We anticipated rain the first few days and decided to do the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) on Friday to avoid both bad weather and weekend crowds. Forgive the picture below which suggests the bright pleasant interior: The museum doesn't really slant to the right (if anything, it'd be to the left. In fact, Manhattan has drifted so far to the left that it should be called New Jersey.)
Here's a top-down view of Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk, precariously balancing on its pyramid. (Newman made three of these and we are proud to have one freshly restored in Houston. Ours has a reflecting pool; if you'd like a bottom-up view, come see us.)
Yes, it's a 1930 marble and limestone sculpture by Romanian Constantin Brancusi (who actually walked from Romania to Paris in 1904). (He titled the work at center below "Fish"; the statuesque work of art on the right is called Jane and it was done in flesh and blood by Abby Bowman and Paul Crowder in the second half -- barely -- of the 20th century. The rightmost statue has been known to speak in abstract expressionism, at times.)
On the right, Henri's work adorns the upper staircase at MOMA. MOMA has over 150,000 art works, even more than our attic.
We had coffee in the far left-hand corner of the sculpture garden below, designed by Phillip C. Johnson who was the MOMA's first architectural and design curator before he began to try his hand at architecture. His impact on Houston's skyline is profound. BTW: the MOMA appointed a new curator for architecture a week after our visit.
