1) Well, I had a ticket to the Met. I did not get to the Met. In fact I stayed in my room almost all morning, so wiped out was I. Eventually I headed to the breakfast room for a large coffee and a little nibble.
2) Turned out my hotel was quite close to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where I knew they had an exhibtion of Statement Sleeves (I ask you . . . ) so I ducked in, and they had some pretty incredible gowns on view from this century and the last two, in every color and shape you can think of.
Dainty!
2a) They also had something on bows, Untying the Bow, with all sorts of stuff, including this unusual pair of evening shoes.
These rainbow stripes are made from reclaimed satin blanket edgings.
3) After a quick bite, I explored the galleries along West 22nd Street, knowing that I would end up at 2 PM at the DC Moore Gallery to view their Paul Cadmus exhibition with Austin and Vance. The piece that I wanted to share most with Mother was a tapestry created by a Native American artist, Marie Watt, out of reclaimed satin edgings from blankets. It’s quite ingenious!
Jared French by Paul Cadmus.
4) The Cadmus show, Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude, sparked this trip to New York. I said to myself, “Robert, if you rented a car to drive all the way to Williamstown for the day to see Orientalism in America at the Clark Institute back in 1996, you can damn well buy a train ticket and go to New York to see this show!” And I was not disappointed. Some of the works I knew from Lincoln Kirstein’s book about Cadmus (who was also his brother-in-law), others were completely new to me. I was especially impressed with a pencil portrait of Cadmus’s lover Jared French, who I recognized instantly.
Y.M.C.A. Locker Room, by Paul Cadmus.
4a) Possibly the most famous painting in the show was Y.M.C.A. Locker Room of 1933. (Oh dear, writing it that way makes me think it could be a follow-up movie musical to Gold-Diggers of 1933 . . . with a Village People soundtrack, of course!) Seeing reproductions of paintings in books or postcards never does give you a true idea of the size of a painting. How surprising to see that this busy scene of many men does not take up so many square inches — which contributes to its intimacy and its sense of community.
4b) The work that surprised me most was this etching of a hurricane-blasted building as seen through the halo/porthole of the ruined seat of a chair. Who would have thought of this?! How marvelous! It took me awhile to realize exactly what I was seeing.
5) Vance had targeted some other galleries for us to see: Japanese Abstract Expressionists, mid-century photography and other things. There’s a famous photo by Weegee (I think) of a larger older woman with lots of jewelry and “smoky eye” makeup — it was pirated by Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic as “Madame Bijoux” — which was on exhibition, and I blurted out “It’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders!” before I could stop myself. Because that’s not very nice — but then, neither is Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
6) The afternoon was filthy with rain, and we retreated for coffee, carbohydrates and conversation for awhile — including professional life, Paris, the Opéra Garnier, and postwar French cinema — specifically Les enfants du Paradis and Le Collier de la Reine.
7) Then more galleries — and it’s worth noting, they all had umbrella stands on this filthy day — and then we had to say farewell. I barely managed to snag a cab to head across the island to my next engagement. Mystifying, frustrating delays — it’s one thing not to be moving, as we know, but quite another not to know why. And on a black rainy evening in a low-ceilinged taxi, what is there to see from the back seat?!
8) But then, the happiness of the comrades of Youth! I splashed out of the cab and into the Holiday Cocktail Lounge and the arms of Anthony (my high school crush) and Drew, and Anthony’s husband Pedro, for black manhattans and a long overdue catch-up. And Holiday’s amazing deviled eggs.
8a) Our talk reminded me a little of Fanny and Agatha’s friendship in F. Tennyson Jesse’s brilliant The Lacquer Lady: “There would always be between them the strong bond of a youth shared . . .” And I feel like we all got to know more about each other than we had hitherto.
A tiny, dainty hibiscus margarita the waiter brought in lieu of dessert.
8b) The club grew more active as the evening went on, and after a second round Anthony and I headed out for a Mexican dinner right next door. My first plate of enchiladas verdes in years. Every time I find a good Mexican restaurant, they take it off the menu!
9) Another dark, rainy and disorienting cab ride ended my third day in the city, and day full of art, rain, footsteps and friendships renewed.
In front of a large white paint chip in a West 22nd Street gallery.