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SPECIAL NOTE
El Greco, a major retrospective opening October 7, unites some 80 masterpieces by one of the greatest of all Western painters, tracing the development of the artist's singular style and its expression of spirituality throughout his career. All aspects of El Greco's creative genius are explored—his religious works as well as his psychologically compelling portraits and his rare incursions into landscape, genre, mythology, and sculpture.
On October 7 the newly renovated Saint-Guilhem Cloister at The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum devoted to medieval art, reopens to the public.
For the first time ever, the Metropolitan Museum will be open to the public on select holiday Mondays, including: Columbus Day, October 13; Christmas Week, December 29; Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19; Presidents' Day, February 16; and Memorial Day, May 31.
The Metropolitan celebrates its 50th anniversary season of Concerts & Lectures, beginning on September 24 with a gala opening concert of works by Handel, Stravinsky, and Haydn performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in the Great Hall.
NEW EXHIBITIONS
The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art
September 9–December 14, 2003
Formed over the last half century, the Ralph T. Coe Collection of American Indian Art comprises representative pieces from most of the diverse Native North American regions and periods known today. Two hundred works, dating from 3000 B.C. to the present, are included in the exhibition. Objects range from authoritative masks and headdress frontlets of painted wood made by the peoples of the Pacific Northwest, to splendidly ornamented deerskin shirts and smoking pipes of the High Plains, to the delicate and carefully wrought beaded and quilled works of the Northeast. The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All works in the exhibition are courtesy of Ralph T. Coe.
The exhibition catalogue was made possible in part by the International Music and Art Foundation (Vaduz).
Additional support has been provided by the Mary C. and James W. Fosburgh Publications Fund.
Press preview: Monday, September 8, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Klee Abstract
September 5–December 7, 2003September 5–December 7, 2003
From 1915 on, the visible world ceased to inspire Paul Klee. The artist had written earlier that it "bored" him "to copy nature." Drawing his subjects from the imagination, past experience, and his reaction to the world around him, he devised his own universe of abstracted signs and merry symbols. A selection of some 30 of his completely abstract compositions, all paintings and watercolors from the Metropolitan's Berggruen Klee Collection, are displayed.
Small Bronzes
September 5–December 7, 2003September 5–December 7, 2003
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.
Dreams of Yellow Mountain: Landscapes of Survival in Seventeenth-Century China
September 13, 2003–January 25, 2004September 13, 2003–January 25, 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.
The Dawn of Photography: French Daguerreotypes, 1839–1855
September 23, 2003–January 4, 2004September 23, 2003–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.
Press preview: Monday, September 22, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Treasures of a Lost Art: Italian Manuscript Painting of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
September 30, 2003–February 1, 2004September 30, 2003–February 1, 2004
This exhibition presents to the public for the first time the impressive collection of Italian illuminated manuscripts formed by Robert Lehman (1891–1969). Comparable only to the Cini Collection in Venice in its breadth and scope, the collection originally comprised 145 works ranging in date from the 13th to the 16th century, from all of the major centers of manuscript production in Italy. The Metropolitan's display is a selection of 101 single leaves and cuttings and two bound volumes, many of which are unknown even to scholars. Among them 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 all of the pieces in the collection amassed by Robert Lehman.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Press viewing: Tuesday, October 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon
El Greco
October 7, 2003–January 11, 2004
This major retrospective exhibition consists of approximately 80 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.
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.
Press preview: Monday, September 29, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Crossing the Channel: British and French Painting in the Age of Romanticism
October 8, 2003–January 4, 2004October 8, 2003–January 4, 2004
Some 100 paintings and 35 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.
Press preview: Tuesday, October 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford
October 8, 2003–February 8, 2004October 8, 2003–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.
Press preview: Tuesday, October 7, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan
October 21, 2003–January 11, 2004October 21, 2003–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.
Press preview: Monday, October 20, 10:00 a.m.–noon
A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University
October 23, 2003–January 25, 2004October 23, 2003–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 the Fogg Art Museum at 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.
Press preview: Monday, October 20, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Philip Guston
October 28, 2003–January 4, 2004October 28, 2003–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 texts by the artist.
The exhibition was organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas.
Press preview: Monday, October 27, 10:00 a.m.–noon
The Art of Simplicity: Amish Quilts from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum
November 4, 2003–February 1, 2004November 4, 2003–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.
Bravehearts: Men in Skirts
November 4, 2003–February 8, 2004November 4, 2003–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.
Press preview: Monday, November 3, 10:00 a.m.–noon
Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Late November 2003–early January 2004Late November 2003–early January 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.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration
January 13–April 18, 2004January 13–April 18, 2004
As with Close's large paintings, the subjects of his fine prints are the faces of relatives or fellow artists as well as self-portraits. This retrospective exhibition of prints will present more than 100 images, ranging from Close's first print, Keith, a mezzotint made in 1972, to the 120-color woodblock Ukiyo-e print Emma, completed in 2002. There will also be other intaglios, lithographs, silk-screen prints, and linoleum cuts. In addition, the exhibition will display 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 will be accompanied by a book to be 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 is being organized and where it will be 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. The exhibition was made possible, in part, by a major grant from Jon and Mary Shirley, and by generous grants from The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation and Houston Endowment, Inc. Financial support has also been provided by Jonathan and Marita Fairbanks, Dorene and Frank Herzog, Andrew and Gretchen McFarland, Carey Shuart and The Wortham Foundation, Inc., with additional funds from Karen and Eric Pulaski, and Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg.
In New York, the exhibition is made possible in part by Jane and Robert Carroll.
Playing with Fire: European Terracotta Models, 1740–1840
January 28–April 25, 2004
Approximately 135 terracottas, from quick preliminary sketches to completely finished models, will 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, will be seen in considerable depth. The works will be 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 and the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
February 3–May 2, 2004
On view will be 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 musical competitions, along with the festivities surrounding Bacchus and his favorite disciple, the drunken yet wise Silenus. A large section of the exhibition will celebrate the triumph of love—the power of cupid's arrows to make fools of even the most august gods. The exhibition will conclude 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 a Bulletin.
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 unreachable 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 will draw 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 will examine 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 24 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 will be 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 will be 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.
Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)
March 23–July 4, 2004
This major international loan exhibition will demonstrate the artistic and cultural significance of the last centuries of the state that called itself "the Empire of the Romans." Donor portraits will 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 will also be explored—especially the influence of the Christian East on the development of the Renaissance. The exhibition will begin in 1261, when the capital Constantinople was restored to imperial rule, and will conclude 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. Accompanied by a catalogue.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates, Central Park, New York
April 6–July 25, 2004
The exhibition anticipates the forthcoming urban work of art The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005, conceived by the New York husband-and-wife collaborators Christo and Jeanne-Claude, that will be presented in Central Park for 16 days during February 2005. Included in the exhibition will be a variety of works that document the evolution of the Gates project from the late 1970s to the present, including some 45 preparatory drawings and collages by Christo, 40 photographs, 10 maps and technical diagrams, as well as components of one of the actual gates that will be erected in Central Park.
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.
Dangerous Liaisons: 18th-Century Fashion and Furniture
April 29–August 8, 2004
The formal, polished artifice of 18th-century French design becomes a tool of seduction for the Marquis de Trémicour in Jean-François de Bastide's architectural treatise and erotic novella, The Little House. According to Bastide, sumptuous clothing and an elegant, luxurious home were meant not simply to be beautiful, but also to impress, attract, and, ultimately, enthrall the object of one's affection. Dangerous Liaisons will focus on French dress and its aesthetic interplay with art, furniture, and the broader decorative arts between 1750 and 1789, demonstrating their role as instruments of seduction and erotic pleasure. From the coquettish Polonaise dress with its hem raised to reveal the ankle to the sensual, scrolling leg of a Louis XVI chair, from the lavish dressing gown of the 18th-century rake to the fan as an accessory both decorous and flirtatious, the exhibition will unite exquisite examples of design meant to beguile. Also on view will be examples by contemporary designers who have been inspired by the styles of the ancien régime, such as Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Vivienne Westwood. Their work will be juxtaposed with that of Philippe Starck, André Dubreuil, and Angelo Donghia, whose furniture has similarly been informed by the dix-huitième.
Accompanied by an illustrated publication.
The Bishop Jades
Spring 2004
The jade collection of Heber Bishop was formed in the last quarter of the 19th century and was donated to the Museum in 1901. Consisting of over 2,000 objects, it was the first major collection of jades in the country. While the collection primarily comprises Chinese jades of the 18th and 19th centuries, it also includes a number of jades from Mughal India. Since 1970 works from the collection have been shown in different galleries of the Metropolitan: Chinese jades in the Asian art galleries; and Mughal jades in the Islamic art galleries. In light of the temporary closing of the Islamic galleries, the Department of Asian Art will present a selection of the finest jades from the Bishop Collection—both Chinese and Mughal Indian—in the Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for Chinese Decorative Arts.
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
May 4–October 31, 2004 (weather permitting)
An installation in the most dramatic outdoor space for sculpture in New York City: The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, which offers a spectacular view of Central Park and the New York City skyline. Beverage and sandwich service will be available from 10:00 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings.
Painters of Reality: The Legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombard Art
May 27–August 15, 2004
Approximately 100 paintings and drawings from the north Italian region of Lombardy, dating from the 16th through the 18th century and beginning with Leonardo's work in Milan, will reveal the rich vein of naturalism found there. This heritage was of key importance to Caravaggio's development, and therefore to the course of Baroque painting in Rome 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.
The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection
June 2, 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. On view will be highlights from this donation, along with previous gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Matisse, comprising paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints by some of the most prominent artists of the 20th century. Among those presented will be Balthus, Carrington, Chagall, Delvaux, Derain, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Lam, Magritte, Matisse, Miró, and Tanguy.
Accompanied by a Bulletin.
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.
Ruhlmann's Paris
June 8–September 5, 2004
Ruhlmann's Paris, an exhibition drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's collections, 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.
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.
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 major retrospective held in a museum since 1972. The exhibition includes from Hassam's huge output about 120 oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels, and some 30 prints. The exhibition will take a new look at Hassam's distinctive images, in which he created enchanting effects of color and light. It 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 and accompanying catalogue are made possible by the
Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS
Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch Master (1558–1617): Drawings, Prints, and Paintings
Through September 7, 2003
The first major retrospective devoted to this virtuoso Netherlandish mannerist features spectacular figural displays in prints, remarkable pen paintings on parchment, vivid portraits and nature studies in colored chalk and silverpoint, and paintings of mythological and religious subjects on canvas and copper. Culled from collections throughout Europe and the United States, the selection of 69 drawings, 80 prints, and 13 paintings spans the artist's entire career and demonstrates his legendary mastery of a wide range of media, subject matter, and styles.
The exhibition is made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Additional support has been provided by The Schiff Foundation.
The exhibition has also been supported by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
The exhibition has been organized by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The Toledo Museum of Art.
An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Central Park: A Sesquicentennial Celebration
Through September 28, 2003
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the legislation (July 21, 1853) that designated as "a public place" the lands that were to become New York's Central Park, the Museum has mounted an exhibition about the design and construction of the park in which its building has been located since 1880. The principal focus is the original presentation plans and drawings, by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, for their "Greensward" plan, which won the 1858 competition to design the park. A selection of working drawings and contemporary photographs illustrates the actual construction of the park according to that design. In addition to objects in the Museum's collection, there are numerous loans, most notably from the Municipal Archives, the Department of Parks of the City of New York, and the New-York Historical Society.
The exhibition is made possible by Alamo Rent A Car, Inc.
The exhibition has been organized in conjunction with the Central Park Conservancy.
Roy Lichtenstein on the Roof
Through November 2, 2003 (weather permitting)
Six brightly painted or patinated bronze and aluminum sculptures by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) are installed in the most dramatic outdoor space for sculpture in New York City: The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, which offers a spectacular view of Central Park and the New York City skyline. The installation consists of works conceived in the 1990s, including a group of "brushstroke" figures and a 17-foot-wide house. Beverage and sandwich service are available from 10 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings.
The installation is made possible by the Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust.
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 acquisitions, as well as curatorial purchases of more modest value, are highlighted, and newly explored areas of collecting such as Tibetan arms and armor are presented for the first time.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
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.
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.
NEW AND RECENTLY INSTALLED EXHIBITIONS
Reconstruction and Reinstallation of Egyptian Art Galleries
Opening winter 2004
Upon entering The Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries of Egyptian Art this fall, visitors will see several newly installed galleries, which are part of a reconstruction project that began last year. Highlights of the project include the opening of three windows facing Fifth Avenue, the exposure of the original 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 Tomb of Perneb (ca. 2450 B.C.) to more closely resemble its original orientation.
The Saint-Guilhem Cloister at The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park
Reopening 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 has 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.
Made possible through the generous support of The Alice Tully Foundation and The City of New York.
Gallery of Italian Renaissance Bronzes
Opened summer 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.
Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan
Through August 17, 2003 (Galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy) and Through September 21, 2003 (Arts of Japan Galleries)
This exhibition, which first opened in both the galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy and in the galleries for the Arts of Japan, explores how Chinese pictorial themes—Buddhist iconography, landscape imagery, flower and bird subjects, and figural narratives—were selectively adopted and reinterpreted by native artists in Korea and Japan. The section of the exhibition in the Chinese galleries is now closed to the public; the installation in the Japanese galleries remains open through September 21, 2003.
The exhibition is made possible by the Parnassus Foundation,
courtesy of Jane and Raphael Bernstein.
A Notable Acquisition of Japanese Textiles of the Edo Period (1615–1868)
Through September 21, 2003
More than 35 works, both fragments and costumes, are exhibited to celebrate a remarkable acquisition of Japanese textiles. The gloriously dyed and embroidered fragments trace the history of kimono fashion, embracing both the dramatic asymmetrical designs of the second half of the 17th century and the colorful detailed patterns characteristic of yuzen dyeing, which began at the end of that period. The costumes include two men's garments that bear the crest of the Tokugawa, the ruling family of the Edo period.
Deedee Wigmore Gallery of the Arts of Louis C. Tiffany
Opened October 16, 2002
This past October, the Museum 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.
Glimpses of the Silk Road: Central Asia in the First Millennium
Opened August 5, 2002
As seen in the 37 diverse objects that are on view in this new installation of works drawn primarily from the Metropolitan's collection, the art of Central Asia is marked by an astonishing amalgam of different influences, combining Hellenistic imagery and Near Eastern motifs with Chinese and Indian features. Goods and raw materials as well as new ideas, religious beliefs, artistic styles and motifs, and technological innovations were transmitted throughout the region along overland caravan routes that later became known as the "Silk Road." Sculptures from various sites, and rare wall paintings from the Kushan kingdom (ca. 1st century B.C.–early 4th century A.D.) and that of Kucha (ca. 4th– 7th century) illustrate the fascinating blend of eastern and western traditions that defines Central Asian art. Buddhist themes, often represented in the sculptures and paintings, reflect the spread of this Indian religion throughout the region and into China. The display also illustrates the transmission of technology and motifs in the applied arts. Perhaps the most outstanding examples of works of art in the Parthian period (247 B.C.–224 A.D.) are two ivory rhytons from Nysa, which combine Iranian and Greek themes and styles. Metalwork, textiles, and stucco produced by the Persians, the Kushans, the Sogdians, the Chinese, and others share numerous themes and decorative elements, interpreting and adapting them into their own creations.
Jacques and Natasha Gelman Galleries: The School of Paris
Reinstalled August 2002 (opened June 1, 2001)
An 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, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
For the 50th anniversary of the Winter Antiques Show, the Metropolitan Museum will be lending a selection of treasures drawn from the American Wing's permanent collection.
Seventh Regiment Armory January 15–25, 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–October 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 these five holidays:
Columbus Day–October 13, 2003
Christmas Week–December 29, 2003
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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