A Cultural Tuesday Afternoon in Uptown Manhattan

After all that Central Park goodness, I stumbled upon the American Museum of Natural History (that's the one made famous in A Night at the Museum).  Wasn't planning to go there, but I had a free ticket and time to spare, so I thought why not.  As expected, it was a little bit like 'Oh look, here's another diorama of some stylised Native Americans.  Such a shame they're about to be massacred.'

Nevertheless, there was enough to keep me entertained.  I thought this next one was hilarious, supposedly recreating 'Western Sydney'.  Obviously they haven't seen Macquarie Fields.

And of course this, which I'm sure conveys an accurate impression of life in Australia.  Because, you know, this happens all the time, right?

But jokes aside, some of the stuff was seriously impressive.  These were some of my favourites:

The Museum was the brainchild of Theodore Roosevelt, and he still figures prominently throughout, like in this lovely plaque on the floor.

There's also a big gold statue of him just near here, but it's impossible to get a good photo without other people's children being in it.

To round out the afternoon, I visited the Frick Collection, which is housed in an impressive mansion on the upper East side (Gossip Girl territory, where all the rich folks live).  Henry Clay Frick was a wealthy industrialist from Pittsburgh in the latter 1800s, who left behind a massive collection of artwork for public display upon his death.  I thought the collection was amazing, one of New York's best-kept secrets, immaculately maintained and creatively displayed, and best of all, it's not a tourist trap like most other places.  Unfortunately, photography isn't allowed inside, so here's a shot of the front door.

For my money, the highlight was the inspired pairing of two portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger - the first is of Thomas More, and the second is Thomas Cromwell.  They paintings hang on either side of a fireplace, which makes it look like they're facing off against each other (given British history at that time, it seems ironically appropriate).  These are the Wikipedia pictures only.

I was also able to say hello to some paintings by Rembrandt, Goya, Bellini, El Greco and Whistler (though sadly not his mother, who's hanging in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris).