July 10, 2023

When you’re at The Cloisters,

if it feels like you are in Medieval Europe, you are. The exterior of the museum is gorgeous. The buildings are centered around four cloisters, which were looted in Europe and brought to America block by block right before World War II. The museum is administered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is in Fort Tyron Park in Washington Heights, which is in uptown Manhattan. It’s peaceful just to walk around outside admiring the architecture and Hudson River views. Inside you’ll find treasures from the medieval ages including tapestries, manuscripts, paintings, and more. Again, most looted but presented in such a stately manner that their provenance is often and easily overlooked.

I first visited The Cloisters in 1982ish. Spenser Gifts was in most malls back then and in the back, next to the 3D art was the Make your Own Tee-Shirt machine. Next day I wandered the medieval treasures at the Cloisters wearing: “Everything Here” (front)  “Is Stolen” (back). I thought it was subtle enough. Now, many years later,  I intend to go back. This time I will visit with respect for a job well-done. They got away with it.  “They” in this case are two well-known robber barons: John D. Rockefeller Jr and JPMorgan. The third was a not so successful American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard who between the years 1890 and 1925 wandered Europe and accumulated a sizeable collection of European art and antiquities.

Described as eccentric and forgetful, Barnard could revile an audience with tales of uncovering a sculpture being used as a bridge across a stream in southern France; or losing chest loads of purchase receipts crossing steep mountain passes. Rockefeller paid Barnard for his stuff and donated everything to the Museum he and JPMorgan were having built on the Hudson. Barnard’s years of accumulations became the basis for the Cloisters and remain so today. No one person or Country has raised their hand in protest. No one has claimed that THEIR church was not Barnard’s to disassemble and ship to America. So, let’s raise a glass to George Grey Barnard, America’s first Indiana Jones and always meant to be the fall guy should any embarrassing lawsuits have been served. Good job, fellas, and while none of it is ours – “we” did, and “we” are keeping it all nice and neat and clean. The Cloisters is worth a visit AND a Donation.