Arts & Entertainment

New York's Secret World-Class Museums and Galleries

Three places to quietly enjoy art, and escape the crowds

  alb487@nyu.edu

To a weekend visitor, every New York City museum can seem mobbed. But one can also find peace, in world-class museums and galleries hidden in unlikely places.

For example, The Hispanic Society of America, art at St. John the Divine Cathedral and a quiet drawings room of the Metropolitan Museum can be visited in a single day.

The Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library

The Hispanic Society of America, dedicated to the study of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American culture, is housed in two stone buildings on opposite ends of a gated courtyard.

You can find the work of Francisco Goya and El Greco in the main galleries. But you’re unlikely to find crowds: on a recent Saturday, a single Spanish-speaking school group was perusing the main gallery. Nearby, two fanny-packed tourists observed work by both famous and unknown Spanish artists in silence.

A docent chatting with the guard seemed unfazed by the small weekend turnout.

“It gives visitors a sense of intimacy with the paintings,” she said, mentioning how the Hispanic Society was not particularly interested in widespread advertisement.

The Duchess of Alba is the first of two Goya paintings visible from the entrance to the main gallery. Her ornate gown gives her an elegance fitting of her nobility. She stares from the portrait with a hand on her hip, pursed lips, and a firm posture.

Five paintings by El Greco hang on the upper level of the main gallery.

Most of the museum’s collection is hidden away, though some work is viewable upon request.

One such collection is in the Reading Room, where 18 portraits and one unfinished painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida hang in a sunlit room of bookshelves and card catalogs. Although his largest piece is unpolished, the rawness of his work provides insight into his artistry, with crude strokes of reds, greens and blues.

The northern building holds a large collection of Sorolla’s finished works. But a gallery viewing requires a special escort.

In the back of the exhibit are seven Sorolla paintings in a dimly-lit alcove. The prominent painting, Louis Comfort Tiffany, epitomizes his impressionist style, featuring the subject amid riot of flowers created by a series of seemingly rough brush strokes.

Visitors eager to see the masterpieces are likely to be accommodated, regardless of the extra effort for the staff.

“You don’t have to go to Spain,” the docent emphasized. “It’s a world class museum right here in [the the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington] Heights.”

613 W. 155th Street
http://www.hispanicsociety.org/
Tel: 212- 926-2234

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

Bicycles, tandems and toddler tricycles filed out the doors and down the steps to the street in a massive procession. The annual bicycle blessing is one example of St. John the Divine’s community outreach program.

“It’s not just a museum, and it’s not just a church,” a greeter pointed out.

A guided tour also highlights the many elements within the cathedral that pay homage to both American and New York City history.

The cathedral is largely unappreciated for its artistic merit. Tourists may drop in simply because it’s a stop on the tour bus route. On this day, many visitors meandered to the altar for a quick look, then left.

But the altar and the chapels are worth seeing.

A set of 16th century choir seats at the back of the nave create a sense of calm. The wooden choir pews before the altar creak on the climb to the top where, looking from end to end, the great hall echoed with the whispers of scattered admirers and a choir group’s soft chorus.

The New York architectural firm of Heins & LaFarge designed the Byzantine-Romanesque cathedral in 1891. It was the first Episcopalian church in New York City. A domed ceiling and the stone archway above the altar are reminiscent of this original design. But architect Ralph Adams Cram took on the project soon after construction began with a newer Gothic style in mind, representing the transition from old times to new.

“Gothic architecture is the way to salvation,” the tour guide said, describing Cram’s design philosophy. Consequently, the ceilings in the cathedral’s nave are high and pointed, with no transepts, and distances between structural features are multiples of the “perfect” number, seven.

St. John’s was meant as a house of worship for all. We see menorahs at the altar, Buddhist prayer chests and a spot for an Islamic prayer rug (out, that day, for cleaning).

Most of the art is modern. Keith Haring, one of the leaders in the graffiti art movement, created his last piece for the church before he died in 1989. A white gold triptych with a classic Haring design sits in the St. Columba Chapel before a patterned stained glass window.

In sharp contrast to Catholic cathedral windows with solely religious scenes, the stained glass windows along the nave depict recent history. American artists designed all but four windows.

The American bay window, for example, depicts colonial wars and legislation. A corner is dedicated to the Titanic in honor of John Jacob Astor, America’s first multimillionaire, who died in the sinking of the ship.

110th St. and Amsterdam Avenue
http://www.stjohndivine.org
Tel: 212-932-7347

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawings Study Room

What with the crowds of both art aficionados and rowdy tourists flocking to the hot spots, it often seems impossible to find a quiet place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But with a little effort, a bit of solitude with the art can be found.

Make an appointment to enter the Art Drawings Study Room, housed in a back room, where curators and collections managers do the museum’s bidding.

Luckily, the Met allows access to the drawings in two daily 2 ½ hour sessions, Tuesday through Friday.

The study houses 13,000 pieces, some chosen for display in the main drawing galleries, in three-month rotation. The Drawings Department collects European old masters drawings, while the Prints Department houses around a million contemporary and American pieces.

Artists here include da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Gauguin and many others. Some pieces are considered finished, others not.

“A lot of artists didn’t think of these as finished works of art,” collections manager Mary Zuber elaborates. “They are beautiful, but not finished.”

On a Friday afternoon, one other patron sits before an easel replenished every ten minutes or so with another J.M.W. Turner watercolor landscape.

Zuber unveils the drawings one by one, and each time, the viewer is left in awe of the master’s work. Without a protective barrier, one is positioned just where the artist sat to paint the piece.

“There is an element of intimacy,” Zuber said.

As such, the Met’s drawing study room is a hidden treasure, even amid so many masterpieces in the outside galleries.

1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd St.
Drawings Study Room info: http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/drawings_and_prints

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