Vuillard and Debussy for a Weekend Afternoon

Édouard Vuillard, The Flowered Dress (1891)

As the Tate explains, “From 1891 through 1900, [Vuillard] was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior scenes, influenced by Japanese prints, where the subjects were blended into colors and patterns.”

At the Met Museum

From what I can discern, it appears the last time I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art was in June 2019. What drew me back, booster in hand and case numbers down, was Susan Tallman’s review in the New York Review of Books, and in particular her observation that “[o]ne century’s wavering is another’s experimentalism.” [cite]

When in Umbria: From Spoleto to Norcia

Vallo di Nera

For our next outing, though we knew the 2016 earthquake damage would truncate our journey, we headed east. The prospect of mountainous countryside, dotted with hill towns, was the key enticement. Frescoes, at least theoretically, were also on offer, but, as we suspected, issues of access foiled our attempts to see them.

The Alchemy of Site-Specific Opera: Works by Monteverdi and Lembit Beecher at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Photo Credit: Stephanie Berger.
Scene from Gotham Chamber Opera’s production of Lembit Beecher’s “I Have No Stories To Tell You,” Medieval Sculpture Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s galleries after closing hours is akin to walking into a darkling dream. I’ve done so only once before, to hear The Crossing perform David Lang’s little match girl passion and other works before the Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.