Epoch Arts 1-8-2016

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Opulent Furniture From America’s Gilded Age

SAMIRA BOUAOU/EPOCH TIMES

Bianca Giaever on the Joys of Mulitimedia Storytelling

A new exhibition at the Met evokes a time when America was being forged.

Whether in writing, radio, or video, her stories span a wide range of emotions.

See C8

See C7 ALL PHOTOS BY KAREN ALMOND/METROPOLITAN OPERA

C1 January 8–14, 2016

Opera Review

‘The Barber of Seville’

Geared to the Kids at the Met

Isabel Leonard as Rosina and David Portillo as Count Almaviva in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.”

By Barry Bassis

N

EW YORK—Each year during the holiday season, the Metropolitan Opera puts on an opera aimed at young children. The opera is performed in English in an abridged version. In recent seasons, the operas have been “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Magic Flute.” This year, the Met is putting on Bartlett Sher’s production of Gioachino Rossini’s 1816 “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (“The Barber of Seville”). J.D. McClatchy prepared the English translation.

See Barber on C4

Director Bartlett Sher has come up with some delicious comic bits.

Giuseppe Verdi once called ‘The Barber of Seville’ ‘the finest opera buffa in existence.’

C2

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS

Shen Yun Performing Arts

Spirit of Shaolin: Shen Yun Presents Buddhist Martial Arts

By Leo Timm & Catherine Yang Epoch Times Staff

DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES

I

t’s the stuff of kung fu legends.

Heroic warrior-monks performing gravity-defying leaps, sailing across a river on a single reed stalk, and flying out from the forests of Mount Song to fight off bandits.

The Shaolin Temple is a storied fixture in Chinese history, one that has made its way as far as Hollywood and Olympic sports. It’s the home of Zen Buddhism, and also martial arts.

There is a Chinese saying: “The best kung fu in the land comes from the Shaolin Temple.”

And the Shaolin monks have been the custodians of an innovative and iconic martial arts tradition for well over a thousand years.

While it might appear that there is a contradiction between Buddhist pacifism and the mastery of martial arts, the traditional Chinese belief is that the most superior martial arts (and, by extension, military strategies) are not ultimately about fighting, but rather discipline, and ultimately peace.

In fact, many of the movements that appear in Chinese martial arts were also expressed in dance.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in upstate New York, pays homage to this link between classical Chinese dance and martial arts in its pieces depicting the Buddhist monks of the Shaolin Temple.

Shen Yun, which features authentic classical Chinese dance accompanied by powerful orchestral music, brings the arts and tales of Shaolin to life, with a lighthearted and humorous twist.

Meet the Monks Who ever heard of Buddhist monks eating meat?

Back in 621, the Tang Dynasty ruler Taizong was surrounded by powerful rebel forces, but came out on top with the aid of 13 Shaolin monks.

During the 2013 season, Shen Yun told this story in the dance “When Shaolin Monks Protect the Emperor.” After the victory, the emperor, forever grateful for their contribution, dubbed the temple “No. 1 under Heaven,” and allowed the temple special permission to maintain arms and fighting forces.

He also allowed the monks to eat meat. It’s a little known fact that this does not contradict the original Buddhist teachings, which do not specifically require a vegetarian diet.

According to the teachings of Theravada Bud-

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER recently sent Shen Yun Performing Arts a letter expressing his appreciation. He wrote, “On behalf of all New Yorkers, I thank you for continued dedication in preserving and presenting ancient Chinese culture in such an accessible and aweinspiring way.”

In addition to Schumer’s letter, Shen Yun received over 90 more greetings, citations, or proclamations, including from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 56 New York State senators or assembly members, 11 New York City Council members, and 11 officials from other New York municipalities.

Shen Yun Performing Arts Lincoln Center David H. Koch Theater Tickets Online: ShenYun.com/NYC Hotline: 800-818-2393 Running Time 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission) Date & Time Jan. 14 & 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m.

dhism, the Buddha allowed his monks to eat pork, chicken, and fish if the monk was aware that the animal was not killed on his behalf.

It was one of the most humorous pieces of the season, and captured the imagination of adults and children alike.

“It’s like going to another world,” said Satish Adige, head of mergers and acquisition at Time Warner Cable, after seeing a performance at Lincoln Center. “There is humor in some of them.”

“The modern, as well as ancient, it was everything, so it was really good and really interesting too,” Ms. Adige said. “It was phenomenal.”

In another piece, “Mighty Monk,” a misfit monk at Shaolin gains divine power through his pious faith. This strength allows him to fend off a gang of bandits bent on robbing the temple.

Then there is Lu Zhishen, one of the main characters of the classic Chinese novel “Outlaws of the Marsh.” During one season, Shen Yun told the story of this good-bad monk, a brash giant with a sense of justice and a knack for getting into trouble. During another season it was the story of monk Ji Gong, a bit of an eccentric, who uses his supernormal abilities to save a town.

Fighting, staff-wielding, and lavish choreography are what typically define kung fu, but Shen Yun portrays the arts of Shaolin while paying attention to the unique context of these characters in the stories.

Martial Arts and Dance When Chinese martial arts first appeared in ancient times, its flips and movements were intended for battle. But an aesthetic edge, more suited for the performing arts, developed alongside these combat techniques. In time, martial arts and classical Chinese entertainment forms, including Chinese opera and dance, grew into related but independent sys-

tems practiced today.

While martial arts movements are quick, forceful, and economical, their dance counterparts are just slow enough for the audience to appreciate the subtleties, elongated for elegance, and the dancers seem to land without a sound.

“They make many, many difficult moves look extremely easy,” said Gary Kukac, a Hawaii Pacific University lecturer and a student of martial arts for 14 years. “It’s just something that everybody should experience at least once.”

“I was very impressed. This is very impressive,” said Ford Edwards, a martial arts instructor who teaches Northern Shaolin, kung fu, chi kung, and Tai Chi Chuan, after seeing a performance in Escondido, California.

In Thousand Oaks, California, Emmy Awardwinning actor Craig T. Nelson and his wife Doria Cook-Nelson, a tai chi master, were deeply moved by Shen Yun’s performance.

“Obviously they have worked so hard at what they do, and it shows. It just comes across as effortless, beautiful, elegant, and very moving, down to the tiniest gesture. Just down to the tips of the fingers,” Mr. Nelson said.

“The movements look so simple, but the dancers’ lives are dedicated to making those moves,” Mrs. Cook-Nelson said.

Classical Chinese dance is an independent dance system with hundreds of movements and postures. Its uniqueness lies in its focus on inner spirit (“yun”), which allows the dancers to convey a wide range of emotions and an array of characters.

So with classical Chinese dance, you can portray almost anything, whether it be happiness, beauty, compassion, or peace—the same peace that the Shaolin monks sought through their martial arts. And be it through drama, adventure, or humor, Shen Yun does it like no other performance, and in unexpected ways.

The Classics: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Director John Langs: Classic Themes and Forms Have Undeniable Power

By Sharon Kilarski | Epoch Times Staff Practitioners involved with the classical arts respond to why they think the texts, forms, and methods of the classics are worth keeping and why they continue to look to the past for that which inspires and speaks to us. For the full series, see ept.ms/LookingAtClassics For director John Langs, both the universal themes of classic texts and the vehicle delivering the themes make them relevant; more than relevant, they make them potent.

“A classic is a piece of writing that amplifies an undeniable human truth,” Langs said in a phone interview on Dec. 2. “They tell us who we are, what we are, and they bring feelings alive in us. They’ve done that for centuries,” he said.

Classics tell us about our history, and if we stray too far from our own history, then as the saying goes, we’ll be doomed to repeat our failures, according to Langs.

Langs used “An Iliad,” a modern work based on Homer’s poem about the Trojan War, to make his point. The play exposes the effects of violence and war, the glory of battle, and the despair of loss among families throughout a country and between brothers in arms.

“These are absolutes of human nature,” he said.

As a 17-year freelance director, Langs has made his career working primarily in regional theaters across the country. In 2011, he cocreated and directed the original musical “The Shaggs,” which was nominated for Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk awards. This coming Month, he will officially take over as artistic director for Seattle’s ACT—A Contemporary Theatre.

Potent in Form For Langs, it’s not just the theme that is universal and deeply felt. The structure of classical plays has a delivery system that’s been proven. He believes a well-made play connects with us consistently with an impact that is undeniable, and in the most elegant and elevated way.

Aristotle, considered the first theorist of Western literature, believed that a tragedy should take place in only one setting, happen during only one day, and have one storyline. He based his theory of unities on the famous Greek play by Sophocles, “Oedipus the King.”

Plays built along these lines are stripped of extraneous plot and characters—hence their power.

Langs considers some 20th century plays— American works by Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams—as classics because they possess these same qualities. Their themes are universal and their structure, with rising tension along a single action, hearkens back to the Greeks.

Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” follows this structure with tremendous impact, Langs says. As is clear from the title, the play happens in one day. It all takes place in a family home, and the action revolves around the devastation to the family caused by addiction.

It is distilled and unrelenting. “Like peeling an onion, you’re getting closer and closer to the power; you’re not let off the hook and the intensity continues to build,” he said.

“I often cajole my playwriting students to

When I talk to young writers, I tell them that if they want to be remembered in the future, they should think about a classic structure for their works.

John Langs, director

go back to the structure of classic plays,” said Langs, who also teaches budding playwrights at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts every year.

The way a playwright uses language is another structural element that adds punch to a play’s effect. The language of a classic play is organically thematic. “Every line carries the DNA of the whole.”

For this reason, the meaning seeps into listeners without their necessarily being aware of it. For example, in “Romeo and Juliet” Shakespeare employs 100 uses of the word “haste.”

“All the action revolves around the passion and rapidity of young love. I doubt there would be a play if the pace of the action were slower,” Langs said. All the metaphors, every image has a forward trajectory, and everything is rushing on to something or somewhere else. “If you dissect any line you will find speed and haste.” Thus, for all the beauty of young love, clearly the audience will feel its foolhardiness too.

If the structure of a play is not well-crafted, Langs doubts it would survive. Nor would it retain its relevancy. The vehicle must be as powerful as its subject matter.

“When I talk to young writers, I tell them that if they want to be remembered in the future, they should think about a classic structure for their works,” Langs said.

If playwrights today, like their great 20th century American predecessors, look to the beginnings of Western theater for their themes and play structure, they will tap into mechanisms that work and endure.

Playful, mischievous monks from Chinese stories appear in many of Shen Yun’s dances, defying stereotypes.

C3

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts ALL PHOTOS BY JEREMY DANIEL

EXPERT ADVICE

On Color Combinations Of Mats And Framing Styles

The Roman Pantheon 19th Century engraving by Domenico Amici Custom

& Archival Framing Modern & Contemporary Prints, Paintings & Photographs

Antique,

(L–R) Tess (Lisa Emery), her mother, Marjorie (Lois Smith), and Walter (Noah Bean), a computer who serves as a companion to Marjorie in “Marjorie Prime.”

(212) 755-1516 133 East 54th Street, 2nd Floor www.PhyllisLucasGallery.com

For our online art exhibitions search for Phyllis Lucas Gallery at: onekingslane.com % 1stdibs.com

Theater Review

A Glimpse Into an Unsettling Future

NEW PAGODA S P E C I A LT Y I N C .

Tess (Lisa Emery) and her husband, Jon (Stephen Root), must grapple with Marjorie’s failing health and her new friend, a robot.

By Diana Barth NEW YORK—Playwright Jordan Harrison’s “Marjorie Prime” might be called a memory play. I think of that most delicate of memory plays, Tennessee Williams’s “Glass Menagerie.”

But, oh, the two works are so different from one another.

“Marjorie Prime” is modern, up-to-date—or beyond—perhaps scarily so. Here we find ourselves in the age of technology and artificial intelligence. People may even become computers, or at any rate, computer-like.

Eighty-five-year-old Marjorie (Lois Smith) sits in her serene (perhaps too serene) living room, lovely in its soft shades of green (courtesy of scenic designer Laura Jellinek). The atmosphere has an oddly spare feel to it, almost otherworldly.

Marjorie is speaking with a very young, handsome man called Walter (Noah Bean). It comes out that Walter is her deceased husband’s name, but why the disparity in their ages? They speak of old times; he informs Marjorie of things she may have forgotten. On the other hand, she reminds him of certain past events.

Walter is an avid student; one can tell he will virtually commit to memory her information.

You see, Walter is actually a computer, programmed to support and educate Marjorie. He is known as Walter Prime.

Primes are not live humans. Marjorie was given the opportunity to select Walter Prime at an age when he was young and attractive.

Walter Prime retreats to the sidelines as Marjorie’s daughter, Tess (Lisa Emery), and her husband, Jon (Stephen Root), enter. They know nothing of this version of Walter, for the real Walter is actually long dead.

Tess and Jon are very concerned about Marjorie’s well-being. Her food intake is very poor; she seldom eats so much as a spoonful of peanut butter.

Tess is a bit fluttery, neurotic. It is Jon who is the steady one here; he is solicitous of both of the women in the household, although Marjorie had once not liked him at all. She had complained of his beard, “down to the floor.”

But now he is clean-shaven, and she has gotten to like him.

Much is made of a lovable poodle dog that they once owned. From the city pound, she is a French poodle, which they named Toni with an “i.” When Toni died, they picked out another poodle, which they named Toni 2. Marjorie insists that Tess picked out Toni 2, but she is informed that Marjorie’s son, Damian, had selected the second Toni.

The mention of Damian is a sore spot for Marjorie. At age 13, he died under tragic circumstances, and it is obvious that Marjorie wants to erase all memory of him. But memory is a tenacious thing.

Marjorie and Tess’s relationship has not always been a good one. Tess always felt that

Director: Michael Lucas Mon–Fri: 10am–5pm, Sat: 2–5pm

An unsettled feeling pervades.

What might the future bring?

A 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama.

‘Marjorie Prime’ Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater 416 W. 42nd St. Tickets 212-279-4200, or TicketCentral.com Running Time 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission) Closes Jan. 24

Marjorie had favored Damian, and her competition against her dead brother always failed.

Thus there’s always been an uncomfortable feeling between mother and daughter.

Not long after, Marjorie dies and becomes a Prime. Both Tess and Jon have a tricky time dealing with her. But much later, Tess and Jon also become Primes.

The deceased now relate more favorably with the play ending warmly. Marjorie says something to the effect that it is wonderful to have loved someone. She has at last chosen to remember her beloved son, Damian.

How nice, how comforting to have the play end on such a warm note. Love. Love conquers all. But does it?

Or is the playwright suggesting complacency dulls the edges of what might enter one’s consciousness as pain, suffered by the introduction of unwelcome memories?

What if love is spare or sparse, or intermittent? Or nonexistent? Does that possibility open the door for the technicians, the mechanics, the most ruthless of scientists to take over our lives?

Will robots, or robotic thinking, take over?

But don’t fret. Aren’t robots doing wonderful things? What about those cute little guys who can clean our floors and carpets and give us time to rest. What about those more serious kinds that go where humans don’t dare to tread and test for live bombs that might wreak havoc if undetected.

An unsettled feeling pervades. What might the future bring? Mind control? Extensive brain-washing? Loss of that individuality that so many of us honor and cling to? Personality as we know it? In exchange for what?

Is it not incumbent, then, for the rank and file citizen to keep abreast of developments in science, technology, and politics?

The play is subtle, so much so that one must listen closely to follow the sometimes quicksilver developments. There is a delicate interweaving of emotional pain, memory, forgetfulness, against the ever-present backdrop of the new age we seem to be entering.

With gifted director Anne Kauffman holding the reins, the cast provides a marvelous example of the finest ensemble playing. One must offer special kudos to Lois Smith for her detailed portrayal of an elderly woman who is alternately feisty, sad, and accepting.

Lisa Emery’s Tess combines warmth and coolness. Stephen Root is the picture of support, who can melt in emotional tears when required. Noah Bean portrays a very handsome and attentive Walter.

All told, “Marjorie Prime” makes for a very provocative and rewarding evening in the theater.

Diana Barth writes for various publications, including her own New Millennium, an arts publication. She may be contacted at DiaBarth@juno.com

Early 19th Century Tiffany Grande Carriage Clock, strike repeater with Alarm

40 W 25th St #103, New York, NY 10010 • (212) 645-1964 facebook.com/newpagodaspecialty

The Next Art Opening You Attend, Can Be in Your Home

Show off your collection with museum quality framing and conservation.

Picture Frames & Mouldings Museum Conservation Framing Reproduction Period Mirrors

Jinpra N.Y. E-mail: Jinpra@aol.com

C4

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts S I BY L L E ’ S S T Y L E D I A RY COURTESY OF BETH SHAK

PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER

BETH SHAK Shares on Her Famous Collection of Shoes

By Sibylle Eschapasse This week’s style diary guest is Beth Shak, whose name is synonymous with shoes. The mother of three who lives in New York and is known for her frequent visits to the final table at the World Series of Poker has a collection of over 1,200 pairs of one-of-a-kind shoes; 700 of them Louboutins.

Her love for footwear initially started with her love of vintage fashion, having spent over 10 years in the couture clothing business. Now she is launching a signature line of poker chips, which will hit stores in February, and debuting her very own lines, Beth Shak & Beth Shak Couture. She reminds the world of what Marilyn Monroe used to say, “Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world!”

If you put expensive heels and a bag on with an average dress, no one knows.

Beth Shak

Sibylle Eschapasse: Describe your style? If a close friend were to describe your personality in three words, what would they be?

Beth Shak: I would say my style is classic with an edge. I love mixing random vintage or inexpensive finds with amazing classic forever pieces. My friends would say I’m unfiltered, adventurous, and compassionate.

Ms. Eschapasse: How did your style evolve since you were a teenager? What is the wildest thing you ever wore?

Ms. Shak: My style has evolved so many times over the years. You learn to not follow trends and to be secure in your own self.

I definitely went through the period of following whatever the fashion magazines dictated. The wildest thing I ever wore was a Roberto Cavalli dress because it’s really not me.

She has spent over 10 years in the couture clothing business.

Ms. Eschapasse: How do you dress on workdays versus weekends?

Ms. Shak: I’m really casual during the week. I wear Adidas and leggings with oversized cashmere sweaters.

Ms. Shak: I’m most proud of my Elizabeth Taylor poker boots from her auction. It’s a piece of history to me.

I would pay a lot of money for handbags and shoes because they can make or break how an outfit looks. I would stop at a certain point on clothing. It’s far from timeless. If you put expensive heels and a bag on with an average dress, no one knows.

Ms. Eschapasse: What are three accessories you can’t live without, and what’s one item that makes you instantly more confident?

Ms. Shak: I can’t live with without my black 30 cm box Birkin, my high classic black Louboutin boots, and Chanel espadrilles. Honestly I don’t know how I stopped this list at three items!

FOTOSAV/ISTOCK

Ms. Eschapasse: Who have been your greatest fashion influences? Who is your style icon?

Ms. Shak: My greatest fashion influence has been Grace Kelly. I loved her. I searched far and wide to acquire a Warhol of her.

Ms. Eschapasse: What does having style mean to you? In other words, please define style.

Ms. Shak: Style, to me, means making your own personal mark on who you are as an individual.

Ms. Eschapasse: When you go on the red carpet, how do you want your outfit to make you feel? Which designers can achieve that?

Ms. Shak: When I walk a red carpet I want to feel confident. The designers that can achieve that are Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, J Mendel, but I could go on and on.

Ms. Eschapasse: What do you think of how others dress and what’s your advice to people who would like to develop their personal style?

Ms. Shak: I have opinions on how others dress.

Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it isn’t. I think if people want to develop their own style they should start by taking small risks.

Ms. Eschapasse: What is one purchase you’re most proud of? What would you pay a lot of money for, and what would you never pay much money for?

ANDREW WERNER

DARIO CANTATORE/GETTY IMAGES

Beth Shak at the “God Save My Shoes” premiere in New York in 2011.

Beth’s Favorites Favorite color: Lavender Favorite perfume x by Clive Christian Favorite restaurant in NY: Mr. Chow Favorite drink: Tito’s on the rocks Favorite movie: “An Officer and a Gentleman” Favorite book: “The Great Gatsby” Favorite quote: “You can’t change crazy.”

Sibylle’s “Style Diary” is a column that explores style from the perspective of choices, and what that means for different people, with personal advice from some of the most stylish people in New York.

Sibylle Eschapasse is from Paris and now lives in Manhattan. She is a journalist and a contributing writer to various publications. Sibylle is also the author of a children’s book, “Argy Boy!: A New York Dog Tale.” She may be reached at Sibylle.Eschapasse@gmail.com JEMAL COUNTESS/GETTY IMAGES FOR WE TV

Beth Shak at the WE Do Good Awards in 2010.

C5

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts KATI VERESHAKA/EPOCH TIMES

Asia Week NewYork a Global High Point for Collectors in Spring 2016

By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff

During Asia Week, you are going to see some of the finest examples of Asian art anywhere in the world.

Lark Mason, chairman, Asia Week New York J. J. LALLY & CO.

A selection from “Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden,” China, Ming Dynasty, circa 1437, after Xie Huan. Handscroll, ink and color on silk.

KAPOORGALLERIES.COM

Archaic bronze ritual wine vessel (fangyi), Shang Dynasty, 12th Century B.C. KAPOORGALLERIES.COM

Ganesh, India, Hoysala Dynasty, 11th Century A.D. Chlorite schist sculpture.

to “catch up with some of the other major museum collections in the U.S.” The Met’s Asian art exhibitions are anchored in their Asian Art Department centennial on show during AWNY with 10 exhibitions and installations on view.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to see what this extraordinary collaboration between private collectors and public institutions has accomplished,” he said.

Kapoor Galleries has been an integral part of the Asian arts scene in New York City for the past 40 years assisting private and public collections in enhancing their respective collections of Indian and Himalayan art.

According to Suneet Kapoor, gallery director at Kapoor Galleries Inc., Asia Week is a very important time for all Asian art enthusiasts, as it is the convergence of the leading galleries from around the world coordinating their annual exhibitions, as well as the major auction houses’ sales and various other important exhibitions throughout the metropolitan area.

For Kapoor Galleries that specialize in Indian and Himalayan art, Asia Week is the high point of their business cycle.

A highlight in its collection during Asia Week 2016 will be an important Indian miniature painting depicting Samundra Manthan (“Churning of the Ocean of Milk”) ascribed to the artist Mahesh of Chamba (active 1730–1770).

In the last five years Kapoor noticed a trend of many more mainland Chinese visitors with a mix of trade and private collectors.

Kangra painting of the Gita Govinda (Radha vents her frustrations). Kangra, India, 1775–1780, ascribed to a master of the first generation after Nainsukh. Opaque watercolors on paper.

KAPOORGALLERIES.COM

New York may not be the first destination for Asian art in the world, but for those who seek the widest range of Asian art found in one city, New York is a must see, particularly during the annual Asia Week New York (AWNY) that takes place in March.

“We have an all-compassing grip on Asian art, because we have the whole gamut,” said new Executive Director for AWNY Margaret Tao, at the press reception on Dec. 9, 2015, which took place at J.J. Lally & Co. in New York.

On the night, the AWNY association announced that Asia Week 2016 will encompass 46 international galleries, among them nine new exhibitors from around the world, and five auction houses. The nine-day celebration of Asian art and culture will span the metropolitan region from March 10 to 19.

Apart from exhibitions, the schedule also includes auctions at Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, iGavel, and Sotheby’s, and lectures, symposia, and a special reception, jointly hosted with the Department of Asian Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 14.

It will be the third consecutive year that the Met has been co-hosting the special reception.

“During Asia Week, you are going to see some of the finest examples of Asian art anywhere in the world brought here to New York City.

But what makes it special is the people,” said chairman of AWNY, Lark Mason, in his opening remarks.

The largest institution participating in the art festivities is the Met. Mike Hearn, Douglas Dillon chairman of Asian Art at the Met remarked that around 90 percent of the museum’s collections have come from collectors’ contributions acquired initially through the expertise of dealers, for which Hearn was grateful.

He recalled that when he started at the Met in 1971, the only Asian art on view were the ceramics around the Great Hall balcony and those pieces in the Early Chinese Buddhist Sculpture Hall. Currently, the museum has over 50 galleries devoted to Asian art, making it one of the most comprehensive art collections of its type in the world.

Hearn told the Epoch Times that the Met has been acquiring works of Chinese painting since 1902, but it has been in the last four decades that the museum has made a concerted effort

Krishna uprooting the tree, Basohli, India, 1750, ascribed to Manaku.

ALL PHOTOS BY KAREN ALMOND/METROPOLITAN OPERA

Opera Review

‘The Barber of Seville’ Geared to the Kids at the Met Barber continued from C1 Giuseppe Verdi once called “The Barber of Seville” “the finest opera buffa in existence.”

The audience, especially the children, seemed to agree. If anything, the performers mugged more than their counterparts did when the full Italian version ran a couple of seasons ago.

The opera was first performed in the Met’s very first season (1883–84) and has lost none of its luster.

The Plot The story, adapted from the French play by Beaumarchais, deals with a beautiful young woman, Rosina, who is under the control of her guardian, Dr. Bartolo. The pompous old man wants to marry his ward.

Meanwhile, she is being romanced by Count Almaviva, who appears in a series of disguises. Rosina thinks he is a poor student named Lindoro. He has already won her heart with his singing and good looks, when she spotted him from her balcony.

Rosina’s music master, Don Basilio, warns Bartolo that the Count is in town and has set

Robert Pomakov as Don Basilio and Valeriano Lanchas as Dr. Bartolo.

The opera was first performed in the Met’s very first season and has lost none of its luster. his sights on Rosina. Basilio plans to use slander to destroy Almaviva’s reputation.

Figaro, the title character, assists the Count in his effort to win Rosina. Almaviva arrives at Bartolo’s house pretending to be an inebriated soldier with orders to be billeted there. Bartolo tries to claim he is exempt from the requirement that he house soldiers, but during the commotion that results when the civil guard shows up, Almaviva passes a note to Rosina.

In the second act, the Count pretends to be Don Alonso, a music teacher and student of Basilio. He claims that Basilio is sick and offers to give the young woman her music lesson.

He uses the letter from Rosina to Lindoro to prove his bona fides to Bartolo.

When the Count and Rosina get together, they express their mutual love. Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo and manages to steal the key to Rosina’s balcony. Basilio appears in good health, but he is convinced to go along with the ruse that he has scarlet fever when he is bribed by the young lovers. Bartolo, fearing the romantic competition, plans to marry Rosina that evening. When he shows his ward her letter to Lindoro, she feels that the young

Elliot Madore as Figaro, David Portillo as Count Almaviva, Isabel Leonard as Rosina, and Valeriano Lanchas as Dr. Bartolo. Taylor Stayton and Ginger Costa-Jackson took the roles of Count Almaviva and Rosina for the final performances.

man has betrayed her. She then admits that she had arranged to elope with the student.

When Bartolo leaves to obtain help from a group of soldiers, Almaviva mollifies Rosina by revealing his true identity. By the time Bartolo returns, Rosina and the Count are married, and the old man admits defeat.

Director Bartlett Sher has come up with some delicious comic bits, beginning with some stage business during the overture by Dr. Bartolo and his dour servant Ambrogio.

Figaro arrives on a wagon pulled by a bevy of beauties.

The Performance The baritone originally scheduled to play Figaro, David Pershall was ill and was replaced by Canadian Elliot Madore, who was a full-voiced and swaggering Figaro. He delivered a bravura rendition of the famous tongue-twisting aria “Largo al factotum.”

(When Rossini is performed in English, his influence on Gilbert & Sullivan becomes apparent.)

Mezzo-soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson made her lead role debut at the Met during this

run as Rosina. The singer, who has an Italian mother and an American father, looks and sounds beautiful and has a flair for comedy. Hopefully, the Met will bring her back in “Carmen,” which she has performed to praise elsewhere.

Ohio native Taylor Stayton is a rising star bel canto tenor, who has been playing Almaviva and had previously subbed effectively in “Anna Bolena.”

Colombian bass Valeriano Lanchas is vocally and physically well-suited to the role of Dr. Bartolo, though he would probably sound more comfortable singing in Italian rather than English. The non-singing Ambrogio is played by dancer Rob Besserer.

Australian conductor Anthony Walker led a lively performance.

Parents should keep the Met’s Christmas/ New Year’s shows in mind for next season, but they should make sure their children are able to sit through a two-hour opera.

Barry Bassis has been a music, theater, and travel writer for over a decade for various publications.

C6

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts COURTESY OF CALIDORE STRING QUARTET

theatrical examination of renowned Kentucky-based mystic and Catholic monk Thomas Merton, author of The Seven Storey Mountain.

Tickets start at $30.

BAM.org

Calidore String Quartet Jan. 12 at 2 p.m.

Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St. The acclaimed Calidore String Quartet takes on the dramatic history of chamber music with a program that opens with Haydn, who established the string quartet as a genre, explores Webern’s early 20th century shift from tonal to atonal music, and concludes with one of Beethoven’s evolutionary late quartets. $19.

KaufmanMusicCenter.org

THINGS TO DO COMMUNITY EVENTS

of American History. $20 adults, $12 students, $15 seniors. NYHistory.org

NEW IN MANHATTAN

Family Sundays at Rubin Museum Ongoing 150 W. 17th St. Bring your family to the Museum for a Sunday afternoon full of familyfriendly activities. Drop into the Education Center for some art-making, enjoy our 2 p.m. family exhibition tour, or go on your own thematic gallery search. Free.

RubinMuseum.org

Neighborhood Concert: Michelle Bradley & Michael Gaertner Jan. 16 at 5 p.m.

St. Michael’s Church, 225 W. 99th St. Soprano Michelle Bradley and pianist Michael Gaertner were the 2014 winners of Music Academy of the West’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition in recognition of their excellent performances of song repertoire and the high levels of audience engagement they achieved.

Free. CarnegieHall.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN New York & The Nation Ongoing The Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History, 170 Central Park West Explore the story of New York and America in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery

VISUAL ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Tenth Anniversary: Master Drawings in New York Jan. 23–30 Various locations Visitors will enjoy 29 separate world class exhibitions of drawings, pastel and oil sketches, and pen and ink artworks by masters of the 16th to 20th centuries, many newly discovered or on view for the first time.

MasterdrawingsInNewyork. com/map

ENDING IN MANHATTAN Grand Illusions: Staged Photography From the Met Collection Through Jan. 18 Metropolitan Museum of Art Photographers, like ventriloquists, can cast “voices” in a seemingly infinite number of genres and period styles. This does not negate the camera’s direct relationship to the world—tying image to subject as naturally as a footprint—but instead reveals that photographs are always admixtures of fiction and reality tilted toward one end of the scale or the other. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org

ONGOING ELSEWHERE Greater New York Through March 7 MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, Queens MoMA PS1 presents the fourth iteration of its

landmark exhibition series, begun as a collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art in 2000. Recurring every five years, the exhibition has traditionally showcased the work of emerging artists living and working in the New York metropolitan area.

Suggested $10.

MoMAPS1.org

PERFORMING ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Shen Yun Performing Arts Jan. 14–17 The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center For 5,000 years divine culture flourished in the land of China. Humanity’s treasure was nearly lost, but through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is bringing back this glorious culture. $80–$300.

ShenYun.com/NYC Daniel Wohl: Holographic World Premiere Jan. 21 & 22 at 8 p.m.

Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 W. 37th St. At BAC, Holographic will be performed by Mantra Percussion and the Holographic String

Quartet with Daniel Wohl on electronics. Art. The album will be released on New Amsterdam Records on Jan. 29. $25. BACnyc.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Antigona Through Jan. 23 West Park Presbyterian Church, West 86th & Amsterdam Avenue A flamenco interpretation of Sophocle’s classic play Antigone. Honoring the Greek tradition of sung poetry and musical accompaniment, director Santangelo collaborated with his wife and principal dancer Soledad Barrio who plays the role of Antigone.

The resulting performance evokes the vivid, passionate emotion that is flamenco. $25.75–$60.75.

SoledadBarrioAnd NocheFlamenca.com

NEW ELSEWHERE The Glory of the World Jan. 16–Feb. 6 BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. Iconoclastic playwright Charles Mee joins forces with frequent collaborator and Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Les Waters for an exuberant

Separati Jan. 28–30 Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center 29 Jay St., Brooklyn Separati, a new work

by Shannon Gillen, in collaboration with the performers, features dancers Jason Cianciulli, Martin Durov, Laja Field, Lavinia Vago, and Emma Whiteley, set to original scores by Martin Durov in collaboration with Gillen, with costumes by Joey Blaha, set design by JC Machine and Tool company, and lighting design by Barbara Samuels. $25.

VimVigorgKA.bpt.me

MUSIC NEW IN MANHATTAN Europa Galante Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall Europa Galante and violinist Fabio Biondi tell a fascinating story in this concert that features music

by Vivaldi and lesser-known masters who all taught at Venice’s famous orphanage for girls, the Ospedale della Pietà. $59–$70.

CarnegieHall.org The Cleveland Orchestra Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.

Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall The orchestra gives the New York premiere of Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s let me tell you and performs Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 4. $20–$122.

CarnegieHall.org

Dear Readers If you have an event to suggest, please send details to NYC_Arts@ EpochTimes.com in the format you see here.

Theater Review

AHRON FOSTER

Much Fun and Ado Over the ’60s

By Judd Hollander NEW YORK—Over the years, the works of William Shakespeare have been transposed, transplanted, and transported into more settings, eras, and situations than one can count. The latest effort is the very enjoyable “These Paper Bullets!” which uses the Bard’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing” as a template.

Writer Rolin Jones has moved the setting to 1964 London, adding in more than a little history of the Beatles for a very trippy journey.

Billie Joe Armstrong provides the songs for this off-Broadway presentation by the Atlantic Theater Company.

Taking the musical world by storm are four lads from Liverpool, the Quartos: Ben (Justin Kirk), Claude (Bryan Fenkart), Balth (Lucas Papaelias), and Pedro (James Barry). Turning out one hit after another, the group has just completed a successful American tour, returning to London for a hero’s welcome.

Their return is complete with mobs of fans, relentless paparazzi, and a seemingly endless supply of lady’s knickers from their adoring female public.

However, the group’s former drummer, Don Best (Adam O’Byrne), who was replaced by Pedro just before the Quarto’s rise to the top began, has long harbored a grudge against the lads. They didn’t have the guts to fire him face to face.

As an act of payback, Don, who’s been kept on by the group as a gopher, plans to sabotage the whirlwind romance and upcoming marriage between Claude and Higgy (Ariana Venturi), a high-profile fashion model and daughter of Leo Messina (Stephen DeRosa). Messina owns the London hotel where much of the story takes place.

To help him in his scheme, Don has sleazy photographer Boris (Andrew Musselman) work

The life of a rock star or free spirit may indeed be fun, but it cannot hold a candle to true love.

‘These Paper Bullets!’

Linda Gross Theater 336 W. 20th St. Tickets AtlanticTheater.org Running Time 2 hours, 30 minutes (one intermission) Closes Jan. 10

some darkroom magic and create compromising pictures of Higgy, which are sure to cause Claude to call off the nuptials.

Meanwhile, Ben, the defacto leader of the group and a bit of a womanizing scoundrel, pooh-poohs Claude’s love. In response, Messina and the rest of the band plot to make Ben fall in love with Higgy’s cousin Bea (Nicole Parker), a top fashion designer. The guys are aided in their attempt by Higgy and her friends.

While insults rather than romance is usually the common language between Ben and Bea, the two being old acquaintances, the line between disdain and love soon becomes thin.

This unfolds in several hilarious sequences— particularly by Parker as Bea, who desperately tries not to be seen by those she overhears.

Just as with Shakespeare, there are more than a few moral lessons tucked inside the story Jones has crafted. The life of a rock star or free spirit may indeed be fun, but it cannot hold a candle to true love and all that goes with it.

In the end, the boys realize how truly selfish they’ve all been—often leaving havoc in their wake and having others clear up their mess.

Ben, for example, does more than a bit of emotional growing up by the tale’s end.

A subplot presents an enjoyable take on an “us versus them” mentality. Greg Stuhr offers a hilarious performance as Mr. Berry, the leader of a group of British agents spying on the Quartos, who are seen as a danger to society. The agents attempt to discern a supposed hidden message in the Quartos music when their records are played backward.

The cast and creative team have done an excellent job in recreating the feeling of the 1960s or at least a very enjoyable parody of that time. A running gag throughout is a picture of Queen Elizabeth that keeps falling on its side.

Both the picture and the show offer a worldview slightly and comically askew from reality.

There’s also a nice use of Shakespearean diaTaking the logue throughout. The cast effortlessly switches musical world from 1960s vernacular to words of the Bard by storm are and back again. four lads from Armstrong’s songs nicely capture the feel- Liverpool, the ing of actual tunes performed by the Beatles. Quartos: (L–R) The entire cast is quite good in their respec- Claude (Bryan Fenkart), tive roles, particularly Parker and Kirk as Bea and Ben. The two actors have a strong chem- Pedro (James Barry), istry in their scenes together and their charBalth (Lucas acters’ somewhat more worldly back stories Papaelias), and provide a counterpoint to Claude and Higgy’s Ben (Justin more innocent relationship.

Kirk).

This is not to say the show is perfect. The entire subplot concerning the British undercover agents, while satirical, really isn’t needed; and the ending is more than a bit cliché. Still, all in all, “These Paper Bullets!” (the title taken from a line in “Much Ado About Nothing”) offers a very enjoyable melding of the mod with the Bard and makes for a groovy experience forsooth.

Also in the cast are Christopher Geary, Brad Heberlee, Tony Manna, Keira Naughton, and Liz Wisan.

Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London newspaper The Stage.

C7

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts SAMIRA BOUAOU/EPOCH TIMES

Filmmaker and radio producer Bianca Giaever at the office of m ss ng p eces (Missing Pieces) in Brooklyn on Dec. 16.

BIANCA GIAEVER on the

Joys of Mulitimedia Storytelling SAMIRA BOUAOU/EPOCH TIMES

By Milene Fernandez | Epoch Times Staff

N

EW YORK—Definitely a curious person, Bianca Giaever likes talking with strangers and telling their stories. She can expose a richness of insight even focusing on the most mundane topics. Whether in writing, radio, or video, her stories span a wide range of emotions, swinging in mood from light and playful to downright sad and tragic, to even transcendent.

“I feel like everyone is walking around with all their life experience and every epiphany they have ever had, and I’m trying to get them to open up and talk about it basically,” she said in the kitchen area of m ss ng p eces, a production company she works with in Brooklyn.

You may have come across Giaever’s work in The New York Times, on NPR shows such as “This American Life” and “Radiolab,” or via websites like Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and The Atlantic, to name a few.

A couple of years ago she produced a video, “The Scared is Scared” based on a 6-year-old’s idea of his dream movie. Beautifully simple in how she executed it, the video is 100 percent faithful to Asa Baker-Rouse narrating a story about a bear, a mouse, a swimming pool, a piano shaped cookie, and friendship, and it also gives some wise advise on how to deal with loss and anxiety. The adorably sweet and uplifting video went viral on the Internet garnering about 1 million views.

Giaever (pronounced Gay-ver) was inspired to do that video, and its precursor, “Holy Cow Lisa” to cheer herself up.

“I wanted to make something happy because I was coming off of a really depressing breakup and I just wanted to feel better again,” she said.

Shortly after, she moved on to helping others.

In her “Videos 4 U” series, featured on “This American Life,” she finds people who are having trouble saying something and helps them get their message across, like a couple who had an unspoken pact not to say “I Love You” to each other, a daughter who was afraid to tell her parents she had “Tattoos” all over her body, or a son who could not communicate with his father growing up because they didn’t speak the same language in “RSV-Pa.” On the other end of the spectrum, her radio story, “Dear Hector” is about an octogenarian whose adopted daughter was raped and murCOURTESY OF JETBLUE

Both parties give the time and set the intention to go deeper than you would in a normal conversation.

Bianca Giaever

Suddenly you are in this social space that doesn’t normally exist where you have the freedom to ask anything you want.

Bianca Giaever

(L–R) Arianna Huffington, Bianca Giaever, Christine Carter, James Ward, and Sheila Yerusalim talk about the video HumanKinda after the premiere in Soho on Oct. 20, 2015.

dered. Giaever let Hector unfold the process of how he got to know the murderer by writing letters back and forth and was eventually able to forgive him. It’s a very touching, profound story—hard to hold tears back while listening to it.

She produces stories in cycles from sad to serious, fluctuating between contemplating mortality and the lighter side of life. “It’s like an endless cycle,” she said.

She has heard other radio reporters describing the microphone as a magic wand. “Suddenly you are in this social space that doesn’t normally exist where you have the freedom to ask anything you want. And they don’t have to answer, but both parties give the time and set the intention to go deeper than you would in a normal conversation. It’s really exciting,” she said.

Giaever has a special preference for radio as a medium, because of how it lends itself to more intimate and longer format storytelling, which hasn’t really been commercialized. Still the success of her videos led her to produce a bigger project.

‘HumanKinda’ “I had a fear of doing commercials so it took me a long time to sign in,” Giaever said about getting on board to work with m ss ng p eces (Missing Pieces) in March 2015, even though she had already been knocking ideas back an forth with its executive producer, Ari Kuschnir for about two years. Still she took the plunge and was approached to direct a video for jetBlue.

At 16 min, “HumanKinda” is the longest of three branded videos Giaever has made, and her first comedy documentary. Compared to her previous work done on tiny budgets with her friends over many months, and on very specific topics with a very specific angle, “HumanKinda” had different challenges.

There were more players involved, such as an ad agency, a client, a larger production crew, and so on, also the topic was general, and the genre was more difficult.

Every year jetBlue spends a little bit of its marketing budget on something other than traditional advertising. JetBlue’s Vice President of Brand and Product Development Jamie Perry said its mission is to inspire humanity, and more specifically, to treat its customers like human beings and not like cattle. So jetBlue asked Giaever to produce a video that would inspire its customers.

“We came across this epidemic of busyness and we were looking for insights,” Perry said at the launch screening party of “HumanKinda” at a hotel in Soho in October 2015.

That was quite a broad topic to tackle. “It was kind of a puzzle,” Giaever said after the screening. But the biggest challenge was striking the right tone for a comedy documentary.

“It is a very fine line of not making fun of people, or anyone in it, and still having it be funny,” Giaever said. “You want the audience to take the issues seriously, laugh while they are watching it, and not be making fun of the people whose real lives it is about. There’s a lot of stuff I had to navigate there,” she added.

Giaever had a lot of decisions to navigate, working with the editors to reduce 50 hours

SAMIRA BOUAOU/EPOCH TIMES

Bianca Giaever in the office of m ss ng p eces in Brooklyn on Dec. 16, 2015.

COURTESY OF JETBLUE

Arianna Huffington (L) and Bianca Giaever after the premiere of the video HumanKinda in Soho on Oct. 20, 2015. of recorded video, from 12 days of shooting, to 16 minutes for the final video.

Moderating the panel discussion after the launch screening, Arianna Huffington, author, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, applauded Giaever.

“I think you did an amazing job hitting a tone, which was not at all preachy, which brought us in, and was entertaining. And it made a very serious point, but you didn’t feel hit over the head—so congratulations,” Huffington said.

When asked if she would consider doing more branded videos, Giaever said, “I’m still very new to that world and how it works.”

“It’s really hard to stay true to your vision and your authenticity as your projects start to grow. If when I’m older, I’m continuing to get to do things that are in my voice and true to me that’s great. Sounds cheesy, but …” she said smiling.

“This Is New York” is a feature series that delves into the lives of inspiring individuals in New York City. See all our TINYs here: epochtim.es/TINY or follow @milenefernandez on Twitter.

C8

@EpochArts

January 8–14, 2016 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts

OPULENT FURNITURE

ALL PHOTOS BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK

Side chair from the library of the William H. Vanderbilt House, New York, 1879–1882, by Herter Brothers.

Rosewood, brass, mother-of-pearl, and reproduction upholstery. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Detail of library table from the William H. Vanderbilt House, New York, 1879– 1882, by Herter Brothers. Rosewood, brass, mother-of-pearl, and abalone.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Worsham–Rockefeller dressing room, New York, 1881–1882,

by George A. Schastey & Co. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

by America’s 19th Century Star Artisans Shines in New Met Exhibition

By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff Museums face this inescapable dilemma: For the sake of making works of art publicly accessible, the museum displays them de-contextualized from their cultural setting and functionality. Yet sometimes, museums such as the The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) will go to greater than usual lengths to give its visitors a more immersive experience. This is the pleasant case of a current Met exhibition: Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age. The exhibition evokes a time when America was being forged, when great fortunes were made, and the arts flourished.

Following the Civil War (1861–1865), the likes of railroad magnates William H. Vanderbilt (1821–1885) and Collis P. Huntington (1821– 1900), as well as co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, John D. Rockefeller Sr. (1839–1937) had made enough money to afford more philanthropic pursuits.

They had amassed enough wealth to secure the livelihoods of their families for generations to come. At some point, faced with the inevitability of their own deaths, their thoughts had turned to immortality, history, legacy.

One could argue that the daily satisfaction of such great wealth is derived from seeing it in solid form, inhabiting it, being surrounded by beautiful objects. Often this meant building a great mansion from scratch, filling it with great art and lavish custom-made furniture that is a constant reminder of the fortuitous constellations smiling upon the moment of one’s birth.

But more of the constellations later.

Such were the thoughts responsible for what is the subject of exhibition that marks the most opulent and never-to-be-repeated time in America, nicknamed The Gilded Age, when the arts flourished at an unprecedented speed, and American craftsmen excelled via the ready patronage of the great tycoons and, lest we forget, their better halves.

The Dressing Room The centerpiece of the three-part exhibition is the opulent Worsham-Rockefeller dressing room from the New York City house commissioned by art collector and philanthropist Arabella Worsham (ca. 1850–1924) who married Collis P. Huntington (1821–1900) in 1884, after the death of his first wife.

The aesthetic movement in Europe had caught the attention of America. Here, no expenses were spared to create highly ornate interiors in a style that borrowed the proportions of Renaissance art and architecture, while adding copious amounts of Orientalinspired decorations.

The effect can be overwhelming yet, due to the talent of New York-based cabinetmakers and interior decorators, the end results can

One could argue that the daily satisfaction of such great wealth is derived from seeing it in solid form, inhabiting it, being surrounded by beautiful objects.

Side chair from the Worsham–Rockefeller dressing room, New York, 1881– 1882, by George A. Schastey & Co. Satinwood, purpleheart, brass casters, and reproduction upholstery. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Model B grand piano, New York, 1882. Case by George A. Schastey & Co. Piano by Steinway & Sons. Satinwood, purpleheart, brass, and silver mounts.

be totally cohesive artistic interiors that leave one in total awe.

The Worsham–Rockefeller dressing room, the highlight of the exhibition, is a complete work of art, from floor to ceiling. It came from the house at 4 W. 54th St.—a brownstone building that was purchased by Arabella Worsham in 1877.

It was Worsham’s intimate space completely sheathed in satin-wood with inlay of purpleheart (amaranth) with a built-in wardrobe and matching furniture pieces featuring intricate marquetry ornamentation in satinwood and purpleheart with mother-of-pearl inlays. Its decorative motifs even reference Worsham’s great love of pearl jewelry, with garlands of necklaces, brooches and earrings, in the marquetry or the carved designs, as well as the frieze on canvas.

Many names had been bandied about as to who was the maker of the dressing room, but nobody knew exactly until the Met team of curators and researchers got to work and found the evidence. It turns out that in 1881 Worsham hired a decorator that had been used by Huntington—George A. Schastey (1839–1894)— to completely redo the interior spaces. As fate would have it, three years later she married Huntington, moved out and sold the house fully furnished and freshly decorated to John D. Rockefeller, hence the hyphenated name given to the room. It was donated to the Museum of the City of New York after Rockefeller’s death in 1937 and acquired by the Met in 2012.

“Schastey is the unsung hero and the star of the exhibition—previously, completely unknown. He’s clearly totally on par with Herter Brothers [working 1864–1906]– deemed the cabinetmaker at the time. And now Schastey is another one,” said exhibition organizer Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, the Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang curator of American Decorative Arts at the Met. The exhibition has a few works by Schastey— all lavishly decorated and imposing. He is also the artisan responsible for another centerpiece in the exhibition, the Steinway grand piano, which is documented to have been delivered to Schasty in 1882 for the making of the art case.

The World Was My Oyster An adjoining gallery has on display works by Schastey’s best-known competitor, Herter Brothers, which were created for the firm’s most important commission, the William H. Vanderbilt House. The centerpiece of this room is the grand rosewood table from the library of the William H. Vanderbilt house, which stood on Fifth Avenue and spanned a full city block.

Herter used decorative motifs in a Renaissance style that also recalled carved stone furniture of the Roman Empire. The lions’-paw feet and stylized palmettes framed views of the

Cabinet, New York, 1884–1885, by George A. Schastey & Co. Rosewood, mahogany, pine, pewter, brass, and mother-of-pearl.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

mother-of-pearl globes at each end. The seemingly random stars sprinkled on the top of the table represent the exact constellations visible in the Northern Hemisphere at the time of Vanderbilt’s birth—May 8, 1821. It is much more than a table. It exists to declare:,”The world is my oyster,” or rather, “The world was my oyster” to all who have the pleasure of casting their eyes on it.

In total, the exhibition includes around 40 examples of furniture from America’s Gilded Age found in the luxurious interiors of New York’s wealthiest households in the late 19th century.

“We feel that this is truly art furniture; it was conceived as art. It’s still functional but the textures, the colors, the designs, the workmanship that went into it–we are really making the case that this is museum quality, even though done for private residents,” said Nicholas C. Vincent, manager of Collections Planning and co-organizer of the exhibition.

While Vanderbilt and the other great men and women of the age did leave their mark through these glorious mementos of their opulent tastes, one is faced with the inescapable conclusion when admiring these works that these wealthy people were the mere custodians of their wealth. And while the cycle of life and death continues, their furniture is here to stay a little longer.

The exhibition Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age is in three parts: Worsham–Rockefeller dressing room through to May 1, 2016.

George A. Schastey through to May 1, 2016.

Herter Brothers and the William H. Vanderbilt House through to Jan. 31, 2017.

Cabinet, New York, 1881–1882,

by George A. Schastey & Co. Ebonized oak, brass, gilded bronze, and agate.

Seattle Art Museum.