A remarkable morning. . .

Our book club recently read "The Lady In Gold"by Anne Marie O'Connor, the story of the famous painting by Gustav Klimt of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy socialite in Vienna, Austria in the early 1900's, that was stolen by the Nazis in their plundering of all art owned by Jewish families during the pre-war period. The painting was renamed "The Lady in Gold" because Hitler did not want anyone to know that this remarkable protrait was that of a Jewish woman.

Long after the war, and after many years of negotiating with the Austrian government, the painting was finally returned to Block-Bauer's grand-daughter, Marie Altmann, now in her 90's and living in the United States. Altmann believed that the painting belonged in a museum and it currently hangs in the Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue & 85th Street in New York City.

I tell you this because I recently spent four days in Connecticut visiting a childhood friend of mine and I was determined to get into the city and see the famous painting in person, along with an exhibition of .the art of the burgeoning Modernists of the 1930's that Hitler called "Entartete Kunst ". . . ."Degenerate Art".

I felt very adventurous as I took the train by myself from Stamford into NYC's Grand Central Station early last Thursday morning. As we rolled through Mt. Vernon, the city in Westchester County where I grew up, I flashed on the many mornings I took this very train to my job as the assistant editor in a publishing firm. I was in my early 20's then. If you haven't noticed, I am slightly older now.

The entire exhibit was absolutely wonderful. Starting with the magnificent life size portrait of Bloch-
Bauer that dominates an entire wall. Equally fascinating was the "Degenerate Art" exhibition by artists like Paul Klee, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and Marcel Breuer. The current exhibit only runs through June 30th, but if you are in the city before then, I highly recommend it. Housed in a circa 1914 mansion, I found it totally fascinating and I think you will as well.
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Photo captions: (1) "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer - The Lady In Gold"
(2) Neue Galerie's brochure on the "Degenerate Art" exhibit

A visit to the wild and wonderful Wynwood. . .

Remember when Miami was considered a city of old people sitting around waiting to die?  Take a Friday Night Gallery Walk in Wynwood and I guarantee you, you'll come away thinking there's a new law in town against anyone over 30.

My friend Sheila and I ventured out to Wynwood last night for the express purpose of visiting a particular gallery where a former art teacher of ours was showing.  Neither of us were aware that it was the Third Friday Gallery Walk Night. What an incredible evening!

For starters, we misread the address we were looking for and found ourselves in the most fabulous gallery either of us have ever had the pleasure of visiting. And we"ve both done plenty of galleries in our time. Art Fusion Center, on the corner of North Miami Ave. and 36th Street,  is run by a charming and extremely talented young man named William Braemer.  The Gallery features artists from all over the world and the work is uniformly stunning. We ended up spending close to an hour in this gallery alone.

From the Art Fusion Center we marched onward, on foot,  as the streets got more and more crowded.  We ended up in the much acclaimed Wynwood Walls area where we feasted on arepas (my addiction redux!) from one of the dozens of food trucks that lined the street, and admired the brilliantly painted walls and doors that surround the open area. Take a look at some of the photos, this is "graffiti" raised to high art.  (And don't miss the selfie of Sheila and me, after partaking of champagne, wine and beer at various galleries we visited.)

By 9pm the streets were so crowded that it was  becoming more and more difficult to walk.  The young people were just getting started when Sheila and I looked at each other and siliently agreed it was time for us older guys to head for home.

It's an experience, people, and I highly recommend it.  Wear comfortable shoes and be ready for one wild and crazy evening.  Miami is truly an exciting place these days.
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Dr. Ruth and sex after 80. . .

My friend Ellen asked me if I'd like to join her today at the uber luxurious new Palace, in Coral Gables, to have lunch and hear a talk by the sexologist, Dr. Ruth.  I haven't heard that name in years.  "My God," I said.  "Is  she still alive?  She must be 102!"

Dr. Ruth is very much alive, and as lively and funny as ever.  And by the way, she's only 87.

The Palace is Miami's new hot place to live for wealthy seniors who want the services of fine food three meals a day, all kinds of entertainment, classes, spa services, you name it.  It is in the center of Coral Gables "Miracle Mile" area, accessible to everything and very elegant.  Ellen had an invitation for two and asked me to join her. It was a blast.

Dr. Ruth pulls no punches when it come to sex and seniors.  She's a  believer. 
 
"Got a partner and one of you has lost interest?  Let's make a deal!  I'll do this for you if you'll do that!"

"Don't have a partner?  Invest in a good vibrator."

I haven't laughed so much in a long time.  Although the audience was 90% women, there were a number of men in attendance which made it all the more interesting when we got to the questions at the end of her talk. What really cracked everyone up was when she prefaced the question period with, "If it makes you more comfortable, you can say your question is for "a friend".

Dr. Ruth is truly a piece of work and the morning was an absolute delight, followed by a fabulous buffet lunch.  The Palace is not my cup of tea at the moment, I'll stick with Grove Isle, but they definitely know how to entertain.  If you get a chance to hear Dr. Ruth, I highly recommend her.

Thanks, Ellen.  It was a really fun morning.
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Photo caption:  Dr. Ruth the way you may remember her, and Dr. Ruth today