The front of the Hamilton House in the early Spring
I visited the Hamilton House Museum this afternoon which is right down the road from Montclair State College and sits at the border of the Clifton-Montclair border. The interesting part of the house location is that it still sits the farm land of the Van Wagoner Family but the house was moved from its location to the current one because of the building of Route 46 in 1973.
The front of the house in the Spring
When talking with curator, the house is going through a transition from the City of Clifton ownership to the County of Passaic Historical Society’s site. They are currently cataloging every piece in the house and putting it online. They want to view the collection to see what they can work with within the home.
Each room represents a different time in the history of the house. There is a living room from the Victorian age, the kitchen is from the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s and the dining room is from the mid-1800’s. These rooms are furnished to represent a certain time in the house.
There will be many revisions in the future for the house so there are some changes on the way. The upstairs is currently being used for storage and there will be revision there as well. I got a quick tour of the rooms with the curator and he said there will be more changes in the future as they catalog each piece. The grounds are currently being replanted.
The Hamilton House Museum sits at the Clifton and Montclair border
The house is one of the last examples of early 19th century stone houses in Passaic County. The house was built in 1817 by John and Ann Vreeland and then passed to the Van Wagoner family. It changed hands a few times until 1856 when the Hamilton Family bought the house (no relationship to Alexander Hamilton). The house remained in the Hamilton Family until 1972 when the last living relative died and no one in the family wanted possession of the house (Tour Guide & Wiki).
The oldest section of the house
That’s when the City of Clifton bought the house from the family of its historic value. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 13th, 1982 (Wiki).
The outside grounds of The Hamilton House Museum
The Grape Arbor on the grounds of the Hamilton House
History of the Hamilton House:
(taken from the City of Clifton website)
This 18th Century Dutch gambrel-roofed homestead was once the home of the Van Wagoner and Hamilton families. This basic of the house does not greatly differ from its Dutch antecedents.
The sturdy one and one half story cut sandstone structure, flanked by a grainery, spring-house and gardens reflects almost two hundred years of American history. It brings back memories of an uncluttered horizon with farms, orchards, fresh brooks, forest full of game and filled with scent of wildflowers.
Hamilton House & the Clifton Community:
Although the City of Clifton was incorporated in 1917, a community had existed since 1679. Prior to 1917, the area was known as Acquackanonk Township and included parts of : Little Falls, Passaic, Paterson and West Paterson.
The Indian Chief Captahem deeded 11,000 acres to the early Dutch settlers on the shores of the Passaic River. Predominately rural, this sparsely populated village thrived and grew.
The farmhouse was presented to the City of Clifton by the developers of the late Henry Hamilton. The Hamilton family had bought the 96 acre property in 1856 and for over 100 years until the death of Mr. Hamilton in 1970, it had been the family home.
The old outhouse in the back of the property
Current Location and Future Plans:
The house was moved to its present location in Surgent Park in 1973. Infinite plans have been taken with examination and documentation of the building’s structural elements. Extensive research has been conducted including the records and treasured memories of Miss Caroline Hamilton as well as: Artifacts, Deeds, Manuscripts, Maps, Photographs and Wills.
The old Ice House on the property
Scheduling Tours:
The museum is opened for tours on Sunday from 2:00pm-4:00pm (except on holidays). The house is going through a transition right now with the change over.
I made my first visit to the Museum of Sex in New York City and highly recommend it. I have to admit it is different but what I like about the museum is that it doesn’t try to hide the subject and it also just doesn’t jump out at you. It is an interesting progression in art and I saw this in the exhibition “The History of Pornography”, where the films were set up in order since the Victorian times. Sometimes it had to go underground due the times but pornography has been around since the days of the media.
The exhibition shows early pictures and viascopes of sexual acts and the early films date back to the Silent era. The exhibition covers from the Silent era to present times and the advancement of sex in films once the Hayes Code was broken in the 1960’s. With the relaxed rules and the mainstream films of “Tie Me Up Tie Me Down” and “Deep Throat”, you can see the progression of this as an art form and progression of the way the films were made.
Another great exhibition that I saw was “Punk Lust: Raw Provocation 1971-1985”. This show matches nicely with the current show on the “Punk Movement” at the Museum of Arts & Design. It was interesting to see the posters, flyers, clothes and hear the music of the era. Just at the height of the ‘Sexual Revolution’ and into the fragments of the Disco era came a new sound and way to dress that started in the early 80’s before the progression of the Reagan years in Washington DC, this movement came with a new sound with Punk, New Wave and Technographic and a new way to dress provocative without being too revealing.
“Punk Lust” exhibition
As the museum was quoted saying: “The survey looking at the way Punk Culture used the language of sexuality, both visually and lyrically, to transgress and defy, whether in the service of political provocation, raw desire or just to break through the stifling gender norms and social expectations that punks refused to let define them.”
“Punk Lust” exhibition
On a more recent trip to the museum, three exhibitions were open and all very interesting, highlighting different types of eroticisms. These countered different parts of the artworld. Also, in the post-COVID era, all the interactive displays opened up and I was able to visit and experience each of these as well. These are the most fun!
The Andy Warhol exhibition:
“Looking at Andy Looking” exhibition:
(from the museum website)
This exhibition will explore themes of intimacy and voyeurism, including the depiction of homosexual desire, in Warhol’s early years of filmmaking. In films and footage from 1963-64, we witness the artist beginning to figure out what he could do and say with his newest plaything: the 16mm camera.
“Looking at Andy Looking”
(from the museum website)
Filmmaking is a mechanical art, but it can capture real people on the surface and below. Andy Warhol (1928-1987) lived much of his life “on the surface.” He embraced mechanical techniques like screen-printing, photography, and film, but Andy himself was not a machine. Behind the cool, detached persona was the highly personal—and above all queer—perspective of an inveterate experimenter.
The exhibition I saw was the “Artifact” exhibition from the Museum of Sex’s collection of items exploring how we look at sexual encounters. What is sex and how does a play a role in our lives?
“Artifact: Selection from a Secret Collection”
(from the museum website)
Gathered from the Museum of Sex’s permanent collection of more than 15,000 objects as well as from other notable collections and institutes of antiques, medical history and sexology, Artifact (xxx): Selections from Secret Collections presents an intimate exploration of how sex manifests across culture through art, science, and design. An early vibrator made in Great Britain, a lotus shoe worn by a woman in China, and a Braille issue of Playboy magazine provide insight into prevailing belief systems and societal taboos across geography and time.
Hugh’s Hefner’s smoking jacket
Jeweled Bra
(from the museum website)
Fulfilling a wide range of functions from artwork, medical devices and pop-culture mementos to guidebooks and accessories used for enhancing pleasure or pain, these objects tell the stories of the expansive yet nuanced influence of sexuality throughout history.
Candy pants from the 1970’s
Deep Throat Memorabilia
The memory of the movie a movie ‘Deep Throat’’
Intercourse Chair
Another exhibition that I enjoyed on my last trip to the Museum of Sex was the “I Licked it, It’s Mine” exhibition on exotic paintings and sculpture.
The ‘Licked it, it’s Mine’ exhibition sign
(from the museum website)
What does it mean to be “consumed” by lust, or to “possess” another? The artists Oh de Laval, Shafei Xia, and Urara Tsuchiya explore every manner of appetite, from sublimated yearning to all-consuming hunger. United by an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek approach to the erotic and a flair for fantasy, the paintings and ceramic sculptures in this exhibition move between pulpy melodrama and decorative daintiness.
Along the way, sexuality is experienced as love, but also as competition, involving our animal natures—and sometimes even the swapping of human and animal roles.
The gallery for ‘I licked it, it’s mine’ exhibition
The literature from the exhibition explaining the works
These were some of my favorite works from the exhibition:
The exotic works
The unusual works
The unique paintings and ceramics
One of my favorite pieces from the exhibition. I thought this was quite exotic.
I walked next through Carn-O-Rama and experienced the workings behind the scenes of a traveling carnival reaching the suburbs. I always thought it was just lights, rides and cotton candy. There is more to it than that.
After my visits to the three galleries, I took a took to the interactive section of the museum and experienced Funland, where I walked though Stardust Lane and all the lights and sounds of the mirrored rooms.
A Video walk through Funland is a lot of fun. It really pleases the senses.
I next took a trip to Super Funland and this was my trip through Stardust Lane. This is all lights and mirrors and it was an unusual walk through the museum that challenges the senses. Walking through Super Funland is a voyage in the wild with mirrors and music.
It get pretty interesting walking through here.
In another video walk through of Funland, I met a lot of interesting people on my walk through the museum. It really puts you into a interesting mood.
The pathway around the museum took me to other interactive exhibitions. Jump for joy was a very interesting interactive world of different sexual parts and mood lighting.
The ‘Jump for Joy’ exhibition
Then I walked through ‘Lucky Land’
Then I walked through and climbed ‘The Pink Palace’, a series of colored features that led through what looked like another sexual parts. This is called the ‘ClimbX”.
The colored building blocks of the exhibition of “ClimbX”
The colored blocks of the exhibition “ClimbX”
Another object to climb through on your way out of the exhibition.
It really is an interesting museum to visit. You really have to stop and enjoy the pleasures of each floor. You have to take the time experience all the sights and sounds. The funny part of leaving the museum is that there is an exotic food vendor on Fifth Avenue with the most unusual items he sells.
The Erotic Waffle food truck just outside the museum. Not your kids food truck. The truck sold sexual organ pastries, waffles and other exotic items. You have to stop by when you are in the neighborhood!
History of the Museum of Sex:
(This comes from the Museum of Sex History Website)
The Mission of the Museum of Sex is to preserve and present the history, evolution and culture significance of human sexuality. The museum produces exhibitions, publications and programs that bring the best of current scholarship to the wildest possible audiences and is committed to encouraging public enlightenment, discourse and engagement.
The Museum of Sex
The Beginning:
When the Museum of Sex first emerged on New York City’s Fifth Avenue on October 5th, 2002, it was without precedent in the museum world. In the development of its inaugural award winning exhibition NYCSEX: How New York Transformed Sex in America, the Museum created a board of comprised of leading scholars and historians. The Museum’s advisory board has guided curators and guest curators towards research resources, pertinent collections and exhibition relevant artists. Advisors such as Steven Heller, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, PhD, Mike Wallace PhD and June Reinisch, Director Emeritus for The Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender and Reproduction as well as institutional collaborations with New York University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, New York Historical Society and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum have contributed to making the Museum of Sex one of the most dynamic and innovative institutions in the world.
Design has played a pivotal role in both exhibition development and execution with world-renowned design firms such as Pentagram Design Inc, Casson Mannand 2×4, helping to transform the galleries and historic building over the last six years. The museum’s building, built in the area of New York formerly known as the “Tenderloin,” a district of NYC made notorious by the 19th century for its bordellos, dance halls, theaters and saloons, serves as a New York City landmarked site.
Our Work:
Since its inception, the Museum of Sex has generated over 30 exhibitions and 6 virtual installments, each in keeping with the Museum’s mission of advocating open discourse surrounding sex and sexuality as well as striving to present to the public the best in current scholarship, unhindered by self-censorship. With each new exhibition, lecture series, event and publication, the Museum of Sex is committed to addressing a wide range of topics, while simultaneously highlighting material and artifacts from different continents, cultures, time periods and media.
Our Collection:
The Museum’s permanent collection of over 20,000 artifacts is comprised of works of art, photography, clothing and costumes, technological inventions and historical ephemera. Additionally, the museum houses both a research library as well as an extensive multimedia library, which includes 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, BETA, VHS and DVD’s. From fine art to historical ephemera to film, the Museum of Sex preserves an ever-growing collection of sexually related objects that would otherwise be destroyed and discarded due to their sexual content.
Our Public:
In a short time, the Museum has received attention from academic institutions, major publications, media outlets and celebrities, positioning the Museum of Sex within the realm of academia and pop culture alike. The Museum has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire and Time and on television broadcasts ranging from CNN to IFC to NBC’s Law & Order Criminal Intent. Award-winning advertising campaigns in print and television media have sealed the Museum’s arrival as a cultural touchstone.
Accolades continue to pour in from visitors and the press in every corner of the world, inspiring the Museum of Sex to continually surpass its own high expectations. Future planned exhibitions and events-the likes of which have never been offered by any other institution-are guaranteed to captivate and resonate, securing the Museum of Sex a well-deserved, distinguished place in history (Museum of Sex History)
Open: Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday 11:00am-6:00pm/ Tuesday and Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm
Café and Shops have various hours. Please check the website for these.
Fee: General $22.00/Seniors (65 and Older) $16.00/Students and Educators $12.00/Children under 12 are not admitted and Children under 16 years old must be accompanied by an adult. The museum is open on First Fridays from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Please visit the website for more information.
I visited the Neue Galerie for the first time after passing the building on the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This interesting little gallery space has some interesting pieces to see and many decorative objects in the cases.
The gallery space for special exhibitions on the third floor was closed when I visited and being an educator, I got a half price discount off the educator rate was a nice deal.
It was a thrill to finally see the famous Gustav Klimt painting of the “Woman in Gold” that had been such a controversial piece during the Nazi occupation in Germany. It’s beautiful detail work was very innovative then. After all the fighting over the painting it is nice to see that the family sold it to the museum to share it with the world. The gallery where the painting hangs has more works by Gustav Klimt and you can see the extent of his work along the walls of the gallery.
The ‘Woman in Gold’
The side galleries are full of all sorts of objects of art for the home such as chairs, silverware, dishware, clocks and decorative objects. There was a lot of items that still are contemporary in their fashion. The back gallery on the second floor is full of paintings by various German artists.
The Decorative Objects Gallery
The whole museum you can see in about an hour when the special galleries are closed. There is also Cafe Sabarsky on the main floor, a Viennese cafe the serves German food like sausages, salads and pastries. The restaurant is a little over-priced for what it is.
History of the Neue Galerie New York:
Neue Galerie New York is a museum devoted to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design. Located in a landmark mansion built in 1914 by the architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, the museum offers a diverse program of exhibitions, lectures, films, concerts and other events. The second floor galleries are dedicated to a rotating selection of fine and decorative art from Vienna circa 1900, including work by fine artists Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka and decorative artists Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser and Adolf Loos. The third-floor galleries present German fine and decorative art of early twentieth century, including work by Max Beckmann, Ernest Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee and Marcel Breuer. The third floor is also the site for special exhibitions that focus on key individuals and movements, articulating a more complete vision of twentieth-century German and Austrian art (Neue Galerie New York History).
The Gustav Klimt Gallery
Neue Galerie New York was conceived by two men who enjoyed a close friendship over a period of nearly thirty years: art dealer and museum exhibition organizer Sege Sabarsky and businessman, philanthropist and art collector Ronald S. Lauder. Sabarsky and Lauder shared a passionate commitment to Modern German and Austrian art and dreamed of opening a museum to showcase the finest examples of this work. After Sabarsky died in 1996, Lauder carried on the vision of creating Neue Galerie New York as a tribute to his friend (Neue Galerie New York History).
The German art collection represents various movements of the early twentieth century: the Blaue Reiter and its circle (Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, August Macke, Franz Marc, Gabriele Munter) the Brucke (Erich Heckel, Ernest Ludwig Kirchner, Hermann Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff), the Bauhaus (Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, Laszio Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer), the Neue Schlichkeit (Otto Dix, George Grosz, Christian Schad) as well as applied arts from the German Werkbund (Peter Behrens) and the Bauhaus (Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Wilheim Wagenfeld) (Neue Galerie New York History).
Cafe Sabarsky located in a spectacular wood-paneled room on the ground floor has become a favorite spot for New Yorkers. Operated by acclaimed chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, it evokes the great fin-de-siecle cafes of Vienna. The Book Store fills the former library of the mansion and specializes in publications on fine art and architecture from Germany and Austria. The Design Store features objects based on original works by Marianne Brandt, Josef Hoffman, Adolf Loos and other major designers of the era (Neue Galerie New York).
The Ukrainian Institute of America at 2 East 79th Street
I was really impressed by the Ukrainian Institute of America on a recent visit. I must have passed this building a hundred times on my way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and never thought twice of it. I was sorry I did as you will miss a lot by not walking in. The galleries are really impressive and the main gallery on the bottom gives you an interesting look at the history of the Ukrainian.
The first floor gallery discusses the formation of the country, a bit about its history and its ties to Europe and to Russia, its religious past and the current state of affairs of the country including its recent split of the eastern sections of the country and Crimea to Russia. Its a country in turmoil considering they want to join the European Union. It is a country in flux and on the cusp of entering the 21st Century with some of its past still tugging at it. Like all countries, it will prevail on the will of it’s people. There is a lot of solid history here and a country ready to enter its future.
The artwork of artist Vasyl Diadyniuk
The second and third floor galleries are full of art work from Ukrainian artists that is on sale and each of the galleries is dedicated to certain artists selling their works at somewhat hefty prices. Still you get to see the developments of the artists both here and abroad.
The forth floor is dedicated to special exhibitions. There are two shows going on now. One is by artist Vasyl Diadyniuk and another show is by artist Alexander Archipenko.
The artwork of artist Alexander Archipenko
The Museum has an interesting history.
Ukrainian Institute of America History:
The Ukrainian Institute of America Inc. is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to showcase and support Ukrainian culture. To that end, the Institute affords the general public an opportunity to learn about Ukraine and how the Ukrainian spirit expresses itself, with special emphasis on the creative arts.
Founded more than fifty years ago by William Dzus, a prominent Ukrainian industrialist and philanthropist, the Institute sponsors:
*Art exhibitions
*Music concerts
*film screenings
*theater presentations
*Poetry readings
*Lectures and symposia
*Educational programs
*Children’s events
*Documentation center
The history of the building:
The building that is home to the Institute, the National Historic Landmark Harry F. Sinclair House is one of the few remaining examples of the splendid mansions that prominent citizens of New York City built in the 19th Century. The mansion was built in 1897 for Isaac D. Fletcher, a wealthy banker and broker, by the architect C.P.H. Gilbert. Executed in Gothic Revival style, the building is richly decorated with intricate crockets, carvings, moldings, pinnacles and other exquisite details. Six stories high, partly surrounded by a dry moat, the Institute features stately rooms that are magnificently proportioned and lavishly finished (Institute History).
The C.P.H. Gilbert house
In 1887, manufacturer, Isaac D. Fletcher, commissioned famed Gilded Age architect, C.P.H. Gilbert to design the mansion. When Mr. Fletcher died, left this mansion and his art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which sold it to Harry F. Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Oil Company and also famous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome affair. The last private owner was Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant Jr., the last descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, who was the first governor of New Amsterdam, today’s New York City bought the house in 1930 and lived here with his sister, Anne. The house was sold as part of the estate when Mr. Stuyvesant died in 1953. The Ukrainian Institute of America acquired the mansion in 1955 (Institute History).
A key goal of the Institute is to continue to preserve this extraordinary fragment of the city’s history for the benefit of all citizens of New York. The house still retains its wooden moldings and the house looks as if its residents just moved out.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 