Sunday, November 26, 2017

Sotheby's

Last week the NYC Urban Sketchers had double activities for us to partake in. The first part was sketching at Sotheby's Auction House in Manhattan. The collections change constantly and it is like visiting a fine museum.

The first piece of art that attracted me was this by Diego Rivera titles "Retrato de un Espanol." What attracted me in addition to the size of the painting and the way the figure stood out was the added detail of the architecture of the window beside it. It was a plus that someone came by and was looking at it so I had a figure for scale.


After lunch I started sketching Fernando Botero's "Modesty" aptly named as she covers herself. The man had turned away to speak to another man who was out of the picture. I would think that if I was sketching artwork I would be pretty safe that the artwork couldn't get up and walk away...but no...two workers came over with another man from Sotheby's who decided the statue needed to be moved away from the wall so people could walk behind the statue and see that view too. So while I was sitting there they actually moved the statue and then climbed up on a ladder to readjust the lighting. I can't win! lol


I will post the 2nd part of the day tomorrow.

8 comments:

  1. That's hilarious that your sculpture walked off! :-) But it looks like you caught her anyway!

    - Tina

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  2. Beautifully sketched Joan! I love that the man turned away talk to someone... The Sotheby's Auction House looks interesting...I need to visit that someday.

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    1. Thank you, Hilda. It is a really nice place and they have a cafe on the 10th floor with a great view.

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  3. Joan you certainly made me smile about your sculpture. That is just amusing to think you had to concern yourself about the statue moving. Love the sketch of Sotheby's Auction. Did a great job conveying scale. Thanks too for stopping by and leaving a lovely hello. Hugs!

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    1. Debbie, thanks so much. I thought I was safe sketching artwork. lol

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  4. Ha, ha, ha! You are lucky they didn't decide to move the painting too. These are super looks into your visit - thanks for sharing.

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    1. Val, thanks. I don't know if it was because they were new pieces they were setting up, but it wasn't funny.

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