campaigns : Campaign Archive

Let’s start with a disclaimer. While this may come as a shock , The Three Tomatoes are not art critics. Some of us actually slept through art history lectures. Some of us think the drawings hanging on our refrigerators created by the darling children in our lives are better than some of the modern “art” hanging in galleries. And some us admittedly never visited the “old” MoMA. But The Three Tomatoes are also attracted to anything in New York City that is 1) new 2) serves alcohol and 3) has shopping. So off we went for our whirlwind adventure at the new MoMA . Our verdict? For lack of an artsy, fartsy word, cool! And it met all three of our favorite criteria.

1. It’s New. Designed by architect Yoshio Taniguchi, the outside of the museum (which spans 53rd and 54^th streets) has about as much appeal as a giant bank vault. But the inside of the museum is amazing. The first thing that strikes you is the sheer size and openness – 630,000 square feet, six floors and an atrium that lets you view the galleries above and below, the sculpture garden and the city outside. The atrium lobby showcases a fascinating 25-foot sculpture, “Broken Obelisk”, by Barnett Newman. Made out of rusting steel, it forms two pyramids in an impressive point-to-point balancing act. Suspended over the grand staircase is a 1945 Bell 47D-1 helicopter. We proceeded up the stairs for a whirlwind tour of just a fraction of the exhibits including Cézanne’s, Matisse’s, Picasso’s and Warhol’s. There’s even an entire gallery of Pollack’s, which frankly we thought was one gallery too many. (Really now, you throw paint, cigarettes and nails onto a canvas and call it art?) An hour and a half later, we needed a break. Which brings us to the next criteria.

2. Serves alcohol. We breezed through one of the two quite attractive looking cafes, that unfortunately had long cafeteria lines, and proceeded downstairs to one of mid-town’s hottest new restaurants, The Modern which is inside MoMA overlooking the famed sculpture garden. The Modern is Danny Meyer’s latest culinary venture. And while his Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern rank among our top favorite restaurants in NYC, the Modern is not those. We drank a couple of glasses of a very nice Shiraz (with a tab to match), served by a young female bartender with an attitude, at the long chrome and glass bar sitting on very uncomfortable chrome bar stools. Attractive as the setting is, it’s not a bar you’ll hang out in for long. It was too early for dinner, but we viewed the menu, which is described as “small, artful dishes”. Even a recent rave review in New York Magazine described it as “self-conscious hipness”. So much for going back with husbands like ours who we suspect would still be waiting for the real food to arrive. We then proceeded to where else? Shopping.

3. Shopping at the MoMA store is just plain fun. It’s a great place to buy unique gifts in any price range for any occassion.