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"American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" at Metropolitan Museum to Open May 5, 2010; First Costume Institute Exhibition Based on Renowned Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection
Thursday, April 29, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
The spring 2010 exhibition organized by The Costume Institute of The
Metropolitan Museum of Art is American Woman: Fashioning a National
Identity, the first drawn from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume
Collection at the Met. The exhibition, on view from May 5 through August 15,
2010, explores developing perceptions of the modern American woman from the 1890s to the 1940s, and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition reveals how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sartorial emancipation. Early mass-media representations of American women established the fundamental characteristics of American style – a theme explored via a multimedia installation in the final gallery.
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Press Guidelines for Visiting Elevated Pathways of Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú
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Doug and Mike Starn Create Monumental Sculpture for Metropolitan Museum's 2010 Roof Garden Installation
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
American artists Mike and Doug Starn (born 1961) have been invited by The Metropolitan Museum of Art to create a site-specific installation for The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, opening to the public on April 27. The identical twin brothers will present their new work, Big Bambú: You Can't, You Don't, and You Won't Stop, a monumental bamboo structure ultimately measuring 100 feet long by 50 feet wide by 50 feet high in the form of a cresting wave that will bridge realms of sculpture, architecture, and performance. Visitors are meant to witness the creation and evolving incarnations of Big Bambú as it is constructed throughout the spring, summer, and fall by the artists and a team of rock climbers. Set against Central Park and its urban backdrop, the installation Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú will suggest the complexity and energy of an ever-changing living organism. It will comprise the 13th consecutive single-artist installation for the Cantor Roof Garden.
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300 Picasso Works in Metropolitan Museum's Collection Featured in Landmark Exhibition Opening April 27
Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a landmark exhibition of 300 works by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), will provide an unprecedented opportunity to see one of the most important collections in the world of the artist's work. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 27 through August 15, 2010, this is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on the remarkable array of works by Picasso in the Met's collection. The exhibition will reveal the Museum's complete holdings of the artist's paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics—never before seen in their entirety—as well as a significant number of his prints.
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LONDON TO NEW YORK VIA...ICELAND?
PIANIST PAUL LEWIS IS TRYING TO GET TO NEW YORK SO THE SHOW CAN GO ON AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART ON SATURDAY, APRIL 24
Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
English pianist Paul Lewis has a recital to perform this Saturday, April 24, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But the Tuesday flight he had booked from London to New York was canceled because of the spreading ash cloud from Iceland's volcanic eruption, and the best he could do to reschedule was standby on Saturday, the day of the concert.
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Grande exposition au Met pour célébrer le patrimoine artistique, technologique et culturel des Seldjoukides, une influente dynastie islamique médiévale
Sunday, April 18, 2010, 4:01 p.m.
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نمایشگاهی بزرگ در موزه مترپلیتن میراث هنری، فنی، و فرهنگی سلجوقیان، سلسله با نفوذ اسلامی قرون وسطی، را جشن می گیرد
Thursday, April 15, 2010, 2:27 p.m.
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300 obras de Picasso de la colección del Metropolitan Museum se presentan en una gran exposición que abrirá al público el 27 de abril (Spanish)
Thursday, April 15, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, es una exposición emblemática compuesta por 300 obras de Pablo Picasso (Español, 1881–1973), que brinda una oportunidad sin precedentes de contemplar una de las colecciones más importantes del mundo de la obra de este artista. Se trata de la primera muestra que se centra exclusivamente en la extraordinaria colección que el Met atesora de Picasso. Abrirá sus puertas al público desde el 27 de abril hasta el 15 de agosto de 2010. La exposición presentará la colección completa, nunca antes vista en su totalidad, que el Museo posee del artista: pinturas, dibujos, esculturas y cerámicas, así como un número significativo de sus grabados.
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Nýu-Ýork şäherindäki “The Met” (Metropoliten) sungat muzeýinde Orta asyrlaryň kuwwatly yslam dinastiýasy bolan Seljuklaryň çeperçilik, tehnologiýa we medeni mirasyna bagyşlanyp uly sergi geçirilýär
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 2:01 p.m.
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Обширная экспозиция в музее Метрополитен освещает художественное, техническое и культурное наследие Сельджукидов, влиятельной исламской династии Средневековья.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 1:52 p.m.
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معرض كبير في متحف المتروبوليتان للفنون يحتفي بالتراث الفني والتكنولوجي والثقافي لأسرة السلاجقة صاحبة التأثير الكبير في التاريخ الإسلامي في القرون الوسطى
Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 7:19 p.m.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art'ta, Ortaçağ Döneminde İz Bırakan İslam Hanedanı Selçukluların Sanatsal, Teknolojik ve Kültürel Mirası Üzerine Büyük Bir Sergi Yer Alacak
Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 4:06 p.m.
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Bedeutende Ausstellung im Metropolitan Museum zur Kunst, Wissenschaft und Kultur der einflussreichen, mittelalterlichen islamischen Dynastie der Seldschuken
Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 3:59 p.m.
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The Roof Garden Commission: Adrián Villar Rojas,
The Theater of Disappearance
Monday, April 12, 2010, 5:12 p.m.
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Splendid Rediscovered 18th-Century Silver Service on View in New Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum
Monday, April 12, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
Eighteenth-century European court society was famous for its lavish banquets featuring elaborate settings and protocols designed to indicate the status of both host and guests. Integral to these events were extravagant dining services of silver and gold, many of which subsequently were melted down to finance the frequent wars of the period. Vienna Circa 1780: An Imperial Silver Service Rediscovered, now on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through November 7, 2010, presents a magnificent and rare surviving Imperial silver service, made about 1779-1782 for Duke Albert Casimir of Sachsen-Teschen (1738-1822) and his consort, Habsburg Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria (1742-1798), daughter of Empress Maria Theresa.
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An Overview of the Museum
Sunday, April 11, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collections include 1.5 million works of art spanning 5,000 years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe.
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Metropolitan Museum Concerts
May 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
A Gaggle of Pianists: Alexei Volodin with Members of the New York Philharmonic,
Nikolai Lugansky Rounding Out the PianoForte Series, and The 5 Browns –
Also, a Chat with Renée Fleming, and a Performance by Dan Zanes & Friends
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Oberlin's Masterpieces on View at Metropolitan Museum
Monday, March 15, 2010, 4:00 a.m.
Founded in 1917, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is one of the finest college or university collections in the United States, serving as an invaluable educational resource for aspiring art scholars. While the museum is closed in 2010 for renovations, 20 of their masterpieces—19 paintings and one sculpture—are on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for five months in the special exhibition Side by Side: Oberlin's Masterworks at the Met. These include the great Ter Brugghen painting Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene (one of the most important North Baroque paintings in the U.S.), Cézanne's Viaduct at l'Estaque, Kirchner's Self-Portrait as a Soldier, and a striking Kirchner sculpture. Each of these works is integrated into the Metropolitan Museum's excellent collection, creating new, provocative juxtapositions.
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Metropolitan Museum Lectures in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
March and April 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
For tickets, call the Concerts & Lectures Department at 212-570-3949 or visit
www.metmuseum.org/tickets, where updated schedules and programs (including
additional lectures that are free with Museum admission) are available.
Tickets are also available at the Great Hall Box Office, which is open
Tuesday–Saturday 10–5:00, and Sunday noon–5:00.
Student discount tickets are available for some events; call 212-570-3949.
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Objects and Materials from the Funeral of Tutankhamun on View at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
In 1908, while excavating in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, American archaeologist Theodore Davis discovered about a dozen large storage jars. Their contents included broken pottery, bags of natron (a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride that occurs naturally in Egypt), bags of sawdust, floral collars, and pieces of linen with markings from years 6 and 8 during the reign of a then little-known pharaoh named Tutankhamun. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was given six of the vessels and a good part of their contents in 1909.
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Birthday Celebrations in Chinese Art to be Theme of New Installation at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
A new installation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art explores themes of birthday celebrations and long life in Chinese art. Drawn entirely from the Museum's collection and promised gifts, and on view in The Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for Chinese Decorative Arts, Celebration: The Birthday in Chinese Art showcases more than 50 works—paintings, garments, and decorative art objects—depicting the birthday and longevity themes that were pervasive in China especially during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. While the earliest work in the installation is a 13th-century painting, most date from the 16th to 18th centuries. Celebration includes several works never before exhibited, including a monumental 18th-century tapestry (kesi) woven in silk and gold with the character for longevity shou as well as a recently acquired lacquer box with mother-of-pearl inlays capturing a party setting and lively boys at play. The installation will remain on view through August 15, 2010.
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Jennifer Russell to Rejoin Metropolitan Museum As Associate Director for Exhibitions
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, March 10, 2010)—Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that Jennifer Russell will return to the Museum as Associate Director for Exhibitions. She is currently Senior Deputy Director of Exhibitions, Collections, and Programs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She had worked at the Metropolitan Museum as Associate Director for Administration from 1993 to 1996, and will rejoin the Museum in her new role effective April 26. She was formally elected at the March 9 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
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The Honorable W. L. Lyons Brown, Jr., Elected an Honorary Trustee at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Monday, March 8, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
(New York—March 9, 2010) The Honorable William Lee Lyons Brown, Jr., former Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Austria, has been elected an Honorary Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. The election took place at the March 9 meeting of the Board.
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Metropolitan Museum Concerts
April 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
The New York Philharmonic's CONTACT! Features Alan Gilbert and Thomas Hampson,
Chanticleer Performs a Program of Music from Plainchant to Chen Yi,
Pianist Paul Lewis Performs His Only New York Recital of the Season, and
Dianne Reeves Makes a Return to the Met
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Evocative Medieval Mourning Sculptures from Court of Burgundy Featured in Metropolitan Museum Exhibition
Thursday, March 4, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
The renowned 15th-century sculptors Jean de la Huerta and Antoine Le Moiturier labored together for more than 25 years on a grand and complex commission: the tomb of John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur, 1371–1419), the second Duke of Burgundy, and his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, which featured 41 alabaster mourning figures, among other elements. Following the precedent of the mourners carved for the tomb of Philip the Bold, the first Duke of Burgundy, de la Huerta and Le Moiturier created astonishingly realistic and highly individualized pleurants (mourners) that serve as a permanent record of the lavish funeral of one of the richest men in medieval France. The figures express a broad range of powerful emotions—from melancholy to desolation—through facial expression, gesture, and the eloquent draping of garments. The renovation of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France—where 37 of the statuettes from the tomb of John the Fearless are housed—provides an opportunity for the unprecedented loan of these figures for the exhibition The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy, opening March 2 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first venue in an eight-city tour. Three additional figures from the tomb of John the Fearless (now in the collections of the Louvre, the Musée National du Moyen Âge, and the Cleveland Museum of Art) and three from the tomb of Philip the Bold will also be shown, along with an architectural element (Cleveland Museum of Art and Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, respectively). The installation at the Metropolitan will be supplemented by related works from the Museum's collection, including the monumental Enthroned Virgin from the convent at Poligny (established by John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria) that was carved by Claus de Werve.
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Sumptuously Illustrated Medieval Manuscript—The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry—On View at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, March 4, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
One of the most beautiful manuscripts in the world is the lavishly illustrated medieval prayer book known as the Belles Heures (Beautiful Hours). It was created by the Limbourg Brothers—three of the greatest illuminators in Europe—for one of the most famous art patrons of all time, Jean de France, duc de Berry (1340–1416). The son, brother, and uncle to three successive kings of France, Jean de France commissioned luxury works in many media—from chalices to castles—without regard for cost, but is best remembered for his patronage of manuscripts. Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg were in their teens when he selected them to create a sumptuous Book of Hours for his private prayers, and he allowed the young artists rare latitude in designing the work.
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Το Met παρουσιάζει τρεις αιώνες ελληνικής τέχνης, από τον Αλέξανδρο έως την Κλεοπάτρα
Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 3:26 p.m.
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Pianist Menahem Pressler, Age 86, and Cellist Gautier Capucon, Age 28, Who Perform Together in Recital at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at 7:00 PM, Offer Words About Each Other
Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
As part of Presenting Menahem Pressler, a 2009-2010 series featuring the legendary pianist in three chamber programs, the 86-year-old Pressler will join forces with the 28-year-old cellist Gautier Capuçon for a joint recital.
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André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments Reopen March 2 at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, February 28, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
After an eight-month hiatus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens its André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments on March 2, featuring a refreshed and reinstalled presentation of its renowned collection of Western musical instruments.
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André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments Reopen March 2 at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, February 28, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
After an eight-month hiatus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens its André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments on March 2, featuring a refreshed and reinstalled presentation of its renowned collection of Western musical instruments.
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Three Press Previews at Metropolitan Museum
Monday, March 1, 10am-Noon
Thursday, February 25, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy
(opening Tuesday, March 2) – an unprecedented loan from the Musée des Beaux Arts in Dijon of 38 dramatic alabaster statuettes, considered among the most sumptuous and innovative of the late Middle Ages.
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Northern European Manuscript Illuminations from Robert Lehman Collection to Go on View March 16
Monday, February 22, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
Fourteen rare and important manuscript illuminations from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection—ranging in date from the 13th through the 16th century and representing high points of the German, French, and Netherlandish schools of illumination—will be on view beginning March 16.
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Important Antiquities Lent by Republic of Italy on View at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, February 19, 2010)—A rare, recently excavated ancient Roman dining set consisting of 20 silver objects—one of only three such sets from the region of Pompeii known to exist in the world—and an important ancient Greek kylix (or drinking cup) have been installed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Galleries for Greek and Roman Art as part of an ongoing exchange of antiquities between the Republic of Italy and the Museum.
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Early Music Exposed, A Daylong Exploration of Early Music, Celebrates the Reopening of The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments with Presentations by Six Major Early Music Ensembles Saturday, March 13, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
Frederick Renz Hosts Lecture-Demonstrations by the New York Historical Dance Company, Parthenia, Lionheart, Asteria, ARTEK, and Members of the Grand Tour Orchestra
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Medieval Costume Demonstration at The Cloisters, February 28
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
In a special presentation at The Cloisters museum and gardens—The Metropolitan Museum of Art's branch devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages—some 30 citizens of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) wearing historically accurate attire based on medieval designs will participate in a lecture demonstration with costume historian Desirée Koslin. The program will take place twice on Sunday, February 28, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. and again at 3:00 p.m., and will focus on 15 different costumes. Although they are of contemporary construction, each unique costume relates to a specific depiction in one of several well-known illuminated manuscripts of the 15th century. Costumes featured in the demonstration will include those that would have been worn by dukes, duchesses, ladies of the court, and merchants, as well as citizens, servants, and peasants. The costumed citizens of Nijmegen will be available for photographs by the public—taken without flash—during the intermission. The event is free with Museum admission.
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Medieval Costume Demonstration at The Cloisters, February 28
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
In a special presentation at The Cloisters museum and gardens—The Metropolitan Museum of Art's branch devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages—some 30 citizens of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) wearing historically accurate attire based on medieval designs will participate in a lecture demonstration with costume historian Desirée Koslin. The program will take place twice on Sunday, February 28, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. and again at 3:00 p.m., and will focus on 15 different costumes. Although they are of contemporary construction, each unique costume relates to a specific depiction in one of several well-known illuminated manuscripts of the 15th century. Costumes featured in the demonstration will include those that would have been worn by dukes, duchesses, ladies of the court, and merchants, as well as citizens, servants, and peasants. The costumed citizens of Nijmegen will be available for photographs by the public—taken without flash—during the intermission. The event is free with Museum admission.
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How Did Chinese Artists Learn and Practice Their Craft? Met Museum Explores the Topic in New Installation
Sunday, February 7, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
A new installation opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on February 6, Mastering the Art of Chinese Painting: Xie Zhiliu (1910-1997) , demonstrates how Chinese artists learned their craft from earlier masterpieces and from nature. It showcases more than 100 works—including paintings, sketches, drawings, calligraphies, and poetry manuscripts—by Xie Zhiliu (pronounced "shay jer leo"), one of modern China's leading artists and connoisseurs. It also marks the centenary of his birth. A number of his sketches and copies will be accompanied by photographs of the works that inspired him and by his own completed works, in order to trace how he developed his unique style. Drawn primarily from a recent gift to the Metropolitan Museum from the artist's daughter Sarah Shay, the works on view comprise the first solo exhibition of Xie Zhiliu's works to be organized outside China.
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METROPOLITAN MUSEUM CONCERTS
MARCH 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
Early Music Exposed, A Daylong Event, Celebrates the Reopening of
The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments,
Till Fellner's Beethoven Sonata Cycle Continues with "Pathétique" and "Les Adieux,"
Menahem Pressler & Gautier Capuçon Perform Together, and
Sweet Honey In The Rock Makes Its Museum Debut
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Magnificent Manuscript and Sculptures Commissioned by Two Early 15th-Century Dukes of France on View in Pair of Metropolitan Museum Exhibitions
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
A unique window into the lavish French courts of the Valois dukes of Burgundy and Berry will be offered at The Metropolitan Museum of Art this spring with the simultaneous opening, on March 2, of two landmark exhibitions: The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry and The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculpture from the Court of Burgundy. The former features the exquisitely illustrated pages of a luxurious prayer book that belonged to Jean de Berry (1340–1416); the latter shows expressive alabaster figures from the tomb of his nephew, John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur, 1371–1419).
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Photocollages Reveal Wit and Whimsy of the Victorian Era in Metropolitan Museum Exhibition Opening February 2
Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
In the 1860s and 1870s, long before the embrace of collage techniques by avant-garde artists of the early 20th century, aristocratic Victorian women were experimenting with photocollage. Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art February 2 – May 9, 2010, is the first exhibition to comprehensively examine this little-known phenomenon. Whimsical and fantastical Victorian photocollages, created using a combination of watercolor drawings and cut-and-pasted photographs, reveal the educated minds as well as accomplished hands of their makers. With subjects as varied as new theories of evolution, the changing role of photography, and the strict conventions of aristocratic society, the photocollages frequently debunked stuffy Victorian clichés with surreal, subversive, and funny images. Featuring 48 works from public and private collections—including many that have rarely or never been exhibited before—Playing with Pictures will provide a fascinating window into the creative possibilities of photography in the 19th century.
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SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS
SEPTEMBER 2009– AUGUST 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
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.
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Statement by The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Accident Involving Picasso's The Actor
Saturday, January 23, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, January 24, 2010)— An important painting by Pablo Picasso was accidentally damaged in the galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Friday afternoon, January 22. A visitor attending a class lost her balance, falling onto Picasso's The Actor, a large, Rose-period painting that was painted in winter 1904-1905. The accident resulted in an irregular vertical tear of about six inches in length in the lower right-hand corner.
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First Exhibition Ever Devoted to Bronzino at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, January 21, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
The Drawings of Bronzino, the first exhibition ever dedicated to Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572), brings together nearly all of the 61 known drawings by, or attributed to, the great Florentine court artist of the Medici. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from January 20 through April 18, 2010, the exhibition features drawings of extraordinary beauty and rarity which are seldom on public view, and draws loans from major museums and private collections within Europe and North America, including the Galleria degli Uffizi, Musée du Louvre, British Museum, Royal Library of Windsor Castle, Ashmolean Museum, Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden, and Staatliche Museen Berlin.
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Romare Bearden's The Block and Related Drawings On View at Metropolitan Museum Beginning January 15
Thursday, January 14, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
Romare Bearden's vibrant mural-size tableau The Block (1971) and related sketches and photographs will be featured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning January 15, 2010, in a small installation of works from the collection. The Block, an ambitious 18-foot-long collage, celebrates the Harlem neighborhood in New York City that nurtured and inspired so much of the artist's life and work. Romare Bearden (1911–1988) is best known for the colorful cut-paper collages that he began making in the 1960s. Elaborate works such as The Block (1971) elevated this genre to a major art form through its unusual materials, expressionist color, abstracted forms, flattened shapes and spaces, and shifts in perspective and scale—all the while maintaining focus on the human narrative being told within a single city block.
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METROPOLITAN MUSEUM CONCERTS
FEBRUARY 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
PianoForte Continues with Peter Orth, Rafal Blechacz, and
Till Fellner's Beethoven Sonata Cycle;
Perlman Music Program Presents New Work by D. Edward Davis;
Steve Ross and the Pacifica Quartet Return
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Meissen Snuffbox Returned to Heirs of Munich-based Art Gallery
Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
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Installation of Contemporary Aboriginal Painting Opens at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
An installation of 14 bold and colorful paintings created by contemporary Aboriginal Australian artists will go on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 15. Drawn from a U. S. private collection, Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from Australia will provide an introduction to Aboriginal painting, which has become Australia's most celebrated contemporary art movement and has attained prominence within the international art world. The installation will present works created primarily over the past decade by artists from the central desert, where the contemporary painting movement began, and from adjoining regions, to which the movement spread. The works on view—all of which have never before been on public display—will feature paintings by prominent artists, including some of the founders of the contemporary movement, as well as emerging figures. This is the first presentation of contemporary Australian Aboriginal painting to be held at the Metropolitan Museum.
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Metropolitan Museum Celebrates 35th Anniversary of Packard Collection Acquisition
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
In 1975, The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired, by gift and purchase, more than 400 works of Japanese art from collector Harry G. C. Packard (1914-1991). This daring acquisition instantly transformed the Museum into an institution with one of the finest collections of its kind in the West, comprised of encyclopedic holdings from the Neolithic period through the 19th century.
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Exhibition Featuring Musical Instruments of Pacific Islands Goes on View at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
Sounding the Pacific: Musical Instruments of Oceania, the first exhibition devoted to the subject ever mounted by an art museum, will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 17. Featuring more than 50 outstanding works—including percussion, wind, and string instruments and forms unique to the Pacific—the exhibition will explore not only the diverse forms of Oceanic musical instruments but also the many different roles they play, or played, in Pacific cultures, from announcing the onset of war, to embodying the voices of supernatural beings or softly enticing a lover. Drawn primarily from the Museum's collection, the exhibition will showcase the objects that were created and used from the early 19th to the late 20th century in all five regions of Oceania: Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, and Island Southeast Asia. The works on view include instruments ranging from small flutes and ocarinas used for private entertainment or courtship, to massive slit gongs played in performances for entire communities, in which the thundering beats can carry for miles.
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Rare North Italian Renaissance Drawings Featured in New Installation at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 5:00 a.m.
North Italian Drawings, 1410–1550: Selections from the Robert Lehman Collection and the Department of Drawings and Prints, on view from November 3, 2009–January 31, 2010, features 31 exceedingly rare drawings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection, with an additional nine chosen from the Department of Drawings and Prints. The installation showcases a period in Italian art that saw the emergence of drawing as an essential tool for artists and includes a selection of works that illustrate the versatility of the medium over more than a century. Drawings from the later 15th century show how artists used the medium to work out elaborate, multi-figured compositions, and several works from the 16th century reveal the close relationship between drawing and painting.