Dogs of Art: The Brooklyn Museum of Art’s Varied Appeal

Not only does it have a current canine appeal, the Brooklyn Museum of Art knows how to throw a terrific party. The William Wegman Funney/Strange exhibit runs until May 28th and features photography, painting, collage and video from a world-renowned artist obsessed with his Weimaraners.

Plus, on the first Saturday of every month, between 5-11 p.m. there’s a standing social invitation with cash bar and entertainment — from singing drag queens to jazz bands. And June 2-11 the projectors will roll at the 9th Brooklyn International Film Festival, kicking off opening night with a concert/party in the Brooklyn Museum’s Beaux-Arts Court.

Brooklyn’s grand dame of cult-cha has a new $63 million glass and steel entrance (think of a see-through USS Enterprise starship sliced in half vertically) that puts the 560,000-square-foot museum firmly in the 21st century. Even though it’s the second largest art museum in New York, it was designed in 1893 to be six times larger. McKim, Mead & White’s grandiose master plan was cut short by the 1898 merger between the cities of Brooklyn and New York, which funneled funds to the other side of the East River.

Permanent displays include:
• The world-class Egyptology collection,
• An extraordinary sampling of Auguste Rodin sculptures,
• A floor of American painting and sculpture (with works by Georgia O’Keefe, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, George Bellows, and Milton Avery),
• And 28 delightful period rooms (1675 to 1928), including the opulent, Moorish Smoking Room, salvaged intact from John D. Rockefeller’s since-demolished 54th St. brownstone.

Only a 30-minute subway ride from Manhattan, the Brooklyn Museum of Art is a bargain at $8 for adults (versus the MOMA’s $20) and delivers great, offbeat exhibits.

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