Press release

SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS JANUARY - APRIL 2004

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Information provided below is subject to change. To confirm scheduling and dates, call the Communications Department at (212) 570-3951.
CONTACT NUMBER FOR USE IN TEXT IS (212) 535-7710.

New Exhibitions
Upcoming Exhibitions
Continuing Exhibitions
New and Recently Opened Installations
Traveling Exhibitions Visitor Information

OF SPECIAL NOTE

 Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557) , the third in a chronological series of major loan exhibitions that began in 1977 with The Age of Spirituality, focuses on the dramatic cultural and artistic achievements of the last great age of Byzantine culture.

The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, opening May 18, celebrates the recent gift to the Metropolitan Museum of more than 100 works from the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation, including works in various media by Henri Matisse as well as by other prominent 20th-century artists.
 Opening June 10,
Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, features oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints by the leader of American Impressionism, whose depictions of his own time are enchanting and distinctive records of color and light.

NEW EXHIBITIONS

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration
January 13–April 18, 2004

As with Close's large paintings, the subjects of his prints are the faces of relatives or fellow artists as well as self-portraits. This retrospective presents more than 100 images, ranging from Close's first print, Keith, a mezzotint made in 1972, to the 113-color Japanese-style ukiyo-e woodcut Emma, completed in 2002. There are also other intaglios and woodcuts, linoleum cuts, silk-screen prints, a lithograph, and editioned pulp paper works. In addition, the exhibition displays a number of progressive proofs and state proofs of certain images, so that Close's working methods are made clear to the viewer, as well as woodblocks, etching plates, and other print matrixes.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book published by Princeton University Press, with an essay by Richard Schiff and interviews with Close and the master printers for most of his editions. The interviews are conducted by Terrie Sultan, director of the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston, where the exhibition was organized and where it was on view from September 13 to November 23, 2003. After the showing at the Metropolitan Museum, the exhibition will travel to other institutions.
Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration was organized by Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. The exhibition and publication have been generously underwritten by the Neuberger Berman Foundation. Additional support was made possible by the Lannan Foundation, Jon and Mary Shirley, The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation and Houston Endowment Inc., Jonathan and Marita Fairbanks, Dorene and Frank Herzog, Andrew and Gretchen McFarland, Carey Shuart, The Wortham Foundation, Inc., Karen and Eric Pulaski, Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg, and Texas Commission on the Arts.
In New York, the exhibition is made possible in part by Jane and Robert Carroll.
Press preview: Monday, January 12, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Playing with Fire: European Terracotta Models, 1740–1840
January 28–April 25, 2004

From quick preliminary sketches to completely finished models, approximately 130 terracottas demonstrate the dash and erudition of modelers across Europe during the Neoclassical age. The period saw unprecedented explorations of Greco-Roman antiquity, in which sculptors eagerly took part. Certain geniuses, bearers of such well-known names as Canova, Dannecker, Roland, and Sergel, are seen in considerable depth. The works are grouped thematically, emphasizing the typologies that preoccupied sculptors, such as self-portraiture, monuments to famous men, glimpses of arcadia, and the loves of the gods. The exhibition is made possible in part by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
Additional support has been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The exhibition has also been supported by Franklin Industries Inc.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Press preview: Monday, January 26, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
February 3–May 2, 2004

On view are more than 100 woodcuts, engravings, and etchings by artists from Mantegna to Tiepolo, along with illustrated books, all narrating the mythological tales most popular with Italian artists. Among the favored themes are the ancient gods as patrons of music, poetry, and painting and as participants in music competitions, along with the festivities surrounding Bacchus and his favorite disciple, the drunken yet wise Silenus. A large section of the exhibition celebrates the triumph of love—the power of Cupid's arrows to make fools of even the most august gods. The exhibition concludes with the heroic exploits of Hercules and the legendary history of Rome, from the apple of discord that initiated the Trojan War to the rape of the Sabine women.
The exhibition is made possible by The Schiff Foundation.
Accompanied by an illustrated publication.
Press preview: Monday, February 2, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Chocolate, Coffee, Tea
February 3–July 11, 2004

The introduction of these three beverages into 17th-century Europe resulted from the sustained contacts of the seagoing nations and direct trade with formerly inaccessible parts of the world, such as Mexico, Arabia, and China. A great variety of new utensils were developed to serve the new drinks, first for great households and quickly thereafter for the popular market. The Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts is drawing on its large collection to illustrate this theme.

Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture
February 10–September 5, 2004

Idealized pairings have been an enduring concern of sculptors in many sub-Saharan African cultures. This exhibition examines the theme through approximately 50 works of sculpture in wood, bronze, terracotta, and beadwork, dating from the 12th to the 20th century. The examples are drawn from some 30 distinct African traditions, including those of the Dogon, Lobi, Baule, Senufo, Yoruba, Chamba, Jukun, Chokwe, Hemba, Songye, Luba, Mangbetu, Sakalava, and Zulu. The astonishingly rich and diverse forms of expression considered have been selected for their aesthetic attributes as well as their specific cultural significance. The earliest works displayed are an array of seated male and female couples in terracotta and bronze from the ancient urban center of Djenne-Jeno in present-day Mali. These sculptures, likely dating from the 12th century, were created to be placed on altars and carried as personal amulets. In later works from the region, created between the 16th and 20th centuries by Dogon sculptors, imagery of couples relates at once to Creation, productivity, and the fundamental interdependence and complementarity of man and woman. The elemental abstract graphic motif is a pervasive element of the iconography of Dogon artifacts, ranging from freestanding sculpture created for ancestral altars to carved granary doors and locks. Pair or Janus representations, as seen in many of the traditions that are featured, reflect the object's role in bridging human and ancestral realms in order to elicit divine insights into the human condition. Across central Africa, paired figures are an integral aspect of the insignia of leaders that comments upon the divinely ordained nature of kingship.
Accompanied by an illustrated publication.
Press preview: Monday, February 9, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Douglas Dillon Legacy:
Chinese Painting for the Metropolitan Museum

March 11–August 8, 2004

Douglas Dillon (1909–2003), former Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum's Board of Trustees, became involved with Asian art out of his respect for Asia's importance in world affairs and the need to represent its cultures at the Metropolitan in a comprehensive manner. This exhibition, comprising more than 60 masterworks of Chinese painting acquired through the generosity of Mr. Dillon and The Dillon Fund, as well as several noteworthy gifts presented in his honor or memory, highlights his lasting contribution to the field of Chinese art. Spanning more than 1,000 years of Chinese painting, from the 8th to the 18th century, the exhibition constitutes a compelling survey of all the major schools and trends of the last four dynasties.

Marius de Zayas & the Stieglitz Circle
March 19–June 27, 2004

Marius de Zayas (Mexican, 1880–1961) was an integral member of the avant-garde circle of painters and photographers that showed their work in New York at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery "291." De Zayas's lively caricatures of Stieglitz and other key members (ca. 1909–15) capture the essence not only of their physical appearances, but also of their personalities. Exhibited together with photographic portraits from the Museum's collection and published documents, this installation of some 30 works conveys the spirited dynamics of the Stieglitz Circle and de Zayas's role as advisor and chronicler.

Klee: The Late Years
March 19–June 27, 2004

This selection from The Berggruen Klee Collection focuses on the last 10 years of the painter's life, 1930 to 1940. During these years, Klee taught at the Düsseldorf Academy and returned to live in his native Bern. In Klee's later pictures, which became large in scale and heavy in line, his style turned boldly decorative. The works from this period are rarely shown in this country.

Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)
March 23–July 4, 2004

This major international loan exhibition, the third in a chronological series devoted to the art and influence of Byzantine civilization, demonstrates the artistic and cultural significance of the last centuries of the state that called itself "the Empire of the Romans." Donor portraits introduce the peoples of this world, with the importance of the era primarily being demonstrated through the arts created for the Orthodox church and for the churches of other East Christian states that aspired to be the heirs to the empire's power. The impact of its culture on the Islamic world and the Latin-speaking West is also explored—especially the influence of the Christian East on the development of the Renaissance. The exhibition begins in 1261, when the capital Constantinople was restored to imperial rule, and concludes in 1557, when the empire that had fallen to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 was renamed Byzantium—the name by which it is still known today.
The exhibition is made possible by Alpha Bank.
Sponsorship is also provided by the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, the A. G. Leventis Foundation and the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, March 15, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Bishop Jades
Opening March 30, 2004

The jade collection of Heber R. Bishop was formed in the last quarter of the 19th century and was donated to the Metropolitan Museum in 1901. Consisting of over 1,000 objects—primarily Chinese jades of the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as jades from Mughal India—it was the first major collection of its kind in the country. Since 1970, works from the collection have been shown in different galleries of the Metropolitan. Now, for the first time in more than 30 years, this exhibition unites a selection of the finest examples of Chinese and Mughal Indian jades from this renowned collection and celebrates the reinstallation of the Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for Chinese Decorative Arts.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates, Central Park, New York
April 6–July 25, 2004

This exhibition documents the evolution of the widely anticipated outdoor work of art The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005, conceived by the husband-and-wife collaborators Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Scheduled for presentation during 16 days in February 2005, the completed project will consist of 7,500 saffron-colored gates set up at 12-foot intervals along 23 miles of pedestrian walkways that lace New York's Central Park. The exhibition traces the development of this project, begun in 1979, through the display of 50 preparatory drawings and collages by Christo, 40 photographs, and 10 maps and technical diagrams. Also on view are components of one of the actual 16-foot-high gates.
The exhibition is made possible by an anonymous donor.
All works in the exhibition are courtesy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
Accompanied by an illustrated publication.
Press preview: Monday, April 5, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Dangerous Liaisons: The Art of Seduction>
Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century

April 29–August 8, 2004

Dangerous Liaisons focuses on dress and its aesthetic interplay with art, furniture, and the broader decorative arts between 1750 and 1789. Presented in the spectacular setting of the Museum's French and English period rooms—The Wrightsman Galleries and the Annie Laurie Aitkin Galleries—the exhibition explores the dressed body's spatial negotiation of the 18th-century interior as a choreography of seduction and erotic play. The coquettish Polonaise dress with its hem raised to reveal the ankle is juxtaposed with a side table that transforms into a dressing table through mechanisms similar to the gown's hidden ties. The arch of the foot introduced by shoes with a Louis-style heel is seen with the scrolling legs of tables and chairs from the period shod in ormolu sabots. Lavish banyans, the "undress" of the 18th-century rakes, and fans, an accessory that could be wielded with both decorous and flirtatious intent, are presented as the favored modes of beguilement of the 18th-century man about town and his femme du monde counterpart.
The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are made possible by Asprey.
Additional support has been provided by Condé Nast.
Press preview: Monday, April 26, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Andy Goldsworthy on the Roof
May 4–October 31, 2004 (weather permitting)

British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy (born 1956), known for working in, and with, the natural landscape, has been invited by the Museum to create this year's sculpture exhibition on The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, the most dramatic outdoor space for sculpture in New York City. Using organic elements gleaned in rural landscapes, the artist will construct two monumental domes of wood and stone—each 17 feet in height and 24 feet in diameter—inspired by Central Park and its architectural setting. Inherent in these seemingly simple forms are the implicit power, beauty, mystery, and elemental aspects of nature, marked by the passage of time and by human contact.
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden offers spectacular panoramic views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline. Beverage and sandwich service will be available from 10:00 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings. Press preview: Monday, May 3, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection
May 18, 2004–June 26, 2005

This exhibition is a celebration and acknowledgment of the recent gift to the Metropolitan Museum of more than 100 works from the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation. Pierre Matisse (1900–1989), a prominent art dealer in New York, was the younger son of the French painter Henri Matisse (1869–1954). Pierre and Maria-Gaetana von Spreti (1943–2001) were married in 1974, and in 1995 Mrs. Matisse established the foundation in their names to implement her own and her late husband's philanthropic interests. The exhibition lasts one year, and it will be presented in two consecutive installations. Works by Henri Matisse, the central feature of the collection, include paintings, sculpture, drawings, linocuts, and aquatints, as well as a ceramic plate and a large paper cut-out. Two other sections of the first installation will be devoted to 14 other painters and sculptors working between 1911 and 1959: Balthus, Butler, Carrington, Chagall, Delvaux, Derain, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Lam, MacIver, Magritte, Mason, Miró, and Tanguy. The second installation will add works by younger painters and sculptors associated with Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse. Since works on paper are sensitive to light, the second installation will also offer a different selection of drawings and original prints.
Accompanied by a Bulletin.
Press preview: Monday, May 17, 10:00 a.m.–noon

"People of the Twentieth Century":
August Sander's Photographic Portrait of Germany

May 25–September 19, 2004

Though it was never fully realized or adequately understood, August Sander's Menschen des 20 Jahrhunderts (People of the Twentieth Century) was intended as a comprehensive photographic index of the German population, classified into seven groups by social "type": Der Bauer (the farmer); Der Handwerker (the skilled tradesman); Die Frau (the woman); Die Stände (classes and professions); Die Künstler (the artists); Die Großstadt (the city); and Die letzten Menschen (the last people). The Nazis confiscated his first publication of the work, but 600 portraits made between 1911 and 1952 survive, as well as Sander's notes and plans for the project, which provided the basis for its reconstruction in book and exhibition form by the August Sander Archiv in Cologne. This exhibition of approximately 150 images will provide American viewers with a rare opportunity to view the collective accomplishment of this extraordinary photographer. The artistic context and wide influence of Sander's "typological" approach to photography will be explored in an installation of approximately 40 works running concurrently in the adjacent Howard Gilman Gallery.
The exhibition was organized by Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne. Accompanied by a seven-volume publication.
Press preview: Monday, May 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Painters of Reality:
The Legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy

May 27–August 15, 2004

This exhibition of some 130 paintings and drawings will explore the rich, ongoing tradition of naturalism in the arts in the north Italian region of Lombardy beginning with Leonardo's stay in Milan and continuing through the beginning of the 18th century. Caravaggio will be at its center, as he was trained in Milan and considered himself a Lombard artist—through him this naturalist approach was brought to Rome and became of key importance to Baroque art there and throughout Europe.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Drue E. Heinz Fund and the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.
The exhibition has been organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Associazione Promozione Iniziative Culturali di Cremona.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, May 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Ruhlmann: Genius of Art Deco
June 8–September 5, 2004

The work of émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879–1933) epitomizes the glamour of the French Art Deco style of the 1920s. Aesthetic refinement, sumptuous materials, and impeccable construction place his work on a par with the finest furniture and decorative arts of any era. The most renowned designer of his day, and best known for his exquisite furniture, Ruhlmann could provide any element needed for an interior, from the architecture to the lighting, ceramics, carpets, and textiles. In this first major retrospective to examine all aspects of the legendary designer's career, the Metropolitan Museum will present its own significant holdings of Ruhlmann's works, augmented by major loans from public and private U.S. and international collections. In addition to a wide range of objects, more than 100 rarely seen drawings from the Ruhlmann Archive in France will make it possible to trace the evolution of his designs from rough sketch to finished product. The exhibition will also provide a unique opportunity to understand the achievement of Art Deco. The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation.
The exhibition was organized and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Le Musée des Années 30, Boulogne-Billancourt.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, June 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Art Deco Paris
June 8–September 5, 2004

A complement to
Ruhlmann: Genius of Art Deco
, this exhibition will provide an opportunity to examine the broader context of high-style Parisian design in the 1920s. It will include outstanding examples of the work of Ruhlmann's contemporaries—both collaborators and competitors—from furniture by Süe et Mare to jewelry by Georges Fouquet, bookbindings by Pierre Legrain, lacquer by Jean Dunand, metalwork by Edgar Brandt, and costumes by Jeanne Lanvin. All works are drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's collections.
Press preview: Monday, June 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon

American Impressions, 1865–1935:
Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors from the Collection

June 8–September 5, 2004

Organized to coincide with the retrospective Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, described below, this exhibition will highlight works by Hassam's contemporaries in media in which he also excelled. James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and Maurice Prendergast will be among the artists featured.
Press preview: Monday, June 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Childe Hassam, American Impressionist
June 10–September 12, 2004

This exhibition of works by the leading American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859–1935) will be the first scholarly retrospective held in a museum since 1972. The exhibition will include from Hassam's huge output about 120 oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels, and some 25 prints. It will take a new look at Hassam's distinctive images, in which he created enchanting effects of color and light, and will examine these works in view of the artist's credo that "the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him." Featured will be Hassam's striking portrayals of Boston, Paris, and New York and his nostalgic interpretations of country sites in America and Europe. Increasingly challenged by modern life—and modern art—after 1900, Hassam chose to paint tranquil interior vignettes, iconic New England churches, and his great Flag series, among other subjects; these will also be highlighted. The exhibition is made possible by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
Additional support for the exhibition and accompanying catalogue has been provided by the Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund.
Press preview: Monday, June 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Art, Form, and Function of Gilt Bronze in the French Interior
July 26, 2004–February 2005

Both functional and highly decorative gilt-bronze mounts and bronzes d'ameublement, such as lighting, fireplace fittings, and clocks, played a very important role in the French interior from the late 17th until the early 19th century. This exhibition will focus on the use of gilt bronze as well as on the designs and techniques involved in the casting, chasing, and gilding of gilt-bronze objects. Many of the works that will be displayed were part of the collection of the Parisian architect, ceramicist, and collector Georges Hoentschel (1855–1915).

Tapestries and Silverwork from the Colonial Andes
September 28–December 12, 2004

This exhibition will focus on two uniquely rich Andean art forms—tapestry weaving and silverwork—that continued to flourish in the region during the Colonial period, from the mid-16th through the early 19th century. The approximately 175 works, on loan from public and private collections in the United States, South America, and Europe, represent some of the greatest artistic achievements of the Viceroyalty of Perú. Their juxtaposition, together with a selected group of important Colonial paintings and other related objects, will document the creative vitality of the complex Andean culture that developed after the Conquest.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

China: The Dawn of the Golden Age (200–750 AD)
October 5, 2004–January 23, 2005

Spanning the centuries that witnessed the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages in the West, the Han (206 B.C.–A.D. 220) and Tang (618–907) dynasties mark the two great eras in early imperial China. During these periods of dynamic expansion, through political disunity and foreign invasion, Chinese civilization underwent a major transformation. This landmark exhibition will tell the story of Chinese art and culture during this formative period, focusing especially on cross-cultural interchange between East and West. Comprising some 300 objects in all, this will be one of the largest exhibitions ever to come out of China. While most of the objects are Chinese in origin, the exhibition will also present gold artifacts of the nomadic peoples from Mongolia, who occupied north China after the collapse of the Han dynasty, and luxury articles of glass and precious metals imported from Western and Central Asia during the 4th to 6th century. Works associated with the early spread of Buddhism in China will be displayed as well, including some of the most famous early Chinese Buddhist sculptures. The exhibition will conclude with a spectacular assemblage of works in every medium from the Tang period, interpreted as the culmination of several centuries of cultural exchange and adaptation resulting from mass migrations and long-distance international trade. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are made possible by The Starr Foundation.

Gilbert Stuart
October 19, 2004–February 27, 2005

The most successful and resourceful portraitist of America's early national period, Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) possessed enormous natural talent, which he devoted to the representation of human likeness and character. This retrospective exhibition will highlight his achievement by displaying a carefully selected group of portraits of exceptional quality, ranging in date from the early works he produced in Newport, Rhode Island, to those executed just prior to his death. There will be a special section devoted to Stuart's celebrated portraits of George Washington.
The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are made possible by
The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.
Additional support for the exhibition catalogue has been provided by the
William Cullen Bryant Fellows.
The exhibition has been organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

George Washington—Man, Myth, Monument
Images from the Metropolitan

October 19, 2004–February 27, 2005

A complement to the Gilbert Stuart exhibition described previously, this is a selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts depicting George Washington.
The works will all be drawn from the American Wing collections of the Metropolitan Museum.

Heritage of Power: Ancient Sculpture from West Mexico
The Andrall E. Pearson Family Collection

October 19, 2004–April 3, 2005

Created to acknowledge many of life's important events, the ceramic sculpture of the western region of Mexico 2,000 years ago is noted for its variety, spontaneity, and the overwhelming presence of the human image. Heroes, houses, and ancestor pairs are rendered in three dimensions to give visual substance to prominent members of society and their significant activities on behalf of community and family, as well as to honor their forebears. Placed in major tombs, the sculptures commemorate the high social position, personal power, and wealth of the deceased. The 40 works of ceramic that will be on display come from the three major west Mexican regions—Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit—and represent the primary style groups of Comala, Ameca-Ezatlán, and Ixtlán del Rio. The sculptures date between 300 B.C. and A.D. 200 and include depictions of birds and animals.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Princely Splendor: The Dresden Court 1580–1620
October 26, 2004–January 16, 2005

Featuring more than 230 major works of arts from the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden, and especially the Green Vault, this exhibition will illustrate the richness of one of the most spectacular princely collections of Europe—the Dresden Kunstkammer—around 1600. During this period of unusual economic prosperity, the Electors of Saxony amassed exotic materials and precious stones mounted with gold and silver, ivory turnings, ebony furniture, clocks and automatons, arms and armor, and bronze sculpture by major European artists.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Wild: Fauna in Fashion
November 2004–February 2005

With the decline of hand-craftsmanship, but a coincident yearning for a more artisanal sensibility in couture, the patterns and textures of wild animals have once again returned to the runway. Focusing on evocations of animism, barbarism, and the transformations of actual animal skins into apparel, Wild addresses the relationship of the fashionable woman to faunal citations in her dress and accessories over the last century. From the taxidermy hat of the Victorian femme fatale and the demure yet charming peacock dressing gowns of the Art Nouveau period to Rudi Gernreich's transformative zebra ensembles and Paco Rabanne's ponyskin armor of the 1960s, Wild will speak to the fashion's metamorphosing role. Citing glamorous historic faunal styles including the slinky 1930s vixen and the 1970s jet-setter, Wild will also examine mythological intimations in costume and will present the predator/prey relationship that has dominated animal fashion in the 20th century. The timeliness of this exhibition will be demonstrated through couture examples from the late 1990s to the present and will include the work of Roberto Cavalli, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Fendi, and Thierry Mugler.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Late November 2004–early January 2005

The Museum will continue a long-standing holiday tradition with the annual presentation of its Christmas tree, a favorite of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world. A vivid 18th-century Neapolitan crèche scene—embellished with a profuse array of diminutive, lifelike attendant figures and silk-robed angels hovering above—adorns the candlelit spruce. Recorded music adds to the enjoyment of the holiday display. Lighting ceremony Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00.
The exhibit of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund
and The Loretta Hines Howard Trust.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

Crossing the Channel: British and French Painting in the Age of Romanticism
Through January 4, 2004

Some 100 paintings and 50 works on paper by such artists as Constable, Turner, Delacroix, and Géricault chart the rich cultural exchanges between Britain and France between 1820 and 1840. A selection of major works that created a dialogue between the two national schools emphasizes artistic affinities in terms of subject, technique, and theoretical approaches, showing that British art made a defining contribution to French Romanticism. The exhibition is made possible by United Technologies Corporation.
The exhibition was organized by Tate Britain, in association with
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

The Dawn of Photography: French Daguerreotypes, 1839–1855
Through January 4, 2004

This exhibition of some 175 works from the dawn of the photographic era is the first major survey of French daguerreotypes—magically detailed, one-of-a-kind images on silver-plated sheets of copper. With extraordinary precision and a boundless ability to represent the world, daguerreotypes boldly announced a revolution that would forever change the history of visual representation. Drawn from major European and North American museums, as well as from private collections and smaller institutions, the works on view include hitherto unseen examples of scientific, ethnographic, exploratory, and historical documentary photography of the 1840s and 1850s, as well as portraits, city views, landscapes, nude studies, and genre scenes that are renowned as key early monuments in the history of photographic art.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
The accompanying CD-ROM catalogue is made possible in part by
the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation Inc.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Educational programs have been made possible by The Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust.

Philip Guston
Through January 4, 2004

This survey of the work of Philip Guston (born Montreal, Canada, 1913, died Woodstock, New York, 1980) comprises more than 75 paintings and drawings documenting each stage of this artist's development, from his precocious beginnings as a Social Realist in the 1930s, through his renown as a lyrical Abstract Expressionist in the 1950s and early 1960s, to his later figurative works, which had a great impact on American and European art of the 1970s and 1980s. The exhibition includes key works drawn from collections in the United States and the U.K. and rarely seen paintings from Australia. Among the highlights are the tondo Bombardment (1937–38), Zone (1953–54), To Fellini (1958), The Studio (1969), and, from the last decade of the artist's life, Painting, Smoking, Eating (1973), Web (1975), Couple in Bed (1977), and others. This exhibition was first on view at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas; after its showing at the Metropolitan Museum, it will be on view at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (January 24–April 12, 2004). The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication (Thames & Hudson, 2003) with essays by Michael Auping, Dore Ashton, Bill Berkson, Andrew Graham-Dixon, and Joseph Rishel, and excerpts from a text by the artist.
This exhibition was organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Through January 4, 2004

The Museum continues a long-standing holiday tradition with the annual presentation of its Christmas tree, a favorite of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world. A vivid 18th-century Neapolitan crèche scene—embellished with a profuse array of diminutive, lifelike attendant figures and silk-robed angels hovering above—adorns the candlelit spruce. Recorded music adds to the enjoyment of the holiday display. Lighting ceremony Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00.
The exhibit of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund
and The Loretta Hines Howard Trust.

El Greco
Through January 11, 2004

This major retrospective exhibition consists of approximately 70 works by the great 16th-century painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known to posterity as El Greco. The works span the whole of his career, from his origins as a painter of icons in his native Crete to his work in Venice and Rome and his definitive move to Toledo, Spain. There are sections devoted to his depiction of saints, a selection of his large-scale altarpieces, a representation of his work as a sculptor, his rare excursions into mythological themes, and an extraordinary selection of his psychologically intense portraits, so greatly admired by Velázquez. The last American exhibition devoted to El Greco was held 21 years ago, in 1982, in Washington, Dallas, and Toledo, Ohio. The guest curator is Professor David Davies of the University of London, an eminent El Greco scholar.
Concurrently on view in the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery for Drawings and Prints
are six of Jackson Pollock's vigorous, schematic drawings after El Greco.
The exhibition is funded by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in celebration of its 25th Anniversary.
The exhibition has been organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the National Gallery, London.
An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Accompanied by a catalogue.

Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan
Through January 11, 2004

This exhibition explores the genesis of the dramatic stylistic changes in Japanese art during the brief but brilliant Momoyama period (1573–1615), which witnessed the struggles of ambitious warlords for control of the long-splintered country and Japan's first encounter with the West. The first comprehensive examination of the subject in the West, the exhibition presents nearly 200 objects—paintings, ceramics, lacquerware, and textiles from public and private collections in Japan, the United States, and Canada—that together illustrate the political, economic, and social forces underlying the unprecedented changes in the arts and aesthetics in late-16th-century Japan. Chief among these forces was Furuta Oribe's (1543/44–1615) innovative approach to the practice of the tea ceremony, culminating in the unique development of the strikingly bold and colorful ceramics known as Oribe. The new creative energy that marked this period found expression not only in Oribe ceramics but in all the arts, which, with their shared motifs, designs, and compositions, evidence a collaboration among artists never before witnessed in the history of Japanese art.
Nomura is the proud sponsor of the exhibition.
Additional support has been provided by the Toshiba International Foundation.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by The Japan Foundation.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in collaboration with The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu.

Arms and Armor: Notable Acquisitions 1991–2002
Through January 18, 2004

This exhibition celebrates more than a decade of acquisitions made since the reinstallation of the Arms and Armor Galleries in 1991. Although high-quality works are becoming increasingly rare, a number of important gifts and purchases have significantly enriched the Museum's renowned collection of European, North American, Japanese, and Islamic arms. Major and more modest acquisitions are displayed, and newly explored areas of collecting such as Tibetan arms and armor are presented for the first time.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Evelyn Sharp Foundation.

Celebrating Saint Petersburg
Through January 25, 2004

Celebrating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Saint Petersburg, the exhibition features the Metropolitan Museum's principal holdings of Russian and European art, spanning the period from about 1700 through the early 20th century, that were either made in the imperial Russian capital or found in former Saint Petersburg collections. The selection of approximately 85 objects includes exquisitely crafted furniture, gold, silver, porcelain, and other luxury items of Russian as well as French, English, and German manufacture. Highlights of the display are the spectacular bust of Alexander Menshikov, the first governor of Saint Petersburg, a recently rediscovered ewer and basin from the "Golden Service" of Catherine I (r. 1725–27), and the newly acquired Imperial Tula steel table from Pavlovsk Palace. The exhibition inaugurates the Metropolitan's new European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Special Exhibitions Gallery.

A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the
Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University

Through January 25, 2004

Some 70 paintings and twice as many drawings and watercolors by 19th-century French, British, and American artists are featured in this selection from the legendary collection that Grenville L. Winthrop (1864–1943) bequeathed in 1943 to Harvard University. Masterpieces by David, Ingres, Géricault, Chassériau, and Moreau are seen alongside important works by Blake, Rossetti, and Burne-Jones. Also featured are pictures by the American artists Whistler, Homer, and Sargent. The selection reflects Winthrop's preference for historical subjects, literary themes, and portraits.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the Janice H. Levin Fund.
The exhibition was organized by the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in collaboration with Ville de Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts and Réunion des musées nationaux, the National Gallery, London, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation Inc. and the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.

Treasures of a Lost Art: Italian Manuscript Painting of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Through February 1, 2004

This exhibition presents to the public for the first time the magnificent collection of Italian illuminated manuscripts formed by Robert Lehman (1891–1969). Comparable only to the famous Cini Collection in Venice in its breadth and scope, Robert Lehman's collection originally comprised 145 works representing all the major centers of manuscript production in Italy from the 13th to the 16th century. On display is a selection of 101 single leaves and cuttings and two bound volumes, many of which are unknown even to scholars. Included are works by some of the most famous names in Italian painting, such as Duccio di Buoninsegna, Stefano da Verona, and Cosimo Tura, as well as visually stunning examples by leading figures in the history of Italian manuscript illumination. The show is accompanied by a comprehensive, fully illustrated catalogue of the entire collection. The exhibition is made possible by Mrs. Alexandre P. Rosenberg.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Art of Simplicity: Amish Quilts from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum
Through February 1, 2004

On display in The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art are nine boldly patterned quilts, ranging in date from 1892 to 1940, that were made by women from Amish communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. The installation explores why certain quilt designs and colors were preferred in different communities, and what the appearance of a particular community's quilts may reveal about its history.
Three recently acquired Midwestern Amish quilts are shown for the first time.
The Eugénie Prendergast Exhibitions of American Art are made possible by a grant from Jan and Warren Adelson.
The textiles in the exhibition are drawn from the Antonio Ratti Textile Center of the Museum.

Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford
Through February 8, 2004

Only the second retrospective of this Hudson River School master's work since the Metropolitan's memorial exhibition in 1880, this exhibition includes nearly 70 paintings of sites in America, Europe, and the Middle East. Gifford's taste for radiant light and aerial effects distinguishes his landscapes from the work of his contemporaries and manifests a personal and poetic strain anticipating later trends in American art. Among subjects with which he was especially identified are those of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River, dreamily transfigured or poignantly charged by his distinctive vision.
The exhibition is made possible by Deedee and Barrie Wigmore.
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by the William Cullen Bryant Fellows of the Metropolitan Museum.

Bravehearts: Men in Skirts
Through February 8, 2004

Throughout the history of Western dress, women have frequently borrowed elements of men's clothing. Examples of men appropriating women's dress, however, are rare. Today, while women enjoy most of the advantages of a man's wardrobe, men enjoy few of the advantages of a woman's wardrobe. Nowhere is this asymmetry more apparent than in the taboo surrounding men in skirts. Bravehearts locates "men in skirts" in historical and cross-cultural contexts and looks at designers as well as individuals who have appropriated the skirt as a means of injecting novelty into male fashion, transgressing moral and social codes and redefining ideals of masculinity.
The exhibition is sponsored by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Dreams of Yellow Mountain:
Landscapes of Survival in Seventeenth-Century China

Through February 22, 2004

This exhibition focuses on landscape paintings created by "leftover subjects" of the Ming dynasty living in and around the former Ming capital of Nanjing during the early years of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911). For these loyalist artists, images of landscape, often inspired by Yellow Mountain (Mount Huang), symbolized survival, resistance, and reclusion in response to alien rule. Featuring 50 works drawn from both the Museum's permanent holdings and private collections, this exhibition is the most comprehensive presentation of such landscapes ever mounted in the United States. The exhibition is timed to coincide with a special loan show of Nanjing School works from the Nanjing Museum at the China Institute Gallery.
The exhibition is made possible by The Eighteen Friends.

Persian Silks of the Safavid Period
Through February 29, 2004

The Safavids of Iran (r. 1501–1722) were great patrons of the arts. A selection of silk textiles produced during this period, drawn from the Museum's extensive holdings, will be shown as a complement to the Asia Society exhibition Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Iran, 1501–1576.

Klee Creatures
Through March 14, 2004

This selection of some 30 paintings and drawings from The Berggruen Klee Collection focuses on the fantastic creatures that inhabit the artist's oeuvre. They include a hypocrite and knight errant, a chair-animal and ventriloquist, an angel applicant and disabled war heroes.

Small Bronzes
Through March 14, 2004

An installation of small bronzes accompanied by related drawings chosen from the Museum's collections of modern art. Among the artists represented are Louise Bourgeois, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Elie Nadelman, Pablo Picasso, and Joel Shapiro. Themes include the human figure, animals real and imaginary, and abstraction.

Significant Objects from the Modern Design Collection
Through April 25, 2004

On display is a rotating selection of works in all media spanning the period from the late 19th to the early 21st century. Approximately 30 examples of furniture, metalwork, silver, ceramics, and glass are shown for their significance, both in art-historical terms and in the context of the Museum's collection.

Medieval Masterworks on Loan from the Morgan Library
Through June 2005

The Metropolitan is displaying seven superb examples of medieval art from the Morgan Library while that facility undergoes renovation. Among them are some of the favorite works of the noted financier and collector J. Pierpont Morgan, a past president of the Metropolitan Museum, including the splendid 12th-century Stavelot Triptych and the dazzling gold and jeweled binding of the Lindau Gospel Book.

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

Reconstruction and Reinstallation of Egyptian Art Galleries
Opening January 29, 2004

Upon entering The Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries of Egyptian Art this winter, visitors will see several newly installed galleries, which are part of a reconstruction project that began in 2002. Highlights of the project include the uncovering of three windows facing Fifth Avenue, the exposure of the original Richard Morris Hunt ceiling beams in the Predynastic/Early Dynastic galleries (up to ca. 2650 B.C.) and in one of the two galleries devoted to the art of Roman Egypt (30 B.C. to around 400 A.D.), and the reconfiguration of the architecture of the tombs of Perneb and Raemkai (ca. 2350 and 2440 B.C.) to more closely resemble their original settings.
The reinstallation of these galleries has been made possible by Judith and Russell Carson.

The Saint-Guilhem Cloister
at The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park

Reopened October 7, 2003

The abbey at Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, near Montpellier, France, was a regular stop on the medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The 140 architectural elements from Saint-Guilhem that were used to reconstruct the 12th-century cloister in New York were acquired by George Grey Barnard around 1900 and purchased for The Metropolitan Museum of Art by John D. Rockefeller Jr. The delicate limestone used at Saint-Guilhem required protection from the elements, and a flat glass-block skylight was in place when The Cloisters opened as a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1938. However, the skylight deteriorated over the years. Now, as part of the ongoing capital campaign at The Cloisters, a new peaked skylight and a translucent laylight below it have been constructed, allowing visitors to appreciate the marvelous contrast of light and shadow on the carved surfaces of the stone. The stone has recently been cleaned by Museum conservators, the plaster walls have been resurfaced, and a new lighting system has been put into place to supplement the natural light, creating the sense of an outdoor cloister as the Museum's original designer intended.
The renovation and reinstallation were made possible through the generous support of The Alice Tully Foundation and The City of New York, which provided critical capital funding through Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Field and the New York City Council.

Gallery of Italian Renaissance Bronzes
Opened September 16, 2003

Newly installed in the gallery adjacent to the Vélez Blanco Patio is a selection of 100 Italian bronze sculptures—many shown for the first time—from the Metropolitan Museum's holdings, a collection that is without peer in this country for its size, variety, and interest. Included are statuettes by the influential Early Renaissance artists Bartolomeo Bellano and Andrea Riccio of Padua and the Mantuan known as Antico; masterpieces by the 16th-century mannerists Alessandro Vittoria in Venice and Giambologna in Florence; examples of reliefs and plaquettes; and domestic objects such as andirons and inkwells.
The installation has been made possible in part through the generosity of Alexis Gregory.

Spanish Sculpture and Decorative Arts: 1500–1750
Opened September 16, 2003

Examples of the Museum's small but select collection of Spanish polychrome sculpture, one of the most important in this country, have recently been reinstalled in the arcade overlooking the Vélez Blanco Patio, itself one of the milestones of Spanish Renaissance architecture. Spanish decorative arts are also prominently featured here, displayed to reveal the varied strands of influence—Islamic, Flemish, and Italian—that contributed to the vibrant material culture of Spain from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The 85 works of art on display include Hispano-moresque lusterware and other ceramics, elaborately fashioned glassware, ironwork, and an array of silver and jewels.

Deedee Wigmore Gallery of the Arts of Louis C. Tiffany
Opened October 16, 2002

The Museum recently opened a new gallery devoted to the arts of Louis C. Tiffany, one of the most versatile and talented American artists working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The installation in this new Deedee Wigmore Gallery highlights the Museum's preeminent collections and features Tiffany's windows, lamps, furniture, mosaics, blown Favrile glass vases, pottery, enamelwork, and jewelry. In addition, there is a rotating display selected from the Museum's collection of more than 400 design drawings from Tiffany's studios.

Jacques and Natasha Gelman Galleries: The School of Paris
Reinstalled August 2002 (opened June 1, 2001)

A new installation of outstanding works by modern masters from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection is now on view. Included are paintings by Balthus, Bonnard, Braque, Brauner, de Chirico, Derain, Dubuffet, Ernst, Gris, Léger, Matisse, Miró, Modigliani, Mondrian, Picasso, Rouault, Tanguy, and Vlaminck, as well as one painting and three bronzes by Giacometti. These prime works by painters of the School of Paris range in date from 1895 to 1972. Several are icons of 20th-century art.

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

PLEASE NOTE: These exhibitions originate at The Metropolitan Museum of Art with works of art from the Museum's collections selected and organized by Museum staff members. Please confirm the opening and closing dates with the local exhibiting museums as they may be subject to change.

A Celebration of the American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
For the 50th anniversary of the Winter Antiques Show, the Metropolitan Museum will lend a selection of treasures drawn from the American Wing's permanent collection.

Seventh Regiment Armory January 16–25, 2004
Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York, NY

French Painters of Nature: The Barbizon School
Landscapes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

An evocative exhibition of some 70 19th-century landscapes by French artists of the Barbizon School. Paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints from the Metropolitan's collections trace the emergence of a new style of landscape painting, premised on the direct observation of nature. Led by Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau in the 1820s, artists ventured to the Forest of Fontainebleau, and to its surrounding villages, to draw and paint local rural imagery. Their picturesque views of the French countryside, drawn or painted sur le motif, revolutionized landscape painting in France.

New York State Museum, Albany, NY May 22–August 22, 2004

Vasemania: The Neoclassical Vase in Europe, 1750–1810
Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

On view will be more than 100 works of art, most of which are seldom seen, drawn primarily from the Metropolitan Museum's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts and Department of Drawings and Prints. The exhibition is a collaborative project between The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture.

The Bard Graduate Center for Studies July 22–October 17, 2004
in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture,
New York, NY

VISITOR INFORMATION AND MUSEUM HOURS

MAIN BUILDING

Fridays and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Sundays, Tuesdays–Thursdays 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Mondays Closed, except the following holidays:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day–January 19, 2004
Presidents' Day–February 16, 2004
Memorial Day–May 31, 2004

THE CLOISTERS

March–October hours:

Tuesdays–Sundays 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Mondays Closed

November–February hours:

Tuesdays–Sundays 9:30 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
Mondays Closed

ADMISSION

Suggested admission to the Main Building
and The Cloisters:

Adults $12.00
Students, senior citizens $ 7.00
Members and children under 12
accompanied by adult Free

Tickets not required for special exhibitions

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