Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art

“Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art” is an exhibit currently on view in the James Gallery at the CUNY Graduate Center at 35^th Street and Fifth Avenue. (If you stand on the southeast corner of that intersection you can look into the windows of the gallery and see numerous Bernstein paintings.) Bernstein lived from 1890 to 2002 (do the math!) and had work exhibited in every decade of the 20^th century. She was a contemporary of Edward Hopper and the painters of the Ashcan School. She made a great many paintings of New York life, several of which are in the exhibit and which I’ve posted pictures of below. She had a vibrant style, awhirl with life and color, whether documenting the antics of the rich, the talented or the working poor and she drew on a host of different influences, including the French impressionists and some of the avant-garde painters of her era.

 

Lilies of the Field, 1915 

 

Art Battles at 5 Bryant Park

In an empty, undeveloped building lobby on 40th Street at Sixth Avenue, a massive mural has been painted by four artists. I was there on Friday evening, November 15, 2013 and took some pictures,

Marble Slabs on West 35th Street

Walking to work on Friday morning up 35th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues I came across a bunch of opened wooden crates outside Macy's. Nobody was around. Here's what it looked like from a distance:

Stepping closer:

And closer:

Homeless on Fifth Avenue: So Close, Yet So Far

A good night's sleep just a window pane away...

 

Chinese Antique Store

There's an antique store on Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Chinatown that's filled with beautiful statues, sculptures, vases and scroll paintings, some of which might pass for museum quality if glimpsed quickly as you walk down the store aisles.

Souvenir Store on W. 33 St.

Not too long ago, I used to pass a souvenir shop aimed at tourists on the corner of 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. I took pictures of the windows because it had the most unusual juxtapositions of objects. There would be statues with ancient Egyptian motifs next to typical "I Love New York" merchandise.

Midway in the Bronx

On a scruffy patch of land in Bronx Park, between Bronx Park East and the Bronx River Parkway (just east of the Bronx Zoo), a traveling amusement park known as Tommy's Midway gets set up every year to provide rides to kids in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx. On August 19, 2013, I happened to come across this collection of rides as it sat awaiting opening hours. It was late afternoon and I don't know why it wasn't open yet, but I took the opportunity to walk around the empty rides and take pictures.