An afternoon walk, New York

“From the faraway, nearby”. Georgia O’Keefe, 1937. Met. Born in 1887, she was fifty when she started experimenting with those paintings. I didn’t realize she’d lived until she was almost a hundred, she died in 1986. Sadly, she lost most of her eyesight in the 70’s which must be a curse for an artist. She did leave us unique art. Thank you ma’am…

“Lower east side.” I have said it often: I believe street art is today’s most powerful form of Art. A total reinvention. The names? Look them up. Major figures of the New York scene.

Just a simple New York winter sky. (November 2021)

Oedipus and the Sphinx, by Gustave Moreau, 1864. At the Met. Moreau is one of my favourite painters of the 19th century. His old house in Paris has been converted into a museum. A must-go in Paris. Moreau’s style and choice of subjects was very influenced by mythology. He was probably fluent in Latin and Greek…

Getting ready for Ukraine. A few yards away from the Strand. A unique bookshop in New York. (Sadly I’m not sure it will resist modern times.)

D-Day, June 6, 1944, “Omaha Beach”, Normandy. The men who jumped from the barge that day were almost certain to die. Robert Capa (1913-1954) the photographer who jumped with them into the water ran the same risk. 4,400 soldiers died that day. But they took the beaches. And established points where the Allies could land more troops and equipment and eventually win the war. Capa took 79 pictures in the first hours of D-Day. Later the lab assistant blotched all but 9 shots when developing… (I wonder whether court martial was considered in his case). Robert Capa followed the Civil War in Spain, WWII and later conflicts without a scratch. He was killed by a landmine in 1954, during the “French” Vietnam war. (That expo was at the Met. I think)

At a café on Broadway. A sort of NGO coffee shop selling only fair practice coffee. (Forgot the name of the Café)

Greenwich. Black & white is for New York, folks. As I walked there I was thinking of those young folks, 20 then, now pushing 80, who thought they would change the world… Nice try guys.

“Oh Brad!”. Street art à la Lichtenstein in Little Italy …

The High Line. One of the best initiatives of any City Hall I’ve seen anywhere in recent years. An old abandoned elevated train line transformed in a pedestrian walk and park from 34th St to the Hudson yards. Even in the bl..dy cold of November it was a very fine walk.

Catarina. Somewhere in New York. November 2021. (As most of this post)

A view from Brooklyn. (c)courtesy Gini. (October 22)

The “new Mount Rushmore”. Along the High Line. Warhol. Frida, Keith Haring (no idea who that is) and Bastiquiat. Mural by Eduardo Kobra on 10th avenue. Kobra is good. Very good. Seen a few works of his on that trip.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” We’ll put them on a bus… Sorry for the bad joke on Emma Lazarus’ wonderful words. Freedom is more than ever at stake.

Mural at Hudson Yards by street artist “Elle” (means ‘She’ in French) a wonderful young American artist based in Brooklyn. See more of her work here: https://streetartmankind.org/artists/elle-street-art/

Well folks, the night is falling on the Hudson river, this post is almost over. Over? Not quite. (Noy Joysey across the river)

Bistro “Les amis” (friends) in Soho. Travellers Umpteen and Umpteen plus One have just downloaded the new App “Faites-vous des amis.” (‘Make new friends’ if you don’t speak Frog.)

Now that’s it my friends. Until next time.

Free Ukraine. 🇺🇦