SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS JANUARY - APRIL 2005

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640): The Drawings
January 15–April 3, 2005

Uniting 115 of the finest and most representative Rubens drawings, including many loans from European collections, this is the first major retrospective devoted to the drawings of the great Flemish artist. Most of the works consist of preliminary drawings in black and red chalk, heightened in white, and often of exceptionally large size. Also on view are several of Rubens's early compositional drawings in pen and brown ink, with much wash freely added to give depth or to enhance the modeling of the figures. In addition, the exhibition includes delightful renderings of children, elegant portraits of noblemen and women, animal studies, landscapes, examples of the artist's early copies after antique sculpture, anatomical studies, and several sheets by earlier artists that Rubens retouched, restored, or reworked.
The exhibition is made possible by the Government of Flanders and Fortis Bank.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Albertina, Vienna.
An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Friday, January 14, 10:00 a.m.–noon

From Filippo Lippi to Piero della Francesca:
Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master
February 1–May 1, 2005

Trained in Florence under Fra Filippo Lippi and active at Urbino, where he met both Piero della Francesca and the humanist-architect Leon Battista Alberti, Fra Carnevale was the author of some of the most intriguing pictures of the 15th century. This exhibition brings together approximately 50 works—paintings, drawings, and sculpture—by him and his contemporaries, including examples by Fra Filippo Lippi, Piero della Francesca, Domenico Veneziano, and Luca della Robbia.
The exhibition is made possible by Bracco.
Additional support has been provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Soprintendenza per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico e Etnoantropologico, Milano.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by Bracco, the Oceanic Heritage Foundation, and the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation Inc.
Press preview: Monday, January 31, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Metropolitan Museum is opening The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, which offers spectacular views across Central Park, for the 16 days that artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude's public-art project The Gates will be installed in Central Park. Visitors will have a dramatic bird's-eye view, from the vantage point of the Roof Garden, of this widely anticipated, extraordinary work of art and cultural phenomenon 26 years in the making. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979–2005 will be presented in Central Park for 16 days beginning on February 12, weather permitting. The monumental project—the husband-and-wife artist team's first temporary outdoor work of art in New York, their home of over 40 years—consists of 7,500 saffron-colored gates (each 16 feet in height and hung with saffron fabric panels) placed at 12-foot intervals over 23 miles of pedestrian walkways that lace the park. (An exhibition documenting the evolution of the project was presented at the Museum in 2004.)
The Roof Garden will be open every day from 9:30 to 5:15 (weather permitting) except Monday, February 14.

The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620
February 15, 2005–January 15, 2006

The horse was an integral part of medieval and Renaissance culture, not only as a beast of burden but also as a sign of rank and status. For the nobility, equitation was an essential skill, both socially and militarily. Horses played a pivotal role in warfare and often wore armor as elaborate and expensive as that of their riders. Drawing exclusively from items in the reserve collection, many of them unpublished and rarely seen before, this exhibition examines various types of European horse armor in terms of style, construction, and decoration, from the peak period of its use in the late 15th century through its eventual obsolescence in the early 17th century. Accompanied by a catalogue.

Modern Design: Highlights from the Collection
March 1–fall 2005

This changing selection of approximately 30 works, in all media and spanning the late 19th to the early 21st century, highlights the variety and depth of the Metropolitan's Modern Design collection. On view are examples of furniture, metalwork, silver, ceramics, and glass by such wide-ranging designers as Christopher Dresser, Eugène Gaillard, Carlo Bugatti, Josef Hoffmann, René Lalique, Paul Frankl, Jean Dunand, Gio Ponti, Piero Fornasetti, Eliel Saarinen, and Studio. The installation includes many objects both recently acquired and rarely exhibited, including a magnificent jeweled pendant (ca. 1900) designed by the Czech Alphonse Mucha and the Frenchman Georges Fouquet; and the "I Designed It For Pitagora" Desk, a special commission made in 1987 by the Italian Ettore Sottsass. The selection of objects will change intermittently.

Diane Arbus Revelations
March 8–May 30, 2005

Diane Arbus (1923–1971) was one of the most original and influential American artists of the 20th century. This retrospective exhibition, the first in more than 30 years, presents the artist's signature images—such as Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962 and A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970—as well as previously unpublished photographs and writings drawn from the artist's archive. The show traces the artist's full achievement from her early experiments with the camera in the 1940s to her mature portraiture of the 1960s.
The exhibition was organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In New York, the exhibition is made possible by The John and Annamaria Phillips Foundation and Altria Group, Inc.
The international tour is made possible by the Evelyn D. Haas Exhibition Fund and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 28, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Cameo Appearances
March 8–October 30, 2005

Spurred by the recent acquisition of a superb jasper carving of the head of Medusa by Benedetto Pistrucci, this exhibition examines the art of hardstone carving. It traces cameo carving from Greco-Roman antiquity to the Renaissance; illuminates differences, such as those between cameos and intaglios; touches upon the making of cameo glass; and highlights the Metropolitan's splendid holdings of neoclassical Italian cameos by first-rate carvers such as Pistrucci, Girometti, and Saulini.
The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.

Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early 15th-Century China
April 1–July 10, 2005

The Yongle emperor (r. 1403–24) was the most powerful, effective, and extravagant ruler of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). His reign was punctuated by vigorous military campaigns and unprecedented maritime expeditions. A son of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, he seized the throne from his nephew and moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Yongle's strong faith in Tibetan Buddhism, and the means of production at his disposal, determined both the repertory and the style of the superb sculptures, lacquers, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, and ivories produced in the imperial workshops during his reign. This exhibition, featuring selections from the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection and important loans, defines a crucial moment in the development of imperial Chinese art and its relationship to later decorative art traditions.
The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation.
Accompanied by a publication

Max Ernst: A Retrospective
April 7–July 10, 2005

This is the first retrospective exhibition of the work of the French artist Max Ernst (b. Germany, 1891–1976) to be shown in New York in some 30 years. A founding member of the Surrealist group in Paris, Ernst was one of the most inventive artists of the 20th century. His paintings, steeped in Freudian metaphors, private mythology, and childhood memories, are regarded today as icons of Surrealist art. Comprising some 180 works, the exhibition includes his most important paintings, his celebrated collages, drawings, sculptures, and illustrated books lent by private and public collections in Europe and the United States. The exhibition is made possible by ALTANA.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Publications and the Mary and Louis S. Myers Foundation.
Press preview: Monday, April 4, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Sol LeWitt on the Roof
April 26–October 30, 2005 (weather permitting)

This summer's installation by conceptual artist Sol LeWitt will include five sculptures and one wall drawing. A prolific artist since his emergence in the mid-1960s, LeWitt will show his most recent sculptures, Splotches. With a palette of bold colors, LeWitt has created large-scale, painted fiberglass works. Their undulating, curvilinear shapes and vibrant hues brilliantly engage with the natural landscape of Central Park. LeWitt's wall drawing will echo the abstract forms and vivid color of the Splotches. Taken together, these works represent a bright complement to the unique setting of The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, which offers a spectacular view 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. The installation is made possible by a grant from Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.
Press preview: Monday, April 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Chanel
May 5–August 7, 2005

As one of the most revered designers and couturiers of the 20th century, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971) has long been the subject of breathless mythologizing and hagiography, largely inspired by her own self-invention and self-promotion rather than by the spare but dramatic facts of her life. Her legend, however, is based on the enduring influence of her maison couture. It is the authority and mastery of her work, the resonance of her image of the modern woman as articulated in her designs, and the autobiographical infusion of influences in her collections that finally confirm her iconic stature. This spring, the spirit of the House of Chanel will echo vibrantly with an unprecedented presentation of more than 60 designs and accessories from the Museum's Costume Institute collection, Chanel Archives, and other international institutions such as Musée de la Mode et du Textile in Paris. The exhibition will examine the history of the House of Chanel both thematically and chronologically, revealing ideas and elements of biography as they were expressed in Chanel's work. Period examples will be juxtaposed with the work of Karl Lagerfeld, who joined the House of Chanel in 1983 and revitalized the spirit and identity of the House. Through Lagerfeld's interpretations and refinements, the historic importance of Chanel is both defined and asserted for the modern woman and her world.
The exhibition is made possible by Chanel.
Additional support has been provided by Condé Nast.
Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Monday, May 2, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker
May 6–September 25, 2005

In the second half of the 18th century, the New England seaport of Newport, Rhode Island, was a leading center of the cabinetmaking business, with members of the Townsend and Goddard families dominating the trade. Chief among them was John Townsend (1732–1809), one of colonial America's preeminent craftsmen and one of the few 18th-century cabinetmakers to sign and date his work. Some 45 pieces of furniture, half signed and half firmly attributable to him, will form the core of this exhibition and illustrate this cabinetmaker's unsurpassed refinement of design and precision of craftsmanship. On view will be his early work in the baroque style—tables with claw-and-ball feet, case pieces with block-and-shell carved fronts—as well as later examples, with straight legs and incised or inlaid decoration, in the neoclassical or Federal style. Examples of furniture by some of Townsend's peers, including John Goddard, will set his work in context. The exhibition is made possible by The Chilton Foundation and The Americana Foundation. Additional support has been provided by Stanley and Judith Zabar, Philip Holzer, and Alamo Rent A Car, Inc.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The William Cullen Bryant Fellows.
Press preview: Thursday, May 5, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands
May 10, 2005–January 15, 2006

Renowned as the final refuge of Paul Gauguin, the Marquesas Islands northeast of Tahiti were home to one of the Pacific's most accomplished traditions of sculpture and decorative art. Created to honor the archipelago's gods and ancestors, adorn the bodies of its people, and ornament the objects they used, art in the Marquesas encompassed virtually every aspect of sacred and secular life. From everyday items to the sacred images of gods and ancestors, Marquesan artists richly embellished nearly every type of object they used. The finest Marquesan works date from the late 18th to the late 19th century. Celebrated for its elegant stylization of the human image and intricately decorated surfaces, Marquesan art encompassed an astonishing diversity of forms, from works in wood and stone to the most elaborate tattooing in the Pacific. Featuring works from the Metropolitan and other museums and private collections, the exhibition will explore how art captured and enhanced the central themes of secular and religious life. The exhibition is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, May 9, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Tony Oursler Studio:
Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education (Plus Some)
Opening May 17, 2005

Inspired by Gustave Courbet's The Artist's Studio: A real allegory of a seven year phase in my artistic and moral life (1855), Tony Oursler created his own three-dimensional studio identical in size to Courbet's painting. The mixed-media installation playfully merges the artist's professional and personal lives into a narrative fashioned as allegory.
Accompanied by a related publication.

All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, 1852–1860
May 24–August 21, 2005

Roger Fenton (1819–1869) was the most celebrated and influential photographer in England during the "golden age" of the medium in the 1850s. This major loan exhibition will unite 90 of Fenton's finest works from American and European collections, representing his achievement in every genre: romantic landscapes, intimate portraits of the royal family, stunning architectural views of England's ruined abbeys and castles, moving reportage of the Crimean War, enchanting orientalist tableaux, and lush still lifes.
The exhibition is made possible by The Hite Foundation.
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 National Gallery of Art, Washington; and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Press preview: Monday, May 23, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Matisse: The Fabric of Dreams His Art and His Textiles
June 23–September 25, 2005

The impact of Henri Matisse's lifelong interest in textiles will be shown in a selection of approximately 65 paintings, drawings, prints, and painted paper cutouts. Also exhibited will be examples from the artist's personal collection of textiles, many of which have been packed away in family trunks since Matisse's death in 1954. Of particular interest are Matisse's canvases inspired by a fragment of blue-and-white printed cotton that the artist purchased from a secondhand shop in Paris, works from the 1910s and 1920s demonstrating the influence of North African fabrics and screens, paintings featuring couture gowns and Romanian blouses, and Matisse's late paper cutouts, some of which are indebted to Kuba cloths from Zaire. The exhibition is co-organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and Le Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis.
The exhibition is made possible by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, June 20, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt
September 13, 2005–January 15, 2006

The causes of illnesses were little understood in ancient Egypt, and their prevention and cure was a major concern for most Egyptians—one that informs much of ancient Egyptian art, yet has been given relatively little attention. This exhibition will highlight objects from the Museum's collection that address this concern, allowing visitors to appreciate them in new ways. Included will be the rarely seen Edwin Smith Papyrus, on loan from the New York Academy of Medicine. One of the world's oldest scientific documents, this 15-foot medical papyrus deals with the treatment of wounds both practically and magically and will serve to link the other objects in the exhibition.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Prague, the Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437
September 20, 2005–January 3, 2006

Crowned King of Bohemia in 1347, Charles IV sought to make his capital city—Prague—the cultural rival of Paris and Rome. The remarkable flowering of art that resulted will be celebrated in an exhibition that draws together some 200 stunning examples including panel paintings, goldsmith's work, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, silk embroideries, and stained glass. These little-known masterpieces attest to the wide-ranging achievements of the hundreds of artists affiliated with Prague and the Bohemian crown during the reign of Charles IV and his two sons, Wenceslas IV and Sigismund. Drawing on numerous collections in the Czech Republic as well as other European and American collections, the exhibition has been organized in collaboration with the Prague Castle Administration.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult
September 27–December 31, 2005

A unique characteristic of photography has always been its ability to record the visible, material world with truth and accuracy. Interestingly, advocates of spiritism at the turn of the last century enlisted photography to provide manifest proof of the immaterial: emanations and auras; thoughts, hallucinations, and dreams; or the spirits of the deceased. Closer to the scientific revelations of the X-ray (discovered in 1896) than to the double-exposure parlor tricks of 1850s ghost photographs, the more than 60 stunning and surprising works in this exhibition reflect an attempt to reconcile the physical and spiritual worlds. The exhibition has been organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Maison Européene de la Photographie, Paris.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture
Opening fall 2005

Santiago Calatrava, the author of some of the most beautiful structures of our time, spends much of his time drawing and sculpting. This exhibition will show how many of the forms of his celebrated buildings originated in his sculptures. The exhibition will include sculptures in marble and bronze, drawings, and architectural models.
Accompanied by a related publication.

Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings
October 12–December 31, 2005

Vincent van Gogh's decadelong achievement as a draftsman (1880–90) will be traced in the first major American retrospective devoted to his drawings. The selection will feature approximately 100 of the artist's finest works in pen and ink, graphite, chalk, charcoal, and watercolor along with a group of related paintings. Co-organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated, scholarly catalogue prepared by curators from the two institutions. The exhibition is made possible by United Technologies Corporation.
Press preview: Tuesday, October 11, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Pearls of the Parrot of India
October 14, 2005–January 15, 2006

The Khamsa (quintet of tales) by Indian poet Amir Khusrao Dihlavi, dating to 1597–98, is one of the most sumptuous manuscripts of the early Mughal period. Twenty-nine surviving full-page illustrations from the manuscript are shared between the Metropolitan Museum and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The unbinding of the Walters's manuscript for conservation purposes will allow all 29 painted folios to be united, with some related material, in this jewel-like exhibition. Accompanied by a publication.

Fra Angelico
October 25, 2005–January 29, 2006

This first major exhibition of Fra Angelico's work since the cinquecentenary exhibition of 1955 in Florence—and the first ever in this country—will reunite approximately 70 paintings, drawings, and manuscript illuminations covering all periods of the artist's career, from ca. 1415 to 1455. Included will be several new attributions and paintings never before exhibited publicly, as well as numerous reconstructions of dispersed complexes, some reunited for the first time. An additional 40 works by Angelico's assistants and closest followers will illustrate the spread and continuity of his influence into the second half of the 15th century.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Clouet to Seurat: French Drawings from The British Museum
November 8, 2005–January 29, 2006

This exhibition culls nearly 100 highlights representing four centuries of French master drawings from the renowned holdings of The British Museum. From the refined production of 16th-century court society to the café society of the 19th century, the elegance and innovation characteristic of French art will be traced through outstanding examples of draftsmanship rarely exhibited due to their sensitivity to light. Masterpieces from the Renaissance to Postimpressionism, including works by Jean Clouet, Claude Lorrain, Antoine Watteau, Edgar Degas, and Georges Seurat, will illuminate the remarkable achievements of the French artistic tradition over four centuries.

The exhibition is co-organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The British Museum. Accompanied by a catalogue.

David Milne Watercolors
November 8, 2005–January 29, 2006

Canadian painter David Milne (1882–1953) spent nearly 26 years of his life living and working in the United States, much of that time in New York City and surrounding areas. The peripatetic Milne moved often during his life, from Ontario to New York City, where he favored urban landscapes, to Europe as a war artist, to upstate New York, and, eventually, back to Canada. His style changed with these shifts in his surroundings as he continued to experiment with the medium of watercolor. This will be the first major exhibition of the artist's work to travel outside of Canada, and the first exhibition to focus on his watercolors. The exhibition is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Accompanied by a publication.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
November 23, 2005–January 8, 2006

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—will adorn 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 Fund.

Robert Rauschenberg: Combines
December 20, 2005–April 2, 2006

This exhibition will take a comprehensive look at the highly inventive body of work Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) terms Combines, which includes approximately 75 objects produced between 1954 and 1964. With these mixed-media works of art, the artist transformed traditional techniques of painting, sculpture, and collage through his unconventional use of materials, such as textiles, taxidermied animals, newsprint, and photographic reproductions. These works can be seen as syncopated grids composed of materials from everyday life. This selection of wall-hung and freestanding Combines will highlight Rauschenberg's iconic, best-known works while also elucidating some of his less-familiar objects.
The exhibition is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in
consultation with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Art Deco Paris
Through February 6, 2005

This exhibition invites viewers to examine the broad context of high-style Parisian design in the 1920s. It includes 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 and Madeleine Vionnet. All works are drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's collections.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Art, Form, and Function of Gilt Bronze in the French Interior
Through February 20, 2005

Both functional and highly decorative gilt-bronze mounts and bronzes d'ameublement, such as light fixtures, fireplace fittings, and clocks, played a very important role in the French interior from the late 17th until the early 19th century. This exhibition focuses 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 on view were part of the collection of the Parisian architect, ceramist, and collector Georges Hoentschel (1855–1915).
The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.

George Washington: Man, Myth, Monument. Images from the Metropolitan
Through February 27, 2005

A complement to the Gilbert Stuart exhibition on view through January 16, 2005, this is a selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts depicting George Washington. The display includes works created in his lifetime, recording his image as Revolutionary War hero and president, as well as those made later for patriotic and nostalgic purposes. The works are all drawn from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum.
The Eugénie Prendergast Exhibitions of American Art are made possible by a grant from Jan and Warren Adelson.

Few Are Chosen: Street Photography and the Book, 1936–1966
Through March 6, 2005

Drawn from the collections of the Metropolitan and the Gilman Paper Company, the exhibition spotlights six influential 20th-century publications by the photographers Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, William Klein, and Helen Levitt. Few Are Chosen includes 40 photographs as well as copies of each book, sometimes represented in multiple editions to show how the meaning of images changed with their presentation. The exhibition is organized on the occasion of the re-release of Walker Evans's monograph Many Are Called, published by Yale University Press in association with the Museum, featuring the photographer's legendary hidden-camera portraits of New York City subway passengers.

Romare Bearden at the Met
Through March 6, 2005

Exhibited on the occasion of a citywide celebration of the life and work of American artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988), this special installation highlights the artist's creative versatility in a variety of media. Displayed are his famous six-part collage of Harlem street life, titled The Block (1971), his colorful tapestry Recollection Pond (1976), shown for the first time at the Museum with a preliminary study, and other works on paper.

WILD: Fashion Untamed
Through March 13, 2005

WILD: Fashion Untamed presents an extensive exploration of man's ongoing obsession with animalism as expressed through clothing. Since prehistoric times, fur and feathers have been used not only for warmth and protection but also for display and adornment, an expression of sexual and economic exhibitionism. Focusing on contemporary constructions of the fur-clad "Bourgeois Woman," WILD also explores her moral counterpart—the anti-fur-wearing "Ethical Woman"—as represented in the advertising campaigns of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Pelts and plumes have come to define other ideals of femininity by quoting the physical and sexual characteristics of birds and beasts. Examples on view include Alexander McQueen's "Amazon" dresses, Azzedine Alaïa's "Tigress" bodysuits, and Thierry Mugler's "Black Widow" architectonic constructions. The exhibition also features fantastic feathered costumes of Las Vegas showgirls and coquettish "Birds of Paradise" creations by milliners Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones.
The exhibition is made possible by Roberto Cavalli.
Additional support has been provided by John and Laura Pomerantz.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Heritage of Power: Ancient Sculpture from West Mexico The Andrall E. Pearson Family Collection
Through 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 more than 40 works of ceramic that are on display come from the three major West Mexican regions—Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit—and represent the primary style groups of Comala, Ameca-Ezatlÿn, and Ixtlÿn del Rio. The sculptures date between 300 B.C. and A.D. 400 and include depictions of birds and animals.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Klee: His Years at the Bauhaus (1921–1931)
Through April 3, 2004

An installation of some 30 works that Klee created during the 10 years he taught at the Bauhaus, first in Weimar (1921–25) and then in Dessau (1925–31). Differing widely in style, these range from experiments with color gradations to works of whimsical humor.

William Kentridge: Selections on Paper
Through April 10, 2005

William Kentridge, a native of Johannesburg (b. 1955), is an internationally acclaimed artist whose multimedia works present an arresting and forceful commentary on the contemporary cultural and sociopolitical issues in South Africa. Inspired by music, opera, literature, and banal or troubling everyday events, the artist creates highly personal and often haunting works in a variety of media. These include drawing, collage, etching, lithography, sculpture, stage and costume design, and innovative animated film based on bold, crudely executed charcoal drawings. The selection presented, dating from 1989 to 2001, is drawn from the Museum's collection.

The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection
Through June 26, 2005

This exhibition celebrates and acknowledges the extraordinary 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. Henri Matisse, the central feature of the collection, is represented by paintings, bronzes, drawings, and prints, as well as a ceramic plate and a tall paper cutout. The gift also includes works by 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. Since works on paper are sensitive to light, selections of drawings and original prints will rotate. A Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin accompanies the exhibition.

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.

The Bishop Jades
Through January 2006

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 1902. 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.

Chinese Painting: Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection
Through February 20, 2005

This installation, consisting of some 70 paintings that span more than 1,000 years of Chinese history from the 10th to the 20th century, surveys all of the major schools and artistic trends of the last four dynasties. Complementing the paintings are some 30 ceramics, textiles, bronze sculptures, and scholars' objects that embody parallel themes and tastes.

The Kano School: Orthodoxy and Iconoclasm
Through June 5, 2005

More than 40 years ago, the painted sliding panels from Tenshō-in temple in Kyoto, executed by the renowned Kano master Sansetsu (1589–1651), were sold in Kyoto. One set went to The Minneapolis Museum of Art, the other to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the first time since their dispersal, the two sets of screens, each consisting of four panels, are reunited in this special installation in the Arts of Japan galleries. Also on view are works by several generations of Kano school painters, who, as the official artists for the shoguns, dominated the field of Japanese painting until the onset of the 20th century. Other painters represented, such as Hanabusa Itcho (1652–1724) and Kitagawa Utamaro (1756–1815), were trained in the Kano school but rebelled against its orthodoxy. The exhibition is a vivid reminder of the Kano school's bold contention that it provided the basic training for all Japanese painters during the Edo period (1615–1868).
This exhibition is made possible in part by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, Kokon, Inc. and Leighton R. Longhi.

Reconstruction and Reinstallation of Egyptian Art Galleries
Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Roman era art galleries opened January 29, 2004 The tombs of Perneb and Raemkai opened May 2004

Upon entering The Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries of Egyptian Art, visitors now see several newly installed galleries that opened recently to the public. Highlights of the new installation 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 ca. 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. This reinstallation has been made possible by Judith and Russell Carson.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Through January 6, 2005

Hidden Jewels: Korean Art from the Mary Griggs Burke Collection
Through January 9, 2005

Gilbert Stuart
Through January 16, 2005

China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD
Through January 23, 2005

Princely Splendor: The Dresden Court, 1580–1620
Through January 30, 2005

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.

Light Motifs: American Impressionist Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A selection of nearly 30 paintings from the Museum's superb collection of works by noted American Impressionists, including Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast, and John Singer Sargent.