Neue Galerie New York

A wonderful collection of Austrian and German art and high-end crafts. There are both permanent exhibition, as well as temporary ones (I was informed these last usually 3-4 months) with work loaned from other museums, institutions, and private collections.

(Please note that No Photography is allowed at any time for any work and interior shots. The only place allowed is at the Basement near the restrooms, where they have a replica of the famous Klimt painting “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Please make sure of this, because if you take photo of your friend or yourself even in the hallway and a staff catches this, you will be admonished.)

Gallery monitor staff are all friendly and informative, as are the Bookstore staff. (The 4-Star rating is due to the disorganization of the entry process.)

The Bookstore alone is a haven for art lovers. With traditional bookstores disappearing from our life, it is magnificent to have a small shop filled with coffee table Art & Architecture books and general books on Art History.

(If you do not wish to see artwork and intend only to visit the Café and/or Bookstore, you can do so without a ticket. Check hours for opening. Café opens before the Gallery opens, and Bookstore opens at 11AM until 6PM.)

Tip: If it rains hard, you happen to arrive before the gallery opens and have to wait in the rain, just tell the Guard that you intend to go to the Café (and make sure you do go to the Café!) as it will allow immediate entry, ahead of the gallery visitors. Believe me, it would save you a lot of trouble. The cost of an iced tea or a cup of coffee will be well worth it than standing outside in the chaos like what I experienced today.)

Now, shall I share with you about the organization of the entry process? This refers of course only to my visit that day and hopefully will not be repeated at any other day.

Arriving 15-minutes prior to opening on a Saturday morning with hard rain, we were made to wait outside. At least on that day, the Gallery did not have a rule in place, i.e., separation of queue lines between ticket holders and non-ticket holders. As a result, people who came after a long line had formed were told to wait on a new line. Then the guard himself got confused when the two lines were comprised of both ticket holders and non-ticketed people. More confusion as the door opened for business, people from the second line tried to cut in the original queue of people. Entry was limited to two people at a time, due to bag check, umbrella check (handed to guard to be sheathed in plastic,) and phone surrender (which the guard never passed to owner, so please make sure to get your belongings back.

The Gallery should place a simple sign that let people know where to stand. The guards need to be informed of this, too. One guard really sowed confusion and caused unfairness for people who had come earlier and had to change line to stand behind people who came much later. Even standing at number 2 in line, I was not immune to this chaos.

Once inside for bag check, a guard kept telling me to stand away from the examination table as he was processing person #1. But doing so would make me stand and block the door, and that’s exactly what happened. Another guard asked me to stay away from the door, which pushed me back to the first guard’s zone. Serenity now. Haha.

Please have a lovely time at this Gallery.