MoMA

So several months after its premiere, I finally went to the new MoMA space--the galleries, not for any movies. (Such a stereotypical cinephile, I guess.) I thought the new layout was OK; the periodic "openness" was cool but I also found the floor plans a bit confusing.

What did I learn?

Gilles Peress and Yayoi Kusama are contemporary photographers whose work I like, although I've just confirmed to myself again that I generally prefer photography from the first part of the twentieth century (Cartier-Bresson, Strand, Sheeler, Rodchenko, Stieglitz, etc.).

Marco Breuer: very interesting works up in one of the Painting & Sculpture galleries. Click here and scroll down for a little commentary that echoes my sentiments.

The first time I've been knocked off my feet (figuratively) by a Schiele: Portrait of Gerti Schiele, 1909.

The biggest impression made on me was Barnett Newman's work, which I found surprisingly and deeply affecting. (The paintings hung near Rothko works that just seemed inadequate by comparison.) I "felt" Newman's paintings in a way that I hadn't ever before, whether seeing them in person or reproduced in slides/plates. It's pointless to say it, but the paintings felt really ... honest.

And the big Monet Water Lilies was the most comforting thing to see.

(Is it clear that my interests--for this trip at least--were definitely geared towards photography and painting at the expense of sculpture, video--though Warhol screen tests were fascinating, architecture, or design?)