Pre-Pandemic: The Cloisters NYC

Posted on by Thor

While in NYC in October of 2020, Pam and I visited The Cloisters in the northern climbs of Manhattan. The subway station let us out at the base of the highest hill in Manhattan and we took a trail that chris crossed its way upwards.I once lived in Washington Heights so I have quite a few prints and sketched of the area around the Cloisers.

The museum in Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a focus on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Governed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in the architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters—the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont and Trie—that were purchased by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard, dismantled in Europe between 1934 and 1939, and moved to New York. They were acquired for the museum by financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Other major sources of objects were the collections of J. P. Morgan and Joseph Brummer. The Cloisters were built right before WWII.

We took a guided tour but I lagged behind doing several sketches along the way. I spent some time doing a sketch of the Tomb of Ermengol VII the Count of Urgell who died in 1314, and a quick study of a standing sculpture of the Virgin and child by Nicolaus Gerhaert Von Leiben. Nicolaus was a seminal artist of the generation preceding Albrecht Dürer’s, and was presumably born in Leiden  active in Strasbourg and Vienna, as well as in several cities between them. The tour guide stopped for a long time in front of the limestone doorway of Moutiers-Saint-Jean.

I miss sketching while traveling. I miss traveling in general.

Pre-Pandemic: New York City Subway

Posted on by Thor

In October of 2019, Pam and I traveled to NYC because she was meeting with colleagues at the 9-11 Museum. I got to attend the 9-11 museum for the first time, but don’t have a window in which to get a sketch done. The huge 9-11 Memorial reflecting pools inhabit the footprints where the towers used to stand. They were a moving tribute to those who were lost. Names were etched in the granite surrounding the dark voids. Photos never quite capture the immensity of this memorial.

I believe this sketch as done as we went up to my old neighborhood, Washington Heights to visit the Cloisters. Pam was disgusted by what she saw on the subway ride. Some guy using his cell phone, wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand, then pinched more snot out of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger. He then played with his phone and reached out with the snot covered hand to grab a support bar. As she said, “He was F%&king gross.” She said she could never live in the big apple after seeing that guy on the subway.

We both got sick on this trip with what we called the plague. It was a really bad cold that lasted for months. It started to clear up by New Years day of 2020. Who knew that 2020 would be the start of the very real world wide plague of COVID-19.

Becoming Dr. Ruth

Posted on by Thor

June 9, 1997, Washington Heights, NY, Apartment of Ruth and Fred Westheimer. Dr. Ruth (Eileen Dessandre) was packing to move. Her large bay window had a glorious view of the George Washington Bridge. I liked how the book shelves mirrored the shapes seen in the bridge. The arches of two shelves were like the opening in the bridge support structure and even the square and then vertical arrangement of the shelves mirrored the overall shape  of the bridge support. All the books and chachkies were white. I had sketched the books being created in the scenic shop weeks before.

As Dr. Ruth packed she talked to the audience. Her husband Fred, the love of her life, had died so she was planning to move. This was a one woman show and she held my attention for the full 90 minutes. As she spoke of her youth, photos appeared on the apartment windows of her parents and their life right before the rise of the Nazi Party. Her father was sent away to a work camp after Kristallnacht, but Ruth was saved by being sent by Kinder transport to Switzerland. When packing for the escape from Germany Ruth inexplicably packed a
dish rag fro her mother’s kitchen. Chocolates she had packed were
confiscated and eaten by guards. At 11 years old she ended up in a Swiss orphanage where she became a caregiver to other children. She was not allowed to attend a local school but a boy smuggled books to her so she could study at night.

She recounted her first kiss with a young man whose name she could not disclose since she was still friends with him and his wife today. She was married three times and she discovered that the need for family and the need for touch were things she needed most since she had been denied her family and she wasn’t touched for years after she left Germany. The love of her parents sustained her, but she never saw them again. The last letter she got from them as in 1941 and though she sometimes hopes that they survived the holocaust, it is unlikely.

After the WWII Ruth moved to Israel living on a kibbutz. Hard labor on the kibbutz was as hard as the labor in Switzerland. Israel however represented hope for the future. One fact that surprised me was the fact that she had been a sharp shooter for the Haganah (Israeli Paramilitary). She was a really good sharp shooter. Also because of her petite stature she ran messages since there was less of a target for an enemy to shoot at.

She met a boy, and together they emigrated to NYC and within two weeks she had won a scholarship for students who survived the holocaust. She studied with a passion and eventually discovered she wanted to get a doctorate in sex therapy. A radio station asked her if she would talk at a meeting about sex therapy and she gladly did so for free. That meeting resulted in them asking her to begin a talk radio show and the rest is history. She was non-threatening and wise with a thick accent. She was and is also very funny. When one woman caller explained that she did not like to “go down” on her husband, Dr. Ruth advised her to get whipped cream or chocolate syrup. Also a banana was great for practice.

This was a well paced show and it as fascinating to learn about this woman who always bounced back from any adversity. She is an inspiration, and the show is a delight.

Becoming Dr. Ruth runs through February 9, 2020 at The Orlando Shakes (812 E Rollins St

Orlando, FL 32803).

Tickets are $32-$55.