The (more!)gan library
I had this rainy Tuesday off, and I thought, "what better way to enjoy a rainy day than to spend it in some rich old dead guy's house?" which I promptly did. The Morgan Library and Museum has recently reopened after renowned architect Renzo Piano redid the building (which used to be the court yard between Morgan's house and his library and study, which were in a seperate building on the property). It's nice, very big and sunny with lots of skylights, although definitely a little more on the modern tip than I personally prefer. But the library and Pierpont Mogan's study made up for that. Inspired by the Renaissance, both rooms are magestic and beautiful, yet intimate in scale. The Morgan is recognized as one of the world's greatest treasuries of artistic, literary, musical, and historical works, but it began as one man's private collection. In 1924, eleven years after Pierpont Morgan's death, his son, J. P. Morgan realized that the library had become too important to remain in private hands. In what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in U.S. history, he fulfilled his father's dream of making the library and its treasures available to scholars and the public alike by transforming it into a public institution.
Pierpont bought on an astonishing scale, collecting art objects in virtually every medium, including the rare books, manuscripts, drawings, prints, and ancient artifacts that are the core of The Morgan Library & Museum's holdings. Pierpont's father's death left him about 12.5 million, and during these last two decades of his life, Pierpont spent spent some $60 million on art (about $900 million today). "No price," he once said, "is too high for an object of unquestioned beauty and known authenticity." The Museum continues to collect rare works of art and books through purchase and gift.
The museum is really small for the $12 you pay to get in, basically about 5 rooms, although one was closed as they were renovating for the next exhibition called Bob Dylan's American Journey (1956-1966) (which seems SO out of place to me). I really wish there was more. The museum doesn't even go into his actual house, which you can catch a glimpse of as you enter the gift shop. But the beauty of the rooms and the expanse of amazing books is worth it if you are interested in such things. Printed Books & Bindings, which shows hand printed and drawn bibles, children's books, choral books and stories, many of which are one of a kind, is up only for 2 more days (until September 10th) so get over there! Also in this exhibition is Mary Shelley's own copy of Frankenstein and a copy of Through the Looking Glass annotated by the illustrator. And especially go if you like Rembrant. Celebrating Rembrandt: Etchings from the Morgan is on right now, and there's a pretty great collection of his drawings on display through October 1st. And you know what's cool? In the library, there are no stairs to the second and third balconies...there are hidden doors!! Cool!
I personally love looking at books, and I love seeing people's insane collections. All in all, an enchanting way to spend a rainy afternoon (and you can look forward to being the youngest people there. By far. By very very far.)
This is a great Blog!