Abbie Zabar, “February 4, 2002” (2002), colored pencil on cardboard (collection of the artist, all images courtesy Wave Hill)
For 10 years, artist Abbie Zabar had a ritual: go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sketch the new floral arrangements adorning the entrance hall. Selections from her Flowers in the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art series are on view at Wave Hill in the Bronx, capturing in still life the most ephemeral art of the Manhattan museum.
Flowers in the entrance hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (photo by Rob DiCaterino/Flickr) (click to enlarge)
Abbie Zabar: Ten Year of Flowers is installed in Wave Hill’s Tea Room and features Zabar’s drawings spanning the early 1990s to the early 2000s. Often she visited the museum in the early morning hours. Sometimes she was even granted access before the doors opened to the masses, and from a bench she studied the five huge bouquets that change each week. Drawn with colored pencil, as other art materials are not allowed, each sketch is only about 8 inches by 8 inches, yet each buoyant cloud of color captures the fine details of the huge floral displays.
The four niches in the entrance hall were originally intended for classical sculpture. Now they each hold a flower-filled urn, surrounding a central display at the information desk. The arrangements Zabar sketched were created by longtime Master Floral Designer and Director of Special Events Chris Giftos (now Remco van Vliet is in the role). Funded by an endowment from the late Reader’s Digest co-founder Lila Acheson Wallace, the arrangements reflect the changing seasons and a constant experimentation with mixing exotic and local plants, resulting in forms that often seem gravity-defying. On any given day there might be cherry blossoms, spiky red branches surrounding hydrangeas, sturdy sunflowers, or magnolia leaves bunched around delicate white and pink flowers. The Met keeps its own photographic records of the arrangements, which have been published in books like the 1998 Bouquet from the Met by Barbara Plumb that focused on Giftos’s creations.
Zabar is an avid gardener herself, and a value for the different blooms and branches is evident in her drawings, which resonate well with Wave Hill’s gardens. They may just be quick studies, but there’s an appreciation in them for the art of balance and harmony achieved through the individual elements of the arrangements.
Abbie Zabar, “December 6, 1994” (1994), colored pencil on paper (collection of the artist)
Abbie Zabar, “May 19, 1995” (1995), colored pencil on paper (private collection)
Abbie Zabar, “February 1, 1997” (1997), colored pencil on paper (collection of the artist)
Abbie Zabar, “November 19, 1999” (1999), colored pencil on paper (collection of Janet Mavec & Wayne Nordberg)
Abbie Zabar, “December 17 & 23, 2000” (2000), colored pencil on paper (collection of Adina Cohen)
Abbie Zabar, “June 23, 2002” (2002), colored pencil on blackboard (collection of Carla LaGrassa)
Abbie Zabar, “May 17, 2003” (2003), colored pencil on paper (collection of the artist)
Abbie Zabar: Ten Year of Flowers continues at Wave Hill (675 West 252nd Street, Hudson Hill, The Bronx) through October 4.
Thank you for including the work of an artist who uses flowers as his medium in the story about an artist who sketches his compositions.
“Her” medium, but yes!
No, no – I was referring to Remco Van Vliet – the artist who created the floral designs.
Ah, got it, was thrown off by the sketching reference.
No matter what you do, discipline and dedication is an integral part. Admire Abbie Zabar on her dedication for 10 long years to visit the museum probably every week. Not many of us have such dedication. Would love to see complete collection.
Shona Mcdermid – Florist at: http://homelandflorists.co.uk