Chagall’s Love, War and Exile in the Upper East Side
The great benefit of having been in New York several times recently is the letting go of compulsions to fill every minute with the big things. While I still managed to do too much ( including seeing the big things), walk too much and eat too much, I also took the time to wander around some areas that I usually only pass through in a taxi or under in a subway or at best walk through on a main avenue on the way to another destination
On my walk through the Upper Eastside among interesting coffee places and shops( including Shakespeare and Company Books – thanks Tom for shipping the books for me ) I happened across Andy Warhol’s former home which only had a small plaque that I just happened to notice and just down the street, President Grant’s former residence. Grant would have gotten a nice portrait of himself if only the timing had been right
The best discovery of the weekend was the Chagall exhibit – Love, War and Exile which was advertised on a bus stop that I was walking past. I am a Chagall fan, but have seen a number of Chagall exhibits and almost passed on this one, which I now know would have been a loss. The exhibit which focuses on his work from the 30s to 1948 is, to me some of his most powerful work given the personal nature of the subject matter and his choice of imagery to portray his feelings of fear, loss and love.
The docent giving the tour completed the package, providing the information that one expects while asking people on the tour about their thoughts and opinions and casually bantering with the crowd