One of the nicest things about being a member of museums in New York City is when they have the ‘Private Members Nights’, where the museums are open after hours for the membership only. The funny thing about these nights are that the museums seem busier on these nights than they would when the museums are open during the day to the general public.
What also is difficult is when two major museums have their Members Night on the same night. I had to do a lot of coordinating to go to both museums. What made it work is that both museums closed at different times with The Met closing at 10:00pm. I timed it perfectly.
Members Night at the MoMA ‘Behind the Flowers’ for the Hilma af Klint exhibition
The theme that evening was based on the Hilma af Klint exhibition
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5779
Going this evening took a lot of planning as I had to teach in the morning and cut the lawn on the afternoon. I was already exhausted by the time I left for the City at 4:00pm. Even on this gloomy afternoon, the weather held and it was a nice evening.
The area around the museum was in full bloom that early evening
The event opened early at the MoMA with their event from 6:00pm-9:00pm and the Met went from 7:00pm-10:00pm so I was able to enjoy both with a lot of walking in between. It was worth it as I was able to see several exhibitions on my bucket list before they closed. With work and finals, it had been tough to visit both of them.
People were enjoying conversation and cocktails when I arrived at the MoMA that evening.
I decided to start my evening at the Sculpture Garden on the first floor. The weather was cloudy but still it was a warm evening. People were conversing near the fountains and listening to music. The lines for the cash bar never let up and they were about thirty deep the whole time.
The Sculpture Garden at the MoMA
While I walked around the gardens and fountains I noticed a lot of the art that they were featuring was really unique, some of which I had not seen before.
The gardens with the poppies in bloom
This beautiful mosaic of a octopus did not have a name
This metal artwork was towards the back of the sculpture garden
The artwork makes quite a statement in the sculpture garden
I watched this interactive art that I had seen at the last Members Night
I love this interactive art in this video
I love watching this video sculpture moving around. I had seen it on my last visit and thought it was very interesting. I then moved upstairs to see the Hilma af Klint exhibition that would be closing that weekend. The galleries were jammed with members who wanted to see the artist’s work. She had some interesting pieces that looked more like a naturalist works.
The entrance sign to the Hilma af Klint
The entrance to the galleries
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5779
You could barely move in the galleries it was so crowded. I was not able to get as close to the works as I wanted but I wanted to share from the exhibition the pieces I liked most.
Flowers and an Apple
These interesting drawings on mushrooms
I thought this set of drawings on dandelion’s and strawberries was interesting
As I finished the exhibition, I watched from above other members milling around the second floor
I then moved to the next exhibition ‘Pirouette: Turning Points in Design’, the use of design and concept in everyday life. I thought this exhibition was interesting because it described how we look at functionality and the reasons why things are designed for a specific purpose and then can take on new meaning.
‘Pirouette: Turning Points in Design’ exhibit
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5756
Of the many fascinating and famous items in the exhibition that I saw two well known works stood out to me. The first was the “I ❤️ New York” logo and its development in the 1970’s to be one of the most famous tourism campaigns in history
The Milton Glazer campaign for the “I ❤️ New York” campaign which saved New York tourism and is still used today. What was sad was the creator died during COVID in 2020.
The sign on the development of the design
The other stood out for its simplicity and fame was the development of M & M’s. This simple candy was a result of Forrest Mars seeing the rations of candy abroad of chocolate coated in a shell so it would not melt on the battlefield. With some experimentation, he created the modern M& M.
M & M display by Forrest Mars
I thought the whole museum would be open that night but it was just the two floors plus the gift shop and gardens. Since I saw everything at the MoMA already and it was around 7:45pm, off I ran out the back door to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Private Members Night.
Walking up Fifth Avenue at dusk
Walking up Fifth Avenue at dusk
The walk up Fifth Avenue to The Metropolitan Museum
The Met at night is quite dazzling
The entrance to The Met in the evening
Looking down Fifth Avenue at night
The entrance in the Rotunda was filled with fresh flowers and members chatting away. I even saw some of the members I had seen at the MoMA earlier.
The floral arrangements were spectacular
The beauty of the Rotunda in the evening
Maybe because these Members Nights were on a Tuesday evening, they both did not seem as crowded as they had been in the past. The museum was crowded but not as crowded as the past two Member’s Nights. I think that I arrived at 8:00pm most people were starting to leave. What was nice was that the MoMA night went until 9:00pm and The Met Night went until 10:00pm so it gave me the time to run through both museums.
I started my tour of The Met in the Greek Galleries looking at the Cycladic Art. I always loved the looks of these works.
https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/greek-and-roman-art
The entrance to the Cycladic Wing
The Cycladic Gallery in the Greek wing
Some of the interesting cases I admired that night
I then did a quick tour of the Roman Galleries which I had not toured in detail since the galleries opened years ago.
https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/greek-and-roman-art
Touring the Roman Galleries
Touring the Roman Gslleries
Touring the Roman Galleries
After the tour of the Roman Galleries, I headed to the Egyptian Galleries, I wanted to explore the galleries and get a drink at the Members Bar.
https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/egyptian-art
I love the Egyptian Galleries. I have been coming here since 1973 and have loved them ever since.
I love the ancient hieroglyphics
For the last two Members Nights, the Members Bar was in the Temple of Dendur. It is always so well lit and the music was wonderful. It is a nice way to end the evening.
The Temple of Dendur lit for the evening
The Temple of Dendur was the perfect place to relax and have a cocktail
The crowds were rather large at the bar that evening
The Passion fruit cocktail was the specialty drink of the evening
The Passion fruit cocktail was well worth the money
It was nice to just sit back with the other members and relax and listen to the music. After a long week at work, the sounds of jazz with a nice drink and good conversation is a way to enjoy the evening.
I had a renewed energy after being in the Egyptian Galleries for an hour and I headed into the American Wing to tour some of the exhibits around the main court.
Only the outside of the American Wing was open
I decided to see the new Costume exhibition “Superfine”, an exhibition of Black Men’s clothing through the ages from pre-slavery to current times. The exhibition was a discussion on attitudes, tastes, tailoring and how the Black style influences fashion.
The sign for the “Superfine” exhibition
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/superfine-tailoring-black-style
Clothing and accessories I admired in the exhibition
Clothing styles I thought were interesting in the exhibition
The evening drew to a close and I was exhausted running from work to come into the City to walk from one museum to another and then walk back to the bus station. Still I got to see a lot in both museums.
The Rotunda at the end of the evening
The fountain dancing as I left
It was such a beautiful that I decided to take the long walk back to Port Authority via Second Avenue. I wanted to see if my favorite Chinese restaurant was still open. I was getting hungry but at almost 10:00pm not much was open. The Chinese restaurant had just closed for the evening. Since COVID, the ‘City that never sleeps’ is going to bed early.
As I was walking down Second Avenue, I came across a very reasonable pizzeria named Centro Pizzeria & Restaurant at 1469 Second Avenue. All I had to do is look at the pizza cases and I could not decide on what I wanted to order.
Centro Pizzeria and Restaurant at 1469 Second Avenue
https://www.centropizzeriarestaurantmenu.com/
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on Diningona ShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.con:
The selection of pizzas in the pizza case
The Cheese and Pepperoni pizzas had just come out of the oven and were the freshest of the pies. I noticed the Pepperoni pizza was loaded with pepperoni and I decided I had to try it. The pizza here is excellent.
My dinner that night
The Pepperoni slice was loaded with slices of pepperoni and cheese
The red sauce which is the base of the pizza gave the Cheese slice lots of flavor
Yum!
It really was a nice walk through Midtown with all the lights on and a nice crowd of people walking their dogs in the various neighborhoods. Walking down the streets of the Upper East Side is really a nice walk and the classic New York experience. These Members Nights are a wonderful way to spend the evening.
Places to Eat:
Centro Pizzeria and Restaurant
1469 Second Avenue
New York, NY
(212) 988-4200
https://www.centropizzeriarestaurantmenu.com/
Open: Sunday-Wednesday 10:00am-11:30pm/Thursday 10:00am-1:30am/Friday 10:00am-3:30am/Saturday 10:00am- 3:30am
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:
Places to Visit:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(212) 535-7710
Open: Sunday-Tuesday 10:00am-5:00pm/Wednesday Closed/Thursday 10:00am-5:00pm/Friday-Saturday 10:00am-9:00pm
Admission: Adults $30.00/Seniors & Disabled People $22.00/Students $17.00/Members and Caregivers with disabled person Free/NYC residents and NY, NJ and CT students: Pay as you Wish
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 708-9400
Open: Sunday-Thursday 10:30am-5:30pm/Thursday 10:30am-8:30pm/Friday 10:30am-5:30pm
Admission: Admission: Adults $30.00/Seniors & Disabled People $22.00/Students $17.00/Members and Caregivers with disabled person Free/Children Under 16 are free/Members Free/Guests of Members are $5.00.
My review on TripAdvisor:
mywalkinmanhattan 