using language reading: the best of manhattan’s art galleries

Using language

Reading:The Best Of Manhattan’s

Art Galleries

The Frick Collection

弗里克收藏馆

Henry Clay Frick

Home of Frick

5th and Madison Avenues

Many art lovers consider this to be the

best small art gallery in New York.

Henry Clay Frick, a rich New Yorker,

died in 1919, leaving his house,

furniture, and art collection to the


Avenue n. 大街 : a hotel on Fifth Avenue 第五大街上的旅馆

American people. At this Gallery, you

will not only see an excellent collection

of pre-twentieth century Western

paintings but you will also be able to

explore Frick’s beautiful house. The

garden of this lovely mansion is also

well worth a visit.

Guggenheim Museum

古根海姆博物馆

1929–30 At age sixty-six, the wealthy American industrialist Solomon R. Guggenheim begins to form a large collection of important modern paintings by artists such as Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Marc Chagall. He is guided in this pursuit by a young German artist and theorist, Hilla Rebay (born Baroness Hilla Rebay von Ehrenwiesen).

In July 1930, Rebay brings Guggenheim

to Vasily Kandinsky's Dessau studio, and

Guggenheim purchases several of the

artist’s paintings and works on paper; he

will eventually acquire more than 150

works by Kandinsky.

5th Avenue and 88th Street

This museum owns 5,000 modern

paintings, sculptures and drawings.

These art works are not all displayed at

the same time. The exhibition is always

changing.

Guggenheim Museum

exhibition n. 展览 , 展出 ; 展览品

The largest part of the collection is the

impressionist and post-impressionist

section. The Guggenheim Museum

building is world famous. When you

walk into the gallery you feel like you are

inside a huge white sea shell. The best

way to see the paintings is to start

from the top floor

and walk down to

the bottom. There

are no stairs, just a

circular path. The

museum also has

excellent restaurant.

Metropolitan Museum Of Art

大都会博物馆

Metropolitan Museum of Art

5th Avenue and 82nd Street

This museum has the greatest collection

of art in the United States. Its art

collection covers more than 5,000 years

of civilization from many parts of the world, including America, Europe, China, Egypt, Africa and South America. The museum displays more than just art. It introduces you to ancient ways of living. You can visit an Egyptian Temple, a Ming garden, a room in an 18th century French house and many other special exhibitions.

civilization n. 文明

Museum of Modern Art 现代艺术博物馆

Museum of Modern Art

53rd Street ( between 5th

and 6th Avenue)

It is amazing that so

many great works of art

from the late 19th

century to the 21st

century could be contained in the same

museum. The collection of Western art

includes paintings by such famous

artists as Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso,

and Matisse. A few words of warning:

admission price is not cheap and the

museum is often very crowded.

Matisse

French painter

Whitney Museum of American Art

惠特尼美国艺术博物馆


惠特尼美国艺术博物馆


945 Madison Avenue (near 75th St.)

The Whitney holds an excellent collection

of contemporary American painting and

sculpture. There are no permanent

displays in this museum and exhibitions

change all the time.

contemporary adj. 当时的 , 同时代的permanent adj. 永久的 , 持久的

Every two years, the Whitney holds a

special exhibition of new art by living

artists. The museum also shows videos

and films by contemporary video artists.

Match the number on the map

with the names of the museum.

Number

on mapMuseum


Whitney Museum of American

Art



Guggenheim Museum

2

3

4

5

1

Complete the chart with the information from the reading passage.

Name Address

Type of Art

Which centuries?

What countries?


945 Madison Avenue (near 75th St.)

Contemporary (mainly art by living artists)

America

Name Address

Type of Art

Which

centuries?

What

countries?

Museum

of

Modern

Art

53rd Street

(between

5th and 6th

Avenues)

Late 19th

century to

the 21st

century

Western

countries

Name Address

Type of Art

Which centuries?

What countries?


5th Avenue and 82nd Street

All over the world

From ancientto modern times

Name Address

Type of Art

Which centuries?

What countries?

GuggenheimMuseum

5th Avenue and 88th Street

Modern (from late 19th century onwards)

Western countries

Name Address

Type of Art

Which centuries?

What countries?

The Frick Museum

5th and Madison Avenue

Before the 20th century

western countries

Listening

1. Number the galleries in the order

that you hear about them.


Guggenheim Museum




1. Number the galleries in the order

that you hear about them.


Guggenheim Museum




5

1

3

4

2

2. Listen again and then answer the

questions.

1. Who first suggested they visit art

gallery?

2. Who is the least interested in visiting

art galleries?

John

Susan

3. Why is Gao Yang interested in

visiting the Metropolitan Museum?

He wants to see the exhibition of

Chinese art.

4. Does Susan prefer large or small

galleries?

Small galleries.

5. Why doesn’t Susan want to go to the

Museum of Modern Art?

It is big, crowded and too expensive.

6. What kind of art does Susan dislike?

Modern art

7. Which two galleries do they decide to

visit on Friday and which two galleries

on Saturday?

The Frick Collection and the

Metropolitan Museum on Friday and

the Whitney and the Guggenheim on

Saturday.

Listening text

Gao Yan, Susan and John are on

holiday. They are staying in a hotel in

Manhattan, which is an island between

two rivers in the centre of New York.

Listen to the three friends discussing

which art galleries to visit.

GAO YAN: What do you want to do

tomorrow?

JOHN: What about visiting some art

galleries?

GAO YAN: That’s a good idea, John.

SUSAN: But it says in the guide book

that there are more than sixty

galleries in Manhattan.

JOHN: Well, let’s choose just a few.

SUSAN: Even a few galleries would

take more than one

day.

JOHN: OK. Let’s spend two days

visiting galleries.

GAO YAN: OK, fine.

SUSAN: Mmm. Alright.

JOHN: So, Gao Yan, which galleries

would you prefer?

GAO YAN: I’d like go to the

Metropolitan Museum. It’s got

art from all over the world.

There’s even a section on

Chinese art. I’d like to see

that.

SUSAN: It’s a very big museum. I’d

prefer something smaller to

start with.

JOHN: Well, what do you suggest?

SUSAN: Well, the Frick Collection is

quite small, and it has a

beautiful garden. Perhaps we

could go to the Metropolitan

Museum after that.

GAO YAN: And we could go to the


the next day.

SUSAN: Oh no. It’s too big and

crowded. And it’s expensive.

JOHN: If you want to see contemporary

art, the Whiney might be better,

anyway.

SUSAN: Modern art! Do we have to?

I’m mot very fond of that stuff.

A monkey could have painted

better pictures than some of

those paintings.

JOHN: Susan, you don’t want to visit art

galleries, do you? Perhaps you’d

rather do something else?

SUSAN: No, no. I’d like to see some

art, just not too much and not

too modern.

GAO YAN: Look, what about this?

Tomorrow we could go to

the Frick in the morning

and the Metropolitan in

the afternoon.

The Metropolitan stays open until

8:45 on Friday evenings. If you’ve

had enough by dinner time, Susan,

you could go back to the hotel and I

could stay at the museum.

SUSAN: Yeah, that’s a good plan.

JOHN: Mmm, but I’d also like to go to

the Guggenheim.

GAO YAN: That’s OK. We could do

that on Saturday. We could

have a quick look in the

Whitney first and then go on to

the Guggenheim.

They’re quite close together.

The Guggenheim stays open till

late on Saturdays so we’d have

plenty of time.

JOHN: That’s an excellent plan.

SUSAN: Yeah, OK. I agree (said

grudgingly).

using language reading: the best of manhattan’s art galleries

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