As if you really need me to tell you to go see the Maira Kalman show that’s now up at the Jewish Museum in New York.
There will be work you know (whether you know it or not).
And work you’ll wonder why you’ve never seen before.
So not only do we get to see the lovely color and brushiness of Kalman’s gouaches in the flesh ...
Kalman’s influences—Steinberg, Matisse, Hockney, even Duchamp—waft through the airy galleries. You will meet her many literary and historic inspirations as well.
things as they are.
her immigrant mother …
Kalman uses fashion almost as a language, and with it, she communicates volumes. She is absolutely fluent in hats. Many wonderful hats appear throughout her work, along with shoes, stoles, lace collars and lingerie.
And for goodness’ sake, where else will you find a pale salmon summer dress, embroidered with the first lines of Dante’s Inferno?
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)
The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Ave at 92nd St., New York
Through July 31, 2011
Have you read Ken Johnsons’s sexist review of the show in the New York Times? I’d be interested in hearing what others thought about it.
