Author Archives: Suzanne Loebl

Visiting the Musee Rodin in the Wake of World War II

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

For me, the reopening of the Musee Rodin unleashed floods of memories. In April 1946, a month before my nuclear family was to immigrate to the United States, my mother, who was somewhat of a tyrant, surprisingly let me visit … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, art collecting, art exhibits, art museums, belgium, brussels, family, france, french art, hotel biron, modern art, modernism, musee rodin, rainer maria rilke, rilke, rodin, sculpture, world war ii, world war ii history | Leave a comment

Picasso: The Sculptor at Work

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

Picasso is perhaps the best-known artist of the twentieth century. But throughout his career he also remained, in spirit, a genius of a little boy whose next prank was forever unexpected. This fall, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) devoted its … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged absinthe glass, art, art exhibits, art museums, cubism, exhibits, fine art, modern art, modernism, moma, museum of modern art, new york, new york city, nyc art exhibits, nyc exhibits, nyc museums, pablo picasso, picasso, sculpture, spain, spanish art | 1 Comment

Leaving Is Dying—A Little

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

The weather has been horrible, which is just as well. It lessens my sadness at leaving my dream cottage in Maine. Just a few days ago I sat on its deck, savoring the autumn sun and a cup of coffee … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acadia, acadia national park, brooklyn, brooklyn heights, dogs, echo lake, family, maine, mount desert island, poodles, travel, viva | 5 Comments

Farewell to Babeth, My First True Friend

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

“Triste nouvelle,” read my May 22nd e-mail from Francine Bauduin, informing me that my friend Babeth (Elisabeth Wolff) had died. The picture of the old woman that accompanied the loving announcement marked the passage of a lifetime. To me Babeth … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged at the mercy of strangers, babeth wolff, belgium, brussels, elisabeth wolff, hidden children, holocaust, nazi germany, world war ii | 2 Comments

A Spring Ritual: Central Park’s Conservatory Garden

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

In 1853, when it was in the planning stage, New York’s Central Park was to provide its mostly impoverished citizenry with an open country experience. It took Vaux and Olmsted twenty years to complete their assignment brilliantly. They carefully created … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged central park, Conservatory Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett, gardens, Greystone, kykuit, nature, new york, new york city, NYC, outdoors, parks, pocantico hills, rockefellers, Samuel Untermyer, Secret Garden, Three Dancing Maidens, Untermyer, Walter Schott | 4 Comments

Sotheby’s 2015 Impressionist and Modern Art Auction: The Joy of a Making-Believe Billionaire

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

Art from the collections of Jerome H. Stone, a Chicago entrepreneur, Lola Sarnoff, the Samuel Goldwyn family, and Anthony Goldschmidt led off Sotheby’s spring auction. The latter included a Monet looted from Jacob Goldschmidt by the Nazis in 1941. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged abby aldrich rockefeller, america's medicis, american art, art, art auctions, art collecting, art exhibits, art history, art museums, auctions, fine art, impressionism, modern art, Monet, museum of modern art, new york, new york city, nyc art exhibits, picasso, sotheby's, vincent van gogh | Leave a comment

Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

Jacob Lawrence, whose entire epic Migration Series is now on display at MoMA, was wonderfully gifted, hard-working and fortunate. In 1941, Edith Halpert, the owner of the avant-garde Downtown Gallery, went to Harlem to explore the work of then totally ignored … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged african-american art, african-american history, american art, american history, art, art exhibits, art museums, great migration, history, Jacob Lawrence, modern art, moma, museum of modern art, new york, new york city, nyc art exhibits, nyc exhibits, nyc museums | Leave a comment

Returning to Brussels, the City That Saved My Life 70 Years Ago

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

My family has always traveled on its stomach. So it was no surprise that when in March 2015 I took my granddaughter, Branching editor Naomi, to revisit my Belgian roots, we would eat well. Our culinary exploits started well. After … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged belgium, brussels, europe, family, family stories, family story, food, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, jewish history, judaism, restaurants, travel, world war ii | 3 Comments

‘Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey’ at Columbia University

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

While thousands traipsed to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to view Henri Matisse’s epoch-making Cut-Outs, fewer made it to Morningside Heights to enjoy the equally charming collages of Romare Bearden. There are similarities and differences, though the works of both … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged art, art exhibits, Bearden, columbia, Jacob Lawrence, moma, new york, new york city, new york city history, nyc art exhibits, nyc exhibits, Romare Bearden | Leave a comment

Every So Often, You Fall in Love With a Painting: Jamie Wyeth’s ‘Iris at Sea’

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Suzanne Loebl

Every so often I fall in love with a painting. Most often the object of my desire is in a museum, on someone else’s wall, or too expensive, but once in a while it is within reach. So it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged american art, art, Boston, Iris at Sea, Jamie Wyeth, maine, monhegan, Museum of Fine Arts, new york | Leave a comment