NY Historic Soc "Collectors' Choice" - Not My Top Choice for Viewing

The NY Historic Society on CPW is one of my favorite museums in the city (which is saying quite a lot.)  This only caused greater disappointment with this exhibit.  I felt the selections from the collection lot were not so hot.  The exhibit was culled from the museum's permanent collection.  The show featured mostly paintings & those from American painters of the 19thC.  The exhibit claimed to contain both Amer/European artists from the 14th-21st C.  This is a broad spectrum to select from yet I didn't discern the scope to be varied. An entire wall had maritime paintings from the 19th C which didn't float my boat nor did the early Amer portraits of the same epoch.  There were 2 macabre paintings that caught my eye.  One was George Flagg's (b. Amer 1816)  "Murder of Princes" (1834) where 2 angelic, young boys appear to be sleeping but the painting depicts the murdered princes from Shakespeare's "Richard III."  The other bizarre painting is a family portrait by Charles Peale (b. Amer 1741) in which he paints himself overlooking the gathering around the table of his entire family.  No one in the painting shows any sign of life. Their eyes appear blank, only the painter's pet dog seems animated.  I was interested in the paintings & mixed media works showing the NYC skyline prior to 9/11; especially the glowing painting by Yvonne Jacquette (b Amer 1934) painted in 1998 from inside the Wolrd Trade Center.  The other NYC landscapes made towards the end of the 20thC depicted the then open views to both the East River & to the Hudson which are now blocked from view by the egregious over building in reccent years on 10th Ave and the skyscrappers on CPS that are hideous & dwarf the surroundings.  I did like the Picasso sketches for costumes that were made for the commissioned backdrop Le Tricorne now on display at the Historic Soc. as it gave some insight into Picasso's masterpiece and regard for the avante gard Paris Ballet.  The paintings in this gallery are staked one on top of each other which I found distracting.  But, it you look way, next to Le Tricorne on its left, there is an exquisite oil painting by Martin Heade (b Amer  1819) "Study or an Orchid" (1872.)  The "Collectors' Choice" exhibit was too homogenous and lacking in informative curation.  I was curiuous as why these choices were made for the show and even more interested in what didn't make the cut.  In conclusion, The "Collectors' Choice" didn't cut it for me.