Bully! September 28, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, Bully, Mt Rushmore, National Historic Site, NYC, photography, President of the US, Teddy bear, Teddy Roosevelt
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I live two blocks from Teddy Roosevelt’s birthplace which is part of the National Park Service and a National historic site. I must have passed by this house 1,000 times and told myself ‘you should go visit.’ Well, after 28 years of saying that we finally did visit this very special place. Wikipedia tells the complicated story best. This is a replica of his boyhood home. Teddy Roosevelt was the first U.S. president born in New York City. Raised in a townhouse at 28 E. 20th St., Theodore Roosevelt would grow up to be our 26th President and become immortalized on Mount Rushmore. We learn on the one hour, fact-filled tour that he started life as a sickly yet bright boy who exercised to improve his health and began a lifelong passion for the “strenuous life.” There is a separate room with loads of photos, artifacts and even the original ‘Teddy’ bear. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour but I must say that the house needs a real sprucing, dusting and a general upgrade. Pretty sure that in this political time there will not be any funding for this much needed work. Go visit. It is free.
June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart September 21, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, June Leaf, New Bauhaus, NYC, NYU's Grey Gallery, photography
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Every once in awhile while arting we come across a major talent that nether of us had ever heard about. How does this happen? Well, for too many years art history books, museum retrospectives, articles, etc have focused on either European white males or white males in general. We have been enriched in recent times by museums and galleries opening their eyes, minds, hearts and doors to all. June Leaf if one of those major talent who was blessed with a 75 year career and a long rich life (1929–2024). NYU’s Grey Gallery is now exhibiting a remarkable body of work that revels in the human experience in all its banality and sublimity. Armed with indefatigable energy, an inventive mind, and a wry, closely observing eye, Leaf nimbly navigated the planes of the real and the imagined, holding a mirror up to essential truths while reminding us of our shared humanity. Born in Chicago and trained at the New Bauhaus, Leaf experienced two formative stints in Paris before relocating to New York. The artist’s career took off here in 1968 with her carnivalesque, breakout exhibition Street Dreams at Allan Frumkin Gallery. In the 1970s, living part time in a remote fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada, Leaf began creating the densely layered drawings and paintings and the expressive tin and wire figurative sculptures for which she is best known. I encourage you to experience her work which is on exhibit thru December 13, 2025.
More Birding While Arting September 14, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: animals, art, Art exhibit, Arting, birding, nature, NYC, photography
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As I said in a Sunday post about two months ago ” My friend Donald and I have been ‘arting’ about once a week in the museums and galleries of NYC for the past 18 months. I thought I had made up the word ‘arting’ but recently searched its roots. It turns out the term ‘arting’ is not a standard English word, but it is sometimes used to refer to the act of creating art, or the process of using art to understand oneself and the world. Anyhow, it’s a good word and serves our purposes. From the beginning, whenever I saw a bird in a work of art, I would text that photo to one of my bird nerd friends. There is never any context in the text – I just send it to her. Sometimes she responds and other times she laughingly asks if I can buy it for her”. So today’s montage once again features a number of these past texts. This was a fun montage to put together. Hope you enjoy today’s beautiful birds.
Dogs of the New Yorker September 7, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: AKC, animals, art, Art exhibit, Cover art, Museum of the Dog, New Yorker Magazine, NYC, photography
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We are lucky New Yorkers as we now have another Museum dedicating an exhibition to the celebration of the New Yorker magazine’s 100th anniversary. The AKC Museum of the Dog is now exhibiting a private collection of 44 covers of The New Yorker related to dogs. The collection spans nearly the entire run of the magazine with covers featuring the work of New Yorker notables such as Peter Arno, James Thurber, Charles Addams, and Mark Ulriksen.The exhibition includes commentary on the specific covers with additional background material supplied by the staff and archives of The New Yorker. In addition to the role of dogs in the City, other themes include dog shows, grooming, country life and sports. There is also be a section of covers produced around the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show. This is a fun exhibit (as is the whole museum) and will be running thru December 7th. Woof!
Teacher’s Pet August 3, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: American Indian Museum, art, Art exhibit, George Morrison, Metropolitan Museum, Native American, NYC, photography, Rhode Island School of Design, RISD, USPS
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When I was in my Senior year at RISD I was fortunate to have Professor George Morrison as my Painting advisor, teacher, mentor and most of all friend. RISD was/is a small art school and students had many opportunities to grow professionally and personally when we got to know our teachers. I had never met an American Indian before (not unusual if one is born in Brooklyn) so much was new to me about his culture and background. He invited me many times to his house to dine, chat and develop a friendship with not only George, but his wife Hazel and young son Briand. I do wish my memories were more clear some 60 years later but sadly they are mostly faded. What remains is the memory of being so very grateful that I got to know him and we stayed in touch after college but like many things in life time tends to separate people. Whenever I am in DC we go to the American Indian museum to look for his work but was always told they were ‘traveling.’ So imagine my glee to learn that the Metropolitan Museum recently opened an exhibit of his work featuring 35 of his pieces that were created when he lived in NYC as a young man. This wonderful show will be on exhibit thru May of 2026 and can be found in the American Wing. I know I will return to see it again. The U.S. Postal Service honored George Morrison (1919-2000), one of the nation’s greatest modernist artists and founding figure of Native American modernism, with a set of five stamps showcasing his work in April of 2022. And yes, I have a few sheets of the stamps. The title photo features a photo of him and the sheet of stamps.
Birding While Arting July 13, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: animals, art, Art exhibit, Arting, birding, Birds, NYC, photography, wildlife
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My friend Donald and I have been ‘arting’ about once a week in the museums and galleries of NYC for the past 18 months. I thought I had made up the word ‘arting’ but recently searched its roots. It turns out the term ‘arting’ is not a standard English word, but it is sometimes used to refer to the act of creating art, or the process of using art to understand oneself and the world. Anyhow, it’s a good word and serves our purposes. From the beginning, whenever I saw a bird in a work of art, I would text that photo to one of my bird nerd friends. There is never any context in the text – I just send it to her. Sometimes she responds and other times she laughingly asks if I can buy it for her. So today’s montage features just a small number of these past texts. This was a fun montage to put together. Hope you enjoy these beautiful birds.
Art and Activism July 6, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, Ben Shahn, Jewish Museum, NYC, photography
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I was introduced to the multi-talented artist Ben Shahn while in art college. Since it was the 60’s I was mired in the world of politics and the world around me. While still of that political persuasion I am not as active as I once was (I am old, tired and simply aghast at the state of our country and the world). I digress…we saw this wonderful exhibit at the Jewish Museum as they present the first U.S. retrospective in nearly half a century dedicated to social realist artist and activist Ben Shahn (1898-1969). Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity examines the prolific and progressive artist’s commitment to chronicling and confronting crucial issues of his era, spanning from the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, as well as his exploration of spirituality and Jewish texts. The exhibit features 175 artworks and objects from the 1930s to the 1960s, including paintings, mural studies, prints, photographs and commercial designs. The exhibition draws its title from Ben Shahn’s credo of “nonconformity,” which the artist asserted as an indispensable precondition for both significant artistic production and all great societal change. This wonderful exhibit is on through October 12, 2025.
Sargent & Paris June 22, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, John Singer Sargent, Madame X, Metropolitan Museum, Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, NYC, photography
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This was our second visit to this beautiful exhibit of the paintings of John Singer Sargent 1856-1925) at the Met. Our first visit was a run through but this time we lingered and soaked in the mastery of this esteemed painter. We were especially taken in by his earlier work which was more experimental and free. Sargent’s bio is well known. He was born American to ex-pat parents and basically spent most of his life in Europe. His family wealth allowed him the time to travel, study and paint (doesn’t that sound dreamy)? We chuckled at the scandal that his famous painting of Madame X created in Paris. It seems very quaint 100 years later. The Madame X painting has been a highlight of the Met’s collection since Sargent sold it to the museum in 1916, telling the director “I suppose it’s the best thing I’ve done.” This exhibit runs through August 3rd. While at the Met please allow yourself time to visit the beautiful new Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, featuring the Museum’s collections of the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania.
Where the Wild Things Weren’t June 8, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: art, Art exhibit, Audubon, Beatrix Potter, Bernard Kerik, Christies, David Hockney, Disney, Fao Schwartz, Louise Nevelson, Maurice Sendak, MC Escher, NYC, photography, St Partricks Cathedral, Vallotton, Vuillard, Where the Wild Things Are, William Blake
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Friday was a very strange day. Our goal was to visit Christie’s and see the collection of Maurice Sendak (both his own work and the work of other artists he had owned) that would be soon up for auction. Christie’s is located near St Patrick’s Cathedral. When we approached we saw hundreds of police for blocks and blocks surrounding St Patrick’s. Turns out we bumped into former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik’s funeral. We spent about 30 minutes watching all of the politicos both present and past, both felon and would be felons. Needless to say, we had a lot to comment upon. I will not share those comments with you today but any of you that know me will know what we were speaking about.
Hispanic Society of America June 1, 2025
Posted by judylobo in Zoo.Tags: Adriana Varejão, Archer M. Huntington, art, Art exhibit, Audubon Terrace, Duchess of Alba, El Grecoand Joaquin Sorolla, Goya, Hispanic Society of America, Museum of the American Indian, NYC, photography, Velazquez
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We hopped on the #1 train and made our first visit to an extraordinary NYC gem, the Hispanic Society in Upper Manhattan last Saturday. What a find! Founded in 1904 by philanthropist Archer M. Huntington, the institution continues to operate at its original location in a 1908 Beaux Arts building on Audubon Terrace in the Washington Heights. The Hispanic Society complex was designated as a Historic National Landmark in 2012. In 2021, the museum expanded into the former home of the Museum of the American Indian (which is now downtown in the old Customs House), adjacent to the museum’s original building.
While at the Zoo 