From the Archives | Perspectives | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Birches" by Robert Frost: An Optical Poem, 2024

“When I see birches bend to left and right / Across the lines of straighter darker trees, / I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.” On April 7, 1955, Robert Frost delivered a poetry reading at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

March 26

collage of a harlem block with two buildings. A jazz band plays and children also play on the street.

The Sounds of The Block

How does the rediscovery of an audio component for Romare Bearden’s monumental collage transform our understanding of it?

Lauren Rosati February 22

Model wearing a white silky outfit and a silver and gold embroidered jacket designed by Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent: When Fashion Meets Art

On the 40th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent’s exhibition at The Met, we revisit the connection between fashion and art.

Aurola Wedman Alfaro Dec 14, 2023

Picasso on Stein

Learn how Picasso’s defining portrait of Gertrude Stein helped usher in a new era of modern art and literature.

Francesca Wade Nov 22, 2023

The buildings that field owned before they were torn down in a sepia photograph.

A Home for Modern Art in Brooklyn

Hamilton Easter Field worked to bring Brooklyn into the New York art world in the early 20th century—but his efforts have been overlooked.

Anna Jozefacka Nov 13, 2023

An interior courtyard featuring sculptures and potted plants

Green Rooms: Plants at the Museum

Gallery photographs over the last century reveal the evolving use of plants in indoor design.

Jennie Choi Nov 8, 2023

abstract cubist image with a lot of whites, browns, and greys and lines everywhere.

Reevaluating Picasso’s Unfinished Masterpiece

Scholar and curator Anna Jozefacka discusses an unrealized decorative commission by Pablo Picasso intended for a Brooklyn residence.

Isabelle Qian Oct 16, 2023

Detail of the pamphlet for the Act Up Art Box, with the participating artists names and places where one could find the objects on view

A Short History of the ACT UP Art Box

"ACT UP felt like a collision of creativity, political fervor, and justifiable anger..."

Peter Antony Jun 7, 2023

Ming Garden, 1983

This short film from 1983 documents the installation of a Ming-style garden courtyard at The Met, the first permanent cultural exchange between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

May 16, 2023

A pair of black men with feathers decorating their heads and body next to a cup covered with a lid

The Linsky Project: Reinterpreting Porcelain Figures

New interpretive labels help visitors navigate the role of the decorative arts in negotiating race, labor, colonialism, and global commerce.

Marlise Brown Apr 12, 2023