Materials

Learn how our conservation and scientific research departments innovate to study the materials in the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

layers of pick shaped colors on top of each other almost looking like a flower with orange creeping out from the top left corner.

Color and Form

Learn about the multifaceted ways postwar artists engaged with color through a selection of vibrant prints.

So THAT'S How You Make Paint? Egg Tempera

What does a cake have in common with an Italian Renaissance painting? The answer may surprise you! Watch to learn about the special properties of egg yolk that make it just as perfect for painting as it is for baking.

Make Tempera Paint at Home

Did you know that you can make paint in your very own home? In this experiment, make a glorious painting using only ingredients from your kitchen cabinet and refrigerator.

Vincent  Van Gogh’s Cypresses hangs on a wall in a wooden frame. The painting depicts tall trees on the left side with a swirling sky behind.

Van Gogh’s Materials and Process I Sunday at The Met

Gain a deeper understanding of Van Gogh’s artistic process through new discoveries from recent technical studies of Wheat Field with Cypresses and Cypresses in The Met collection. Hear from Museum experts about how these examinations have enriched our understanding of Van Gogh’s materials and process and shed light on his artistic vision.

Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with Chinese Calligraphy

Grab your brush and ink and give calligraphy a try to commemorate the Lunar New Year!

Collage in blue and orange tones depicting flowers, mugs and a few other abstract shapes

Feminine/Masculine: The Collages of Picasso, Braque, and Gris

How did Cubist artists use collage to probe the relationship between the sexes?

The Bechers in Ohio, 1987

Watch a silent film of the photographer couple, Bernd and Hilla Becher, on a road trip through the American heartland.

Irving Penn's "The Tarot Reader (Bridget Tichenor and Jean Patchett), New York" with two women in stylist black clothing reading tarot cards with a diagram of a hand behind them

Immaterial: The Tarot Reader

“At first glance, this Irving Penn photo looks like it could be its own tarot card.”
A metallic black and gold texture

Immaterial: Metals, Part Two

Let’s talk about the metals that break the rules.
A close up detail of a highly reflective gilded and enameled cup adorned with floral motives set within geometric patterns.

Electrolytic Etching

A process that eats into designated areas of a material's surface through the application of acids or an electrical current.
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