At the cocktail party before lunch. When ? shook my hand, he had a toothpick in his and stabbed me with it by accident. See the previous three entries and the following three entries.]]> At the cocktail party before lunch. See the previous two entries and the following four entries.]]> At the Cocktail Party before lunch. See the previous entry and the following five entries.]]> At the cocktail party before lunch. Heather McGhee is going to give the graduation talk at Vassar this coming Sunday. See the following six entries.]]> This was the 20th Birthday party for Rose. She is currently a student at Brown University.]]> My friend Karen Robertson is retiring from Vassar College. The President, Betsy Bradley (Elizabeth Howe Bradley), gave a dinner in her honor at her house. The invitees come from a list that the honoree gives to the president's office. I assume there is a prescribed number of invitations. Many people made toasts to Karen and talked about, among other things, how wonderful it was to team-teach with her. See the previous entry.]]> My friend Karen Robertson is retiring from Vassar College. The President, Betsy Bradley (Elizabeth Howe Bradley), gave a dinner in her honor at her house. The invitees come from a list that the honoree gives to the president's office. I assume there is a prescribed number of invitations. Many people made toasts to Karen and talked about, among other things, how wonderful it was to team-teach with her. See the following entry.]]> We got to NYC early enough to see a couple of exhibitions, attend Terry Winter's opening, check into our hotel, and then go to Charles Ray's opening before heading to dinner. We ran into various people we knew, including Brooke Alderson and Peter Schjaldahl, at the Charles Ray show. Both Catherine (Murphy) and I had separate differences of opinion with Peter about how to read the Charles Ray Sculptures. He didn't seem to want the conversation to continue for very long. On the way to EN Japanese Brasserie, we got somewhat lost a few times because of construction (Hudson Street started off one way south, and then changed to one way North). It didn't really matter that we got to dinner late-ish because the cocktails before dinner went on for a long time. We stayed at the Hilton Hampton Inn on 24th Street, where we had visited before. On Thursday, we went to a couple of shows and headed home early. I was due at the President of Vassar's house for a dinner in celebration of Karen Robertson's retirement. See the previous entry and other entries following this series for images and more information about that dinner.]]> We got to NYC early enough to see a couple of exhibitions, attend Terry Winter's opening, check into our hotel, and then go to Charles Ray's opening before heading to dinner. We ran into various people we knew, including Brooke Alderson and Peter Schjaldahl, at the Charles Ray show. Both Catherine (Murphy) and I had separate differences of opinion with Peter about how to read the Charles Ray Sculptures. He didn't seem to want the conversation to continue for very long. On the way to EN Japanese Brasserie, we got somewhat lost a few times because of construction (Hudson Street started off one way south, and then changed to one way North). It didn't really matter that we got to dinner late-ish because the cocktails before dinner went on for a long time. We stayed at the Hilton Hampton Inn on 24th Street, where we had visited before. On Thursday, we went to a couple of shows and headed home early. I was due at the President of Vassar's house for a dinner in celebration of Karen Robertson's retirement. See the following entry and other entries following this series for images and more information about that dinner.]]> I received an email from Joanna DiPasquale contain an invitation to a meeting with the outside review committee. Since I had been working closely with Joanna and Carolyn Moritz on this website, it was a good idea for me to go to the meeting.]]> We emailed Tom and Joyce yesterday to say Hi. Joyce called a little later in the day and suggested we meet for dinner at Formosa.]]> Susan Kuretsky, a friend and colleague in the Art Department, is retiring this year. The Intersection of Art History Classroom and the Museum is a day-long celebration of Susan and her time at Vassar College. The first part of the event started at 2:30 and began with a talk that Susan gave. She then introduced the panel members as they each gave a presentation. The 4:30 event consisted of talks by: James Mundy, '74 (the year James graduated from Vassar), The Anne Hendricks Bass, Director of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Molly Nesbit '74, Professor of Art at Vassar, Mia M. Mochizuki '93, Associate Professor of Renaissance and Baroque Art History, NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Institute of Fine Arts. Then we all went to the Lehman Loeb Art Center for the opening of the exhibition, Master Class: Northern European Art 1500-1700 from the Permanent Collection, an exhibition celebrating the career of Susan Donahue Kuretsky '63, Professor of Art on the Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair, Vassar College. Then, off to the Alumnae House for dinner. The last two meals I had at the Alumnae House that Main Course catered were pretty good. At this meal, the chicken was dry and pretty much inedible. I visited Cathy (Murphy), at her table. So I photographed this table as well. Everyone is holding up the book that was published in celebration of Susan Kuretsky, consisting of art historical essays by some of Susan's former students. See the previous three entries.]]> Susan Kuretsky, a friend and colleague in the Art Department, is retiring this year. The Intersection of Art History Classroom and the Museum is a day-long celebration of Susan and her time at Vassar College. The first part of the event started at 2:30 and began with a talk that Susan gave. She then introduced the panel members as they each gave a presentation. The 4:30 event consisted of talks by: James Mundy, '74 (the year James graduated from Vassar), The Anne Hendricks Bass, Director of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Molly Nesbit '74, Professor of Art at Vassar, Mia M. Mochizuki '93, Associate Professor of Renaissance and Baroque Art History, NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Institute of Fine Arts. Then we all went to the Lehman Loeb Art Center for the opening of the exhibition, Master Class: Northern European Art 1500-1700 from the Permanent Collection, an exhibition celebrating the career of Susan Donahue Kuretsky '63, Professor of Art on the Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair, Vassar College. Then, off to the Alumnae House for dinner. The last two meals I had at the Alumnae House that Main Course catered were pretty good. At this meal, the chicken was dry and pretty much inedible. The photograph is of the table at which I was seated. See the previous two entries and the following entry.]]> Susan Kuretsky, a friend and colleague in the Art Department, is retiring this year. The Intersection of Art History Classroom and the Museum is a day-long celebration of Susan and her time at Vassar College. The first part of the event started at 2:30 and began with a talk that Susan gave. She then introduced the panel members as they each gave a presentation. Then panel members answered various questions from the audience. In the order of the talks they gave, the panelists were: Katherine lee Reid '63 (year graduated from Vassar), Director emerita, Cleveland Museum of Art, Marni Kessler '87, Associate Professor, Nineteenth-Century European Art, University of Kansas, John Stuart Gordon '99. Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, Yale University Art Gallery, Joanna Sheers Seldenstein '02, Fello. Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the previous entry and the following two entries.]]> Susan Kuretsky, a friend and colleague in the Art Department, is retiring this year. The Intersection of Art History Classroom and the Museum is a day-long celebration of Susan and her time at Vassar College. The first part of the event started at 2:30 and began with a talk that Susan gave. She then introduced the panel members as they each gave a presentation. Before this event started, I chatted with Karen Robinson. She retired from the Art Department a few years ago, having taught American Art. Emily Warner had been teaching American Art for the last two years. Tom Hill is the director of the Art Library, and Michelle Donnelly is a former student of Susan's and a Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Museum. See the next three entries.]]> Tom Friedman gave a talk on his work earlier that evening. Afterward, we had a dinner for him across the street at the Alumni House. Main Course catered the dinner. See the previous entry.]]> Tom Friedman gave a talk on his work earlier that evening. Afterward, we had a dinner for him across the street at the Alumni House. Main Course catered the dinner. See the next entry.]]> Judy Linn's opening at the CUE Foundation. Arlene curated this exhibition of Judy's photographs. See the previous two entries.]]> At Judy Linn's opening at the CUE Foundation. See the previous entry and the following entry.]]> I dropped Catherine (Murphy) off in front of the CUE Foundation and went to park the car. When I got back, she was still in front of the building and talking with Suzanne Joelsen and Gary Stephan. They were just leaving Judy Linn's opening. See the following two entries.]]> Keltie Ferris' show opened this evening. We got to the gallery at the beginning of the opening, and so got a chance to visit for a bit with Keltie. We were so glad to get to see the show, which we both loved. While we were talking with Keltie, Souhad Rafey came into the gallery. See the previous entry and the following entry.]]> Keltie Ferris' show opened this evening. We got to the gallery at the beginning of the opening, and so got a chance to visit for a bit with Keltie. We were so glad to get to see the show, which we both loved. See the following entry.]]> Catherine (Murphy) had nominated Nicole Eisenman for membership to the Academy, and she was voted in. We have been very busy lately. So Catherine called the Academy and asked to be notified if Nicole was coming to the dinner and if so, she would like to come and sit at the same table as Nicole. Nicole was coming, so we went. We arrived at a few minutes before 5:00 pm so that Catherine could go to a members' meeting. I went to the office and worked on my computer and also had a conversation with our accountant. At 6:00 PM, the tributes to deceased members took place. Dennis Johnson was eulogized by Deborah Eisenberg and Wallace Shawn, A.R. Guernsey by Terrance McNally and John Ashbury by Paul Muldoon. Following the tributes, there was a cocktail party. The photograph on this page is from the cocktail party. We took a break from standing around and were joined by the others in the photograph. There was lots of talk about the statement the Academy was putting in the NYTimes about Sexual harassment. There were disagreements about the statement at the members' meeting, but the statement was not to be changed. After the cocktail party, dinner was served. We sat at the same table with Nicole Eisenman, who sat next to Catherine. I sat next to Julia C. Speed, the granddaughter of Henry N. Cobb. Julia works at Luhring Augustine. That is the gallery that shows Tom Friedman, who is coming to Vassar College in a little over a week. On my other side was Peter Saul. I had asked for coffee with my dinner because we weren't going to stay for dessert, and coffee keeps me perky for the drive home. See the previous entry.]]> Catherine (Murphy) had nominated Nicole Eisenman for membership to the Academy, and she was voted in. We have been very busy lately. So Catherine called the Academy and asked to be notified if Nicole was coming to the dinner and if so, she would like to come and sit at the same table as Nicole. Nicole was coming, so we went. We arrived at a few minutes before 5:00 pm so that Catherine could go to a members' meeting. I went to the office and worked on my computer and also had a conversation with our accountant. At 6:00 PM, the tributes to deceased members took place. Dennis Johnson was eulogized by Deborah Eisenberg and Wallace Shawn, A.R. Guernsey by Terrance McNally and John Ashbury by Paul Muldoon. Following the tributes, there was a cocktail party. The photograph on this page is from the cocktail party. We took a break from standing around and were joined by the others in the photograph. There was lots of talk about the statement the Academy was putting in the NYTimes about Sexual harassment. There were disagreements about the statement at the members' meeting, but the statement was not to be changed. After the cocktail party, dinner was served. We sat at the same table with Nicole Eisenman, who sat next to Catherine. I sat next to Julia C. Speed, the granddaughter of Henry N. Cobb. Julia works at Luhring Augustine. That is the gallery that shows Tom Friedman, who is coming to Vassar College in a little over a week. On my other side was Peter Saul. I had asked for coffee with my dinner because we weren't going to stay for dessert, and coffee keeps me perky for the drive home. See the following entry.]]> The six of us met at the movies. We went to see Isle of Dogs, directed by Wes Anderson. Then to dinner at Market Street. There was lots of discussion about the film and how it's racist and how it is not. Sam and Lisa hardly knew Ralph and Elisabeth and hit it off well. Sam is a pastor, and Mattie (Ralph and Elisabeth's son) is also a pastor.]]> I ran into Michael and Mike and ? (who I met for the first time) at Adams.]]> Billy and Arthur called to see if we could meet for lunch at Giacamos on their way to Pittsfield. The orchid on the table was a present for Arthur's birthday, not something that Giacamos put out for decoration.]]> Tom Ellman emailed me to ask if I would buy a ticket for the Barrett house fundraiser. He was chairman of the Board, so I did. The ticket I bought included an entry fee, food, and participation in a raffle of artwork. See the previous two entries.]]> Tom Ellman emailed me to ask if I would buy a ticket for the Barrett house fundraiser. He was chairman of the Board, so I did. The ticket I bought included an entry fee, food, and participation in a raffle of artwork. See the previous entry and the following entry.]]> Tom Ellman emailed me to ask if I would buy a ticket for the Barrett house fundraiser. He was chairman of the Board, so I did. The ticket I bought included an entry fee, food, and participation in a raffle of artwork. See the following two entries.]]> I drove Catherine (Murphy) down to the American Academy of Arts and Letters for a meeting she was attending. I then drove to the Met Breuer to meet up with Ben Keddy. I got to the museum early, so I bought a book, "Birds of a Feather: Joseph Cornell's Homage to Juan Gris and a notebook to write in, went down to the coffee bar and wrote the first draft for the introduction for "Mother's Clothing, etc.," by Eugene Carroll. A new addition to my chronicle website that I am publishing on the site. I planned to see "Like Life, Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300-Now)" as well as the other two exhibitions, Anselm Kiefer and Leon Golub. It turned out that the Like Life exhibition was not to open for another week or so — a start to a day that would get more disjointed. Ben and I ate lunch at Flora Bar, a nice but overpriced restaurant in the museum. After lunch, we saw the Kiefer and Golub show and then headed to the Mets Main building. There we saw the Joseph Cornell and William Eggleston exhibitions. I dropped Ben off at 86th and Park, near the subway he was taking back to Jersey City. Instead of heading to the West Side Highway to get to the American Academy, I headed up Park Avenue. Before I dropped Ben off, I used his phone to ask Catherine when she thought her meeting would be over. She guessed at about 3 O'Clock. It was about 2:35 PM at that point. I needed to use Ben's phone because last week, I had left mine at the Starbucks in Yonkers on the way home from the opening at the American Academy. That would have been last Tuesday. My phone was being mailed back to me. But it hadn't yet gotten to our house. I drove up Park Avenue and way uptown. I realized that there was a "mountain" between me and the west side. It was now after 3:00 PM, and I winded up getting trapped on this road and sucked further uptown with no way to call Cathy to let her know I was on my way so that she wouldn't worry. I was getting very tense. Eventually, I got off this "highway" and was on Dyckman Street, I assume, in the Inwood neighborhood. It was almost 3:30, and I am not sure exactly where I was in relationship to the American Academy. I pulled up behind a car that was double-parked on Dyckman Street and knocked on the car window, which cautiously opened partway. There was a young woman in the driver's seat and two older people in the back seat (possibly the young woman's parents or rideshare passengers). I asked to use one of their phones while explaining I needed to call my wife, who would be getting worried about me because I was late to meet her. Of course, they had some trepidation about opening the window all the way and about handing me their phone. At first, the woman in the front seat dialed for me and had me speak through the window. The phone was mounted on the dashboard. She then relaxed and handed me the phone when I couldn't get through to Catherine. While I was fumbling with the phone, I drop my car keys under their car. At this point, I felt like a total clown. I left Catherine a message, and the woman asked me where I was going. I told her, and pointed ahead and said, "I think it is that way," But actually, it was the opposite way. She offered to lead me there. I pointed out that I couldn't follow them without retrieving my keys from under her car. With that accomplished, she made a u-turn, and I followed. It turned out that it was fairly simple and fast to get to the Academy from there. We said goodbye. I offered them some $, but she refused. I told them how swell they all were and went to the Academy. Catherine was not yet downstairs. I knew they usually had a nice lunch for the committee members. While I was waiting, I was asked if I needed anything. I said, "how about a snack?". Anita Flanagan, who does the cooking for the meetings, presented me with corn beef and cabbage and some salads. Catherine came into the kitchen just as my food arrived. While I ate, various people from the meeting came down into the kitchen. Souhad sent cookies she had made home with us. I ate most of them on the ride home.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. See the previous seven entries.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. See the previous six entries and the following entry.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. See the previous five entries and the following two entries.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. See the previous four entries and the following three entries.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. See the previous three entries and the following four entries.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. We met Annabeth when we went to UC Davis last year. See the previous two entries and the following five entries.]]> Some of the people who I knew and took pictures of at the opening. They are looking up at Joan's gigantic painting. See the previous entry and the following five entries.]]> Catherine (Murphy) had a bad cold, so I went to the opening by myself. The plan was to meet up with Judy Lin so I could drive her back to Poughkeepsie to the train station where she had parked her car. See the following seven entries.]]> We saw Barbara Paige and Judy Dollenmeyer on January 11th at Catherine's (Murphy) opening in NYC. We haven't gotten together for dinner for quite some time. We run into Barbara and Judy regularly in Adam's Fairacre Farms. We always talk about going out but don't seem to get around to it. So finally we did. Before dinner, we went to Upstate films to see "Faces Places," a new film by Agnes Varda. Then we headed to Market Street for dinner. The food has generally been good at Market Place, but Barbara, Judy, and I had gnocchi with veal ragu. The gnocchi was pretty good, but the meat was inedibly salty. See the previous entry.]]>