Brooklyn Museum, New York

Brooklyn is one of New York City's trendy neighborhoods with many scenic areas, cultural attractions and parks. The Brooklyn Museum is the second largest museum in New York City and one of the most prestigious in the country.

The Brooklyn Museum's roots date back to the founding of the so-called Augustus Graham Apprentice Library in 1823. Gradually, the library's status changed as exhibitions of paintings and sculptures were presented in the Lyons Brooklyn Building, and lectures on a variety of subjects were also held. In the 1890s, plans were made for the Brooklyn Museum, which was to be the largest art museum in the world. The huge white building was designed by the prominent American architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. Construction began in 1895 on 52 acres, but only the west wing and one of the courtyards were completed.

The Brooklyn Museum has a permanent collection of about 1.5 million works. In addition, the museum is known for its vast number of exhibits of Egyptian and African art, as well as 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th century paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. The Brooklyn Museum's libraries and archives hold some 300 thousand volumes and many books, documents, prints, textiles, and other items.

The renovated entrance to the Brooklyn Museum was created in 2005, but fits very well with the architecture of the interesting building. The wide staircase leads to the information center in the lobby, where the cloakroom and gift shop are. From the pleasant café you can enjoy views of the outdoor sculpture garden with a lion from Coney Island Amusement Park, a replica of the 19th century Statue of Liberty and more.

At the Brooklyn Museum, the visitor is introduced to the most interesting of the art of the various peoples of the continents. On the first floor is a collection of artwork from Africa and the Pacific Islands, spanning 2,500 years of human history. Among the masterpieces in the museum is a brass figure of a man playing a horn, made in the 16th century for the Nigerian king of Benin. Notable is the wooden figurine of King Kuba, believed to be among the oldest ndop carvings. They are characteristically 48-55 cm high, carved on wood and smeared with palm oil to protect against insects. The Pacific collection has exhibits made from coconut fibre, feathers, shells, clay, bones, human hair, moss and cobwebs

On the first floor is a collection of Native American art including totem poles (19th century) from British Columbia.

On the second floor of the Brooklyn Museum are the Asian and Islamic collections, including paintings by artists from the Muslim world.

The wonderful world-famous Egyptian collection, spanning four millennia, can be seen on the museum's third floor. It owes its existence to the journalist Charles Edwin Wilbur (1833-1896), who became an Egyptologist exploring the valley of the river. He was a graduate of the Egyptian Museum in Egypt, where he studied the Nile. After Charles's death, his wife donated his extensive library to the museum, and in 1932 his heirs helped to open the Egyptology Department, "Egypt Reborn," at the Brooklyn Museum. This led to seven more galleries with over 1200 sculptures, bas-reliefs, paintings, pottery and papyri dating back to the origins of Egypt c. 1917. 3500 BC to Roman rule. On display here is one of Wilbur's most precious finds: a 1352 tablet depicting King Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti.

Very valuable are the exhibits from the reign of Tutankhamun, and also the astonishing "Ark of the Ibis"; the statue of Nebsen's wife and his wife Nebeta from 1352 BC. In addition to the Egyptian collection, the third floor displays European paintings and wonderful works by 19th century artists such as Cézanne, Matisse and Sano di Pietro, among others.

Of interest in the Brooklyn Museum is the Elizabeth A. Sackler". An exceptional exhibit is on display here-"The Dinner Party" by Judy Chicago. "The Supper" is a huge triangular table designed to seat 39 people with each seat reserved for one of the greatest women who contributed to the advancement of humanity.

There is chinaware, a plate and a cup for each of them and also a napkin with their most important contribution inscribed. Production began in 1974 and continued until 1979. 400 other people were involved in making this extraordinary project besides Judy, who worked alone for 3 years.The materials they used were tiles with porcelain painting on them and also textiles. Although it has been criticized this work of art is impressive in its execution and the rise of the woman artist.

On the fifth floor of the Brooklyn Museum is the Lewis Center for American Art, created by the Henry Lewis Foundation. Over 2,500 objects from the museum's collection of American painting and sculpture can be seen here.

On the first Saturday of each month from 5 to 11 p.m., the museum offers live music and free admission to interesting exhibitions.

For people who want to see something interesting and unconventional in art, the Brooklyn Museum is one of those places.