoon waiting for the rain to end so we could go to the Three Rivers Festival. Finally went down to the Strip and got to a few places before they closed. We drove toward the Festival watching an ominous gray cloud to the north, then went over to the North Side to the Moxie Dada gallery. Eli recommended we go there. It's a great place--an old firehouse turned into artists studios, mostly ceramists. There was a wonderful covered jar for sale--beautifully made with a perfectly fitting cover. More money than I could afford, but I loved looking at it. Across the street are two wonderfully painted and decorated houses--someone's personal art project. One day I'll go back and photograph them; too much rain yesterday.

In the evening, Eli, Renee and I went over to Construction Junction to a kind of cabaret run by the Pillow Project, a local dance group. The dancers and musicians were wonderful. I'm told they are students, graduates or somehow associated with Point Park University. I was very impressed. This is obviously a young persons activity; we were far and away the oldest people there, but they made us feel welcome. I'd like to go back again.

Nancy Crow and other art events

This seems to be Nancy Crow week in Pittsburgh. She gave a lecture on Wednesday, which I attended, and a huge (50 quilts) show of her work opened last night. You can read about it here. I'm not a quilter, although I made one and pieced another one that remains unfinished. But I love fabrics and have always done some sewing, at one time making most of my clothes. I often heard about Nancy Crow and pictured an older Native American, because of her name and one or two of her early quilts I saw. She's certainly not the person I dreamt up, and her quilts have changed dramatically from those early pieces. I enjoyed the lecture and the opening, but I can't say I found the work compelling enough to go back for another look. The gallery write-up calls her one of the most genuine voices in contemporary art. I don't seem to have a lot of interest in contemporary art. Only occasionally does something speak to me.

The Three Rivers Arts Festival is also on now. I'm planning to get there this weekend. Last weekend, when it opened, was just too hot.

A good week (and today is my birthday)

I've been too busy or too tired to continue writing all week. Spent most of my time with friends, and a few art shows during and in between. Wednesday morning I met Ellen at the natural history museum. We did a lot of talking, since I haven't seen her for about a year, and we saw the new exhibit about the horse. Thursday was a full day with Phyllis. First lunch at her place, a wonderful apartment on the West Side, then up to the botanic garden. Darwin's garden was fabulous; all of the colors and shapes were overwhelmingly gorgeous. We also saw a little of the Moore exhibit, but ran out of time and couldn't stay to see all of it. It's another reason to return to New York.

Back on the West Side, we returned the car to the garage, rested for half an hour, then went to dinner at a charming Japanese restaurant. New York is filled with sushi places, but this one was special, at 92nd and Amsterdam. After that a concert at Carnegie Hall with James Levine and the Met Orchestra. The first piece was by Elliott Carter, 100 years old and in the audience to take a bow. I guess being 100 is OK if you can be in such good shape and get that kind of recognition.

Friday I had coffee with Rose, lunch with Jean and dinner with C--a very rewarding day. Saw Mary Cassatt prints and drawings with Jean then went to the Japan Society before dinner. I often have mixed feelings about lacquer, but I loved most of this work by Zeshin. Along with wonderful boxes and trays they showed paintings he did with lacquer. Amazing stuff!

Met Tuesday

I can't believe I was actually in New York six days before I got to the Met. I saw the blockbuster, Courbet, when I was here last month. This time, walking toward the newly installed Oceania wing, I noticed the newest Costume Institute show, "Superheroes, Fashion and Fantasy," was relatively empty, so I walked in there first. These installations are often weird; this one certainly was. While I loved comic books, Superman and Wonderwoman, when I was a kid, I wasn't too keen on this show. Some of the fashions were intriguing; nothing you'd wear on the street.

I really enjoyed the new installation of material from New Guinea. Robin and Steve were there in the 1980's and I was able to go and visit them. I brought back a number of pieces from the Sepik River, some of which I'd like to sell. So I look at these museum exhibits with two ideas in mind: just enjoying them and how do they relate to what I own. I was told originally that the pieces had to be much older to have real value. The Met has many pieces dated to the 1970's. Can I be far behind?

After a quiet lunch I went to China, Japan, India and Korea. Those are the best galleries because they are usually quiet, not the crowded mess found in the more popular galleries.

I left the museum about 1 pm and went to the bus stop at 84th and Fifth Ave. After standing about 10 minutes I noticed there was no traffic emerging for the Park and on to 84th St. Even though I was tired and my feet hurt, I started walking; it's much easier than standing. Only after I got back near the apartment and made some purchases in a nearby deli, did the first bus show up. I'm glad I didn't wait.

In the evening I went to dinner in New Rochelle with friends and made a new friend: a woman who is going to Japan next October and wanted to hear about my trip. She's a lovely lady and I had a great time. I brought my book for show and tell. It's a great way to tell people about the trip

My New York Monday

Not prose, not a poem--just random jottings

A noisy place, my New York. Bright sunshine this morning, with thunder--or was that construction noise. Workmen in the hall, outside my door: hammering, talking, tools dropping. Building being renovated.

Walk outside--jack hammer, generator. Walk through the projects--street quiet--six buses hanging out. 3 cats in ASPCA window. If I look too long, one of them might be mine.

Got on the bus. Old man with walker--doesn't want special lift--climbs stairs like a mountain. I understand.

Subway to Bowling Green: Custom House, George Gustav Heye Center, National Museum of the American Indian. One of my favorite places in NYC. Beautiful pieces--headless figures like Yinka Shonibare. Is there some meaning in headlessness? More reading, like NMAI in DC--too low--too small--too dark.

Walk down Broadway. Big crowd on the traffic island with the Wall Street bull. Greeks commemorating the Pontic Massacre in the early 20th Century.

Trinity Church: sculpture of tree roots in the courtyard.

Walking to Century 21 Department Store. Looks like storm coming. Happy to get inside, but very crowded. Julia called while I was trying on sneakers. Couldn't talk, keep my seat, watch shoes I want to buy and old shoes I wore. Buy 2 pair, one pink and purple. Feet hurt.

More wind, a few raindrops--just spitting like Pittsburgh rain. Stopped at J&R Music and Computers. Saw Fujitsu, a tiny notebook at twice the price of the ASUS. Will probably buy the ASUS before I go to China. Getting hungry.

Walk under Brooklyn Bridge toward Chinatown, on East Broadway. Not familiar with street--too many people--need food--need to sit down. Turn on Division where I've been with Shirley Sun. Found buffet restaurant: 4 choices from enormous buffet plus rice: $4.50. Tofu, green beans, noodles, sesame chicken.

Crossed street to bakery: melon cake and lemon tea. Figaro cat loved melon cake from Chinatown in Chicago. Don't know if he loved melon or crust part best. Sitting again. Bakery got very busy. Old woman sitting near me got up and quickly took a tart from behind the counter. I think she stole it.

Walked down Canal St. to the subway. One block of shops locked up by government order. Must have been knock-off headquarters. Back to apartment. Still working in the hall. Happy to sit again. Photos next week.

New York weekend

This was a weekend of contemporary art and Jewish culture, not together. On Thursday Renee and I went to Chelsea and looked at galleries for about two hours. We saw some lovely Japanese ceramics, although nothing extraordinary, an interesting exhibit of the work of Yinka Shonibare, and not much else I can remember. Our real reason for going to Chelsea was a performance at a comedy club.

Are you scratching your head wondering why we were going to a comedy club? Perhaps I should have done more head scratching before I ordered the tickets. The performance was the opening event in a festival called, "Jews and Power," written up as follows:

From Queen Esther to Jon Stewart, Jews have taken delight in skewing the powers that be. Join us for an evening of political satire, featuring standup by Jeff Kreisler ("Comedy Against Evil"), skits from New York's funniest Purim show ("The Shushan Channel"), a celebrity reading from the upcoming film "Hebrew Hammer II," songs from "Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad" and "Good for the Jews," and much more.

I should have read it more carefully: I didn't recognize any of the names except Jon Stewart, and he wasn't part of it. We found some of it to be funny, but easily two thirds of it just didn't resonate with us. We never heard of these people. This event, and the lectures I attended today, was sponsored by Nextbook, a group that promotes Jewish culture. I'm sure the comedy event was meant to attract young people. Unfortunately, most of the audience was over 50, as was today's audience for much more serious discussions, about culture, assimilation, Israel and antisemitism, along with power, the need for it and our abdication of it. Very interesting, and much more interesting than the comedy club.

On Friday, my Jewish weekend included a movie, "Constantine's Sword," a fascinating examination of antisemitism from a Christian point of view. I highly recommend it.

Saturday, the Sabbath, which should have been a Jewish day, was another day of art. I took the train up to Pelham to visit with old friends, and we went to Yonkers to an art studio open house. My friends knew two of the artists, a husband and wife team of photographers. They had a beautiful show of photos from China.

The artist studios are in an old building that was once the Alexander Smith Carpet Co, another manufacturer long gone. In addition to the artists we visited a piano restorer and got to see how they handle the innards of a piano, and a stained glass restorer. Both of those studios were really fascinating; well worth the trip.

After dinner we went for a walk on Glen Island, a part of New York that was entirely new to me. My weekend also included visits to two different street fairs. I'll have some pictures and more to say about them when I return to Pittsburgh.

Last post from New York

Tomorrow morning I board the train for Pittsburgh. If it's not as bad as the last time I rode Amtrak 2-1/2 years ago, I might even do it again.

I wouldn't want you to think I spent five days in New York without going to an art exhibit, my entertainment of choice. On Sunday, before I went to New Jersey for the seder, Renee and I went to the Asia Society where we saw wonderful Japanese prints. Yesterday we went to the Met and saw the Courbet. He was the penultimate avant garde artist of his time, but it's a little hard to think of him that way. Everything has been so much more avant in recent years, unless you understand what came before, he seems a little dull. I really loved his self portraits, especially the one on the show poster. Maybe I'll do some of my own: Fat Old Artist with piano, or Fat Old Artist with White Dog. (I don't know any black ones.)

Today we went to Brooklyn, first to the botanic garden to see the cherry blossoms, magnolias and the wonderful Japanese garden. It was a perfect day, warm, sunny with a great breeze. Renee is a great companion in a garden; she knows so much about plants.

The Brooklyn Museum is next to the garden and was our next stop. The featured exhibit was by Murakami, a contemporary Japanese artist, but the exhibit I liked best was more Japanese prints. I think I can never see enough of them. This exhibit had prints I've never seen before--a great treat.

I won't get home until late tomorrow; the train crawls--for 10-1/2 hours. (It's only 7 hours driving.) I'll try to post pictures on Friday.

Baltimore

Saturday morning, Robin, Steve and I drove four and a half hours to Baltimore, a trip with several objectives. Our primary incentive was Charna who was singing in a choral concert on Sunday afternoon. First we checked into our hotel. After all those very spare Japanese hotels, and my monk's cell in Chicago, this was a stunner. The lobby wasn't anything special but the room was amazing. You walked into a kind of sitting room with a small basin, coffee maker and refrigerator opposite a large sofa. Just beyond a sort of divider was the bedroom. I had two double beds, in case  we had to stay over Sunday night; Charna could room with me. Opposite the beds was a bathroom with tub and toilet, and next to it, the basin, lots of counter space, and a real closet, also mirrored. If that wasn't enough, there was a flat screen, HD TV, 42 inches. You could watch from either the bed or the sitting room. Over the years I've had the good fortune to stay at some very fancy hotels, but I don't think I've ever had so much space in one room.

Robin's best friend, from kindergarten through high school, lives in Baltimore. I haven't seen her since then so I was very pleased she came to the hotel with her children. We all walked around the Inner Harbor and it was lovely to catch up with her again. But it was hard to get used to seeing her as an adult. I had only known her when I was an adult and she was a child. I found it different than the few occasions I've met my own friends after not seeing them since childhood. We were children together, and now we are elders together.

Sunday, before the concert, we went to the American Visionary Art Museum. After the Met, in New York, this is my favorite place. Renee and I happened upon it several years ago. We made a special trip to Washington DC to see the, then new, Museum of the American Indian. I had heard so much about it; it seemed like everyone wanted to see it. I joined the museum and made sure we had tickets for the day we wanted to be there. I wanted to be sure of getting in. We were very disappointed: too much to read; not enough artifacts; too hard to see the ones that were on display. We stopped at the Visionary Art Museum on our way back and it was worth the whole trip. We've been raving about it so much, Robin felt she had to see it, also. We all loved it.

Finally, the concert. HaZamir is the International Jewish High School Choir. Each local chapter meets weekly in its own city to rehearse Jewish choral music. Once each year the groups meet, rehearse together for two days and present a concert. There were 250 kids from 17 or 18 groups around the US and from Israel. It was awesome to hear them sing; those 250 voices have a lot of power. You can listen to them here; there are four selections at the bottom of the list.

Almost missed it

I'm very pleased I made it to the last day of an exhibit I wanted to see, but kept forgetting about: Nick Cave at the Society for Contemporary Crafts. I was suffering with February grayness yesterday; it took a lot for me to get out of the house.

The exhibit was splendid. Cave is a Chicago artist whose quirky designs seem to follow somewhat in the tradition of Ed Paschke and the Chicago Imagists. You can see a video of Cave's work here, and read more about him here (pdf).

Here are some pictures of Cave's work:

Wonderful, outsize, finely crafted garments

This is a picture of a mask from Papua New Guinea, I took at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Couldn't help notice some similarities. I love them both.