Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in 2010. During the renovations, the museum remains open and gal-
leries will continue to be devoted to changing exhibits that are
invariably well conceived, engaging, and educational. Shows are
both historic and contemporary in nature, and topics range from
“The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention” to
“Russell Wright: Creating American Lifestyle” to “The Architecture
of Reassurance: Designing the Disney Theme Parks.” Many installa-
tions are drawn from the museum's own vast collection of industrial
design, drawings, textiles, wall coverings, books, and prints. And be
sure to visit the garden, ringed with Central Park benches from vari-
ous eras.
2 E. 91st St. (at Fifth Ave.).
&
212/849-8400.
www.cooperhewitt.org. Admission
$15 adults, $10 seniors and students, free for children under 12, free to all Fri
5-9pm. Mon-Thurs 10am-5pm; Fri 10am-9pm; Sat 10am-6pm; Sun noon-6pm.
Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th St.
El Museo del Barrio
What started in 1969 with a small display
in a local school classroom in East Harlem is today the only museum
in America dedicated to Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Latin Ameri-
can art. The northernmost Museum Mile institution has a perma-
nent exhibit ranging from pre-Columbian artifacts to photographic
art and video. The display of
santos de palo
(wood-carved religious
figurines) is especially noteworthy, as is “Taíno, Ancient Voyagers of
the Caribbean,” dedicated to the active, highly developed cultures
that Columbus encountered when he landed in the “New World.”
The well-curated changing exhibitions tend to focus on 20th-cen-
tury artists and contemporary subjects.
1230 Fifth Ave. (at 104th St.).
&
212/831-7272.
www.elmuseo.org. Suggested
admission $6 adults, $4 seniors (free on Thurs) and students, free for children under
12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Subway: 6 to 103rd St.
The Frick Collection
Henry Clay Frick could afford to be an
avid collector of European art after amassing a fortune as a pioneer
in the coke and steel industries at the turn of the 20th century. To
house his treasures and himself, he hired architects Carrère & Hast-
ings to build this 18th-century French-style mansion (1914), one of
the most beautiful remaining on Fifth Avenue.
Most appealing about the Frick is its intimate size and setting.
This is a living testament to New York's vanished Gilded Age—the
interior still feels like a private home (albeit a really, really rich guy's
home) graced with beautiful paintings, rather than a museum. Come
here to see the classics by some of the world's most famous painters:
Titian, Bellini, Rembrandt, Turner, Vermeer, El Greco, and Goya, to
