SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS MAY – AUGUST 2007

Frank Stella on the Roof
May 1–October 28, 2007 (weather permitting)

The spectacular Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden reopens with an installation of large recent works in stainless steel and carbon fiber by the prolific American artist Frank Stella (b. 1936). Since his first showings in New York in the late 1950s, Stella has occupied a prominent place among leading artists and has continued to expand the boundaries of what abstract painting and sculpture can be. Stella's fame was cemented by early retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art. This exhibition, in tandem with Frank Stella: Painting into Architecture, marks the artist's first solo presentation at the Metropolitan. Set in the most dramatic outdoor space for sculpture in New York City, the Roof Garden offers sweeping views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.
The exhibition is made possible by Bloomberg.
Additional support is provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.
Press preview: Monday, April 30, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Frank Stella: Painting into Architecture
May 1–July 29, 2007

Since the early 1990s, the American artist Frank Stella (b. 1936) has been designing various architectural structures, including a band shell, pavilions, and museums. With works ranging from small models to a portion of a building at full scale, this exhibition demonstrates how Stella's formal concerns have evolved from painting, to wall reliefs, to freestanding sculpture that extends into architecture. The architectural works are accompanied by a selection of paintings, wall reliefs, and sculpture that manifest an architectural vocabulary. This is the second show at the Metropolitan investigating the creative explorations of contemporary artists and architects: the first was Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture. Frank Stella: Painting into Architecture will be on display concurrently with Frank Stella on the Roof. Together, these two exhibitions offer the artist's first solo presentation at the Metropolitan.
The exhibition publication is made possible by the Antoinette Kraushaar Fund.
Press preview: Monday, April 30, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Poiret: King of Fashion
May 9–August 5, 2007

In the annals of fashion history, Paul Poiret (1879–1944), who called himself the "King of Fashion," is best remembered for freeing women from corsets and further liberating them through pantaloons. However, it was Poiret's extraordinary innovations in the cut and construction of clothing—made all the more remarkable by the fact that he could not sew—that secured his legacy. Working the fabric directly onto the body, Poiret helped to pioneer a radical approach to dressmaking that relied more on the skills of drapery than on those of tailoring. Focusing on his technical ingenuity and originality, the exhibition explores Poiret's modernity in relation to and as an expression of the dominant discourses of the early 20th century, including Cubism, Classicism, Orientalism, Symbolism, and Primitivism.
The exhibition is made possible by Balenciaga.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.
Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Monday, May 7, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection
May 15–September 3, 2007

This exhibition brings together the work of 14 contemporary artists who use the camera to call our attention to the poetic richness latent in ordinary things. Often deliberately understated in style, these photographs are filled with everyday epiphanies. They capture the unexpected beauty of found still lifes and modest interventions in the landscape, inviting us to look more closely at the world around us. The exhibition features approximately 35 works by various artists, including Gabriel Orozco, Walker Evans, Stephen Shore, Rachel Harrison, Jean-Marc
Bustamante, Damián Ortega, Carrie Mae Weems, Bertien van Manen, and others.

Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings: The Clark Brothers Collect
May 22–August 19, 2007

More than 65 celebrated masterpieces owned by rival brother collectors—Robert Sterling Clark (1877–1956), founder of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and Stephen Carlton Clark (1882–1960), a former trustee and illustrious donor to The Metropolitan Museum of Art—are brought together in this unprecedented exhibition. Never before seen ensemble, the most treasured paintings from Sterling Clark's collection, including works by such 19th-century masters as Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Homer, and Sargent, are presented side-by-side with commanding works by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Seurat, Eakins, and Hopper, which held pride of place in Stephen Clark's collection. The brothers' "silent rivalry" is given currency through works that invite comparison, such as two early self-portraits by Degas and similar rustic scenes by Homer and Remington, from their respective collections. Their mutual admiration for Renoir is highlighted in grand form by the artist's Sleeping Girl with a Cat and At the Concert from Sterling's collection, and A Waitress at Duval's Restaurant and Madame Henriot in Costume from Stephen's collection. The exhibition—which marks the 50th anniversary of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute—provides a unique opportunity to appreciate the remarkable legacies of these two brothers, both heirs to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune and native New Yorkers, who played influential but ultimately divergent roles as patrons of the arts in the United States. The exhibition is made possible by the Janice H. Levin Fund and
The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
The exhibition was organized by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, May 21, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Neo Rauch at the Met: para
May 22–October 14, 2007

On view are 11 new paintings made specifically for this exhibition by the Leipzig artist Neo Rauch (b. 1960), one of the most widely acclaimed painters of his generation. Shaped by the experience of growing up in East Germany, Rauch's paintings teeter between Surrealism and popular imagery and defy easy interpretation. Viewers are drawn into scenes replete with strange beings and ambiguous landscapes. With a distinctive palette of bright acidic colors contrasting with deep shadows, the artist's paintings conjure up an atmosphere of confused nostalgia and failed utopias. This showing is the third in a new series dedicated to artists at midcareer that featured Tony Oursler in 2005 and Kara Walker in 2006.
Press preview: Monday, May 21, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works:
The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
September 11, 2007–February 3, 2008

This exhibition will present a selection of paintings, sculptures, and drawings from The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, which was given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006. Formed primarily in the mid-1950s, it has long been recognized as one of the preeminent collections of Abstract Expressionism in the country and includes major canvases by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. Also featured are works by slightly younger American artists working in the early 1960s such as Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Claes Oldenburg, as well as select paintings and sculpture by European modernists Hans Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Fernand Léger, and Joan Miró.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by the Mary C. and James W. Fosburgh
Publications Fund and the Blanche and A.L. Levine Fund.
Press preview: Monday, September 10, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008

The Metropolitan Museum is home to the finest collection of Dutch art outside of Europe—including 22 works by Rembrandt himself—and all 230 of these masterpieces will be displayed together for the first time in this major special exhibition. The exhibition, which coincides with the publication of the first catalogue of the collection, will celebrate Rembrandt's 400th birthday. On view will be a rich array of works dating mostly between 1600 and 1700—landscape paintings, genre pictures, still lifes, marine views, portraiture, and historical and biblical depictions—by Rembrandt and other celebrated Dutch masters such as Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Gerard ter Borch, Pieter de Hooch, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Aelbert Cuyp. Broadly outlining how the collection was formed, the exhibition will reflect the taste for Dutch art in America and among New York's great collectors over the past two centuries.
The exhibition is made possible by Accenture.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, September 10, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Bridging East and West: The Chinese Diaspora and Lin Yutang
September 15, 2007–February 10, 2008

The exhibition will feature gifts and promised gifts to the permanent collection from the family of Lin Yutang (1895–1976), one of the leading literary figures in China before the Second World War. Consisting of 43 paintings and calligraphies by 19 leading Chinese artists of the mid-20th century, this donation will significantly enhance the Museum's ability to illustrate the continued vitality of China's traditional arts in modern times.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840–1860
September 25–December 31, 2007

This exhibition of British calotypes—photographs from paper negatives—will focus on the period after the 1851 introduction of glass negatives, when artists who used paper negatives did so by choice rather than by default. Contrary to the usual account of early British photography, this exhibition will vividly demonstrate that the calotype flourished, rather than faded, after 1851, encouraged by the displays at the Crystal Palace, the formation of photographic societies, and the loosening of William Henry Fox Talbot's patent restrictions. Artists who chose to work with the paper negative process did so either because they preferred its aesthetic qualities, because it offered practical advantages for travel photography or work in hot climates, or because it helped distinguish gentleman-amateur practitioners from the trade, which was dominated by the use of glass negatives. The exhibition will be divided into four sections: The Rise of the Calotype, 1839–1851; The Calotype in Great Britain; British Calotypists Abroad; and The Calotype in British India. The vast majority of the works included have never before been exhibited in the United States.
The exhibition is made possible in part by The Hite Foundation.
The catalogue is made possible by Howard Stein.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Press preview: Monday, September 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary
October 2, 2007–March 2, 2008

This exhibition will present some of the most celebrated creations of African masters in a new light. Many were muses to members of the Western avant-garde, who collected and closely studied these works for their inventive aesthetic qualities in their studios during the early 20th century. In light of their role in altering the course of Western art, the works are among the most influential masterpieces of the African artistic canon. This exhibition will address the sensation these now-classic works, which were appreciated for their beauty alone for over a century, generated among the earliest generation of African art amateurs. But beyond that it will reveal the significance of these works to their cultures of origin by revealing the underlying sources of cultural and spiritual inspiration that led to their creation in equatorial Africa. Drawn from the most important collections of African art in Europe and the United States, the more than 120 works featured are from a dozen distinct cultural traditions in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These sculptural masterpieces, which ultimately transcended their original cultural contexts to enter the mainstream of universal art, were created to portray ancestors as vital intermediaries. Through a range of different visual vocabularies and materials, this is demonstrated in dynamic depictions of the human form conceived to enhance, venerate, and amplify the power of sacred relics. The exhibition will provide a foundation for greater appreciation of central Africa's cultural legacy and the relationship of its art to other major traditions from around the world. Since sacred relics have served as the catalysts for some of the most exalted and revered creations in the history of Western, Eastern, and African civilizations, the exhibition will consider reliquaries from other world cultures alongside those produced in Africa, drawing upon works from other parts of the Metropolitan's encyclopedic collections.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.
Press preview: Monday, October 1, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples
October 16, 2007–February 18, 2008

Throughout their long history, the ancient Egyptians used copper, bronze, gold, and silver to create lustrous, graceful statuary. Most characteristically, these works stood at the crux of their interactions with their gods, from ritual dramas that took place within the temples and chapels that dotted the landscape, to the festival processions through the towns and countryside that were thronged by believers. This is the first exhibition to focus on the art and significance of Egyptian metal statuary and marshals fresh insights to present a new understanding of this type of statuary, its influences, and its meaning. On view from domestic and international collections will be some 70 superb statues and statuettes created in precious metals and copper alloys over more than two millennia, including several of the extremely rare inlaid and decorated large bronzes, between two and three and a half feet tall, from the first half of the first millennium, the so-called Third Intermediate Period (1070–664 B.C.), which represents the apogee of Egyptian metalwork.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, October 15, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
October 17, 2007–January 6, 2008

Conceived as a sequel to Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence (spring 2002), this international loan exhibition will be the first comprehensive survey of 17th-century European tapestry. Drawing from collections in more than 15 countries, it will present 45 rare tapestries made in Brussels, Paris, London, Florence, Rome, and Munich between 1590 and 1720, along with approximately 30 drawings, engravings, and oil sketches. From the Middle Ages until the late 18th century, the courts of Europe lavished vast expenditure on tapestries made of precious materials after designs by the leading artists of the day. Yet this spectacular medium is frequently misrepresented in modern times as a decorative art of lesser importance. Tapestry in the Baroque will challenge this notion, demonstrating that tapestry remained among the most prestigious figurative mediums throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, prized by the rich for its artistry and as a tool of propaganda. The exhibition will investigate the stylistic and technical development of tapestry during the 17th century and the contributions of artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Simon Vouet, Charles Le Brun, Pietro da Cortona, and Giovanni Romanelli, as they responded to the challenges of the medium in unique and individual ways.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the Hochberg Foundation Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with the
generous participation of the Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid.
Press preview: Monday, October 15, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece
October 30, 2007–January 13, 2008

After more than 25 years, the conservation of Lorenzo Ghiberti's doors for the Baptistery in Florence—called the Gates of Paradise—now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, is nearing completion. This exhibition will provide the American public with an unprecedented opportunity to see three of the doors' famous narrative reliefs, with their masterful retelling of Old Testament subjects, as well as four figural sections from their opulent surrounding frames, before they are permanently installed in the museum. The panels and elements from the doorframe—two of its supremely elegant figures of prophets and two decorative heads set in roundels—represent the sculptor's intense involvement in this project, a seminal monument of the Italian Renaissance, during the 27 years (1425–52) of its creation.
The exhibition was organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in collaboration with the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, October 29, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Silversmiths to the Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner, 1808–1842
November 20, 2007–May 4, 2008

The silversmithing firm established in Boston (1808–1811) and Philadelphia (1811–1842) by Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner produced silver of unprecedented quality and grandeur. This exhibition is the first devoted entirely to their work and its role in commemorating the young Republic's pride as a nation. It will feature monumental vessels that celebrate naval and civic heroes as well as domestic and personal items, all of which display sophisticated design and skilled manufacture. The grand scale and patriotic imagery that characterize much of their work reflect the country's coming of age as a commercial, industrial, political, and artistic center. English and Continental models will provide background and context for the American achievements. In addition, an extremely rare group of surviving drawings belonging to the Metropolitan Museum will illuminate the creative process.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by the William Cullen Bryant Fellows.
The exhibition was organized by The Henry Francis Du Pont Winterthur Museum and
Country Estate.
Press preview: Monday, November 19, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
November 20, 2007–January 6, 2008

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 Nativity scene—embellished with a profuse array of diminutive, lifelike attendant figures and silk-robed angels hovering above—will adorn the candlelit spruce. Recorded music and daily lighting ceremonies will add to the enjoyment of the holiday display. The exhibit of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund and
the Loretta Hines Howard Fund.

Jasper Johns: Gray
February 5–May 4, 2008

The exhibition will examine the use of the color gray by the American artist Jasper Johns (b. 1930) between the mid-1950s and the present. It will bring together more than 100 paintings, reliefs, drawings, prints, and sculptures from American and international collections. Johns has worked in gray, at times to evoke a mood, at other times to evoke an intellectual rigor that results from his purging most color from his works. This exhibition will be the first to focus on this important thematic and formal thread in Johns's career and will include some of the artist's best-known works, such as Tennyson, Device, Liar, 0 through 9, and The Dutch Wives, as well as works from the artist's Catenary series and new paintings never before exhibited.
The exhibition is made possible by United Technologies Corporation.
It was organized by The Art Institute of Chicago, in cooperation with The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 4, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Poussin and Nature
February 14–May 11, 2008

Poussin painted some of the most influential landscapes in Western art. In them, nature is viewed "through the glass of time" and endowed with a poetic quality that has been admired by painters as different as Constable, Turner, and Cézanne. This will be the first exhibition to examine the landscapes of this great painter. It will bring together over 40 paintings, ranging from his early, lyrical, Venetian-inspired pastorals to his grandly structured and austere works in which the artist meditated upon Nature, its transformations and its renewals. There will also be approximately 60 drawings, the most luminous of which were done en plein air. The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation and
The Isaacson-Draper Foundation.
It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 11, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Courbet
February 27–May 18, 2008

This will be the first full retrospective of the French artist Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) in 30 years, presenting some 100 works by this pioneering figure in the history of modernism. A selection of 19th-century photographs included in the exhibition reveals the influence of photography on Courbet's oeuvre. The works are drawn from public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
The exhibition is being organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
the Réunion des musées nationaux and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, and the Musée Fabre,
Montpellier.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall—An Artist's Country Estate
Through May 20, 2007

Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany's extraordinary country estate in Oyster Bay, New York, completed in 1905, was the epitome of the designer's achievement and in many ways defined this multifaceted artist. Tiffany designed every aspect of the project inside and out, creating a total aesthetic environment. The exhibition is a window into Tiffany's most personal art, bringing into focus this remarkable artist who lavished as much care and creativity on the design and furnishing of his home and gardens as he did on all the wide-ranging media in which he worked. Although the house tragically burned to the ground in 1957, the exhibition brings together many of its surviving architectural elements and interior features. In addition, the exhibition features Tiffany's personal collections of his own work—breathtaking stained-glass windows, paintings, glass and ceramic vases, as well as Japanese and Chinese decorative objects and Native American baskets. The exhibition is made possible by The Tiffany & Co. Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park, Florida.
Accompanied by a publication.

Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí
Through June 3, 2007

The first comprehensive exhibition of its type ever mounted in America, Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí explores the diverse and innovative work of Barcelona's artists, architects, and designers in the years between the Barcelona Universal Exposition of 1888 and the imposition of the Fascist regime of Francisco Franco in 1939. The exhibition offers new insights into the art movements that advanced the city's quest for modernity and confirmed it as the primary center of radical intellectual, political, and cultural activities in Spain. Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and Antoni Gaudí are among the internationally renowned artists who contributed to the creative vitality of Barcelona. On view are some 300 remarkable works in a range of media: painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, posters, decorative objects, furniture, architectural models, and design.
The exhibition is made possible by the Caixa Catalunya Obra Social and the
Generalitat de Catalunya.
Additional support is provided by Angelo, Gordon & Co.
The exhibition is also made possible in part by Jane and Robert Carroll and
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.
It was organized by The Cleveland Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, in association with Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.
An indemnity is provided by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797
Through July 8, 2007

This exhibition examines the relationship between Venice and the Islamic world over a thousand-year period, focusing on artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Near East and were channeled, absorbed, and elaborated in Venice, a city that represented a commercial, political, and diplomatic magnet on the shores of the Mediterranean. The underlying theme of the exhibition explores the reasons why a large number of Venetian paintings, drawings, printed books, and especially decorative artworks were influenced by and drew inspiration from the Islamic world and its art. "Orientalism" in Venice was based on direct contact with the Islamic world, which brought about new technological, artistic, and intellectual information. These Venetian objects are studied vis-à-vis works of Islamic art, providing an immediate, comparative visual reference. A continuous thread through the exhibition deals with the works of Islamic art that entered Venetian collections in historical times and illuminates the nature of the artistic relationship between Venice and the Mamluks in Egypt, the Ottomans in Turkey, and the Safavids in Iran.
The exhibition is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.
Additional support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the
Oceanic Heritage Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and
the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620
Through September 3, 2007

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.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Incisive Images: Ivory and Boxwood Carvings, 1450–1800
Through November 25, 2007

Small in scale but grand in impact, ivory sculpture starred in private collections throughout the Renaissance and Baroque, particularly in the courts of Central Europe, where the art form reached its apogee. The fine grain and lustrous texture of this exotic material enabled virtuoso carvers to extract maximum expression within the compact format that was prized for the intimate spaces of collectors' cabinets and church treasuries. The exhibition of nearly 100 works formed in ivory—and the equally fine-grained boxwood—includes works largely drawn from the Museum's permanent collection, featuring freestanding sculptures and reliefs as well as intricately carved armaments and a few lavish furnishings.
The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.

Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf
Through December 2, 2007

The powerful and graphically elaborate sculpture from the Papuan Gulf area of the island of New Guinea is presented in a context that demonstrates how deeply embedded art was in the region's social life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition presents traditional sculptures in the form of masks, figures, and spirit boards that both represented and became the embodiment of supernatural beings that were placated, cajoled, and coaxed to attend to human needs. The exhibition focuses on these sacred objects and the contexts in which they were presented. The juxtaposition of 19th- and 20th-century photographs with the stylistically inventive sculptures—many specifically identifiable in the photographs—presents the cultural contexts of the objects and facilitates the presentation of culturally specific ideas while creating a visual biography of the works. Additionally, the images demonstrate how early visitors used photography to record their activities, as well as to visualize and represent the art and cultural practice integral to the well-being of the communities. The selection of rare historical photographs—some exhibited for the first time—taken by early travelers to the Papuan Gulf is drawn from The Photograph Study Collection of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
The exhibition is made possible by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
It was organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, in collaboration with
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

New Greek and Roman Galleries
Opened April 20, 2007

The opening of this majestic, new complex of Hellenistic, Etruscan, and Roman galleries—an entire wing housing over 5,300 objects in more than 30,000 square feet—completes the reconstruction and reinstallation of the permanent galleries of Greek and Roman art. The galleries present Hellenistic art and its legacy alongside those of Southern Italy and Etruria, forming the background to the story of Rome from the Late Republican period and the Golden Age of Augustus's Principate to the conversion of Constantine the Great in A.D. 312. The centerpiece of the new installation is the Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, a dramatic, skylit space that links the various galleries and themes. These include displays of the art of Magna Graecia and the world of the Etruscans, together with the stunning collection of Roman wall paintings that is unrivaled outside of Italy. The presentation of the art of the Late Hellenistic and Early Imperial periods is crowned by the newly reconstructed Cubiculum from the villa at Boscoreale near Pompeii and the Black Bedroom from Boscotrecase. In addition, on the mezzanine floor overlooking Fifth Avenue, there is a large display covering the entire cultural and chronological span of the department's rich collection.
Accompanied by a publication.

New Classical Galleries in the American Wing
Opened January 16, 2007

A major reordering and upgrading of the American Wing galleries and period rooms has begun and is scheduled for completion in 2010. The Wing will remain open, in part, throughout the three-phase project. In Phase I, newly renovated first-floor galleries incorporating architectural elements link the Federal-style period rooms of the original 1924 building with the later 19th-century rooms in the 1980 addition.

Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography
Opening September 25, 2007

The Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography will be the Metropolitan's first gallery designed specifically for and devoted exclusively to the display of photographs created between 1960 and the present day. Situated adjacent to the special exhibition galleries for drawings, prints, and photographs and the portion of the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery where the earlier history of photography is displayed, the Menschel Hall will allow the Department of Photographs to show its contemporary holdings within the broader context of photographic traditions and in an exhibition space with appropriate scale and detail. Installations, which will change every six months, will be drawn from the Department's growing permanent collection of major contemporary works by artists including Bernd and Hilla Becher, Adam Fuss, Rodney Graham, Sharon Lockhart, Richard Prince, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Jeff Wall.
Press preview: Monday, September 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Reopening of The Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts
Opening October 30, 2007

The Wrightsman Galleries are undergoing extensive renovations to improve climate control, introduce new lighting and fire suppression systems, and incorporate numerous decorative changes. The new lighting in particular will greatly enhance the revised presentation of the Museum's renowned collection of French furniture and related decorative arts. A large group of objects will receive conservation treatment and several pieces of seat furniture will receive new upholstery, modern re-creations of the original show covers. The galleries will also include important works previously not on view, such as a mid-17th-century carved ebony cabinet on a stand and a late-18th-century carved and gilded state bed.
Press preview: Monday, October 29, 10:00 a.m.–noon

New Galleries for Oceanic Art
Opening November 14, 2007

The Pacific encompasses more than a thousand distinct cultures and hundreds of artistic traditions in an area that covers about one-third of the earth's surface. The Museum's new permanent galleries for Oceanic art, completely redesigned and reinstalled, will present a substantially larger portion of the Museum's Pacific holdings than was previously on view. Featuring renowned masterworks from the Metropolitan's Oceanic collection as well as recent acquisitions, the installation will display sculpture and decorative arts from the regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Australia. The project also includes the Museum's first gallery devoted to the arts of the indigenous peoples of Island Southeast Asia.
Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Tuesday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.–noon

New Galleries for Native American Art
Opening November 14, 2007

The Museum's permanent galleries devoted to Native American art will display wood sculpture from the Northwest Coast of North America, ivory carvings from the Arctic, wearing blankets as well as katsinas from the Southwest, works on hide from the Great Plains, and other works drawn from the Metropolitan's American Indian collection. The reinstallation will include archaeological objects, particularly those of the Mississippian era, and ceramic vessels of the type previously known as Moundbuilder, which were given to the Museum in 1879.
Press preview: Tuesday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.–noon

New Galleries for Nineteenth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture
Opening winter 2007–8

The Nineteenth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture Galleries will reopen with renovated rooms and additional gallery space to showcase works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the many additions will be a full-room assembly of "The Wisteria Dining Room," a decorative wooden interior designed by Lucien Lévy Dhurmer shortly before World War I. It is the only complete example of a French art nouveau interior in the United States.

Excellence and Elegance: Decorative Arts of the Eighteenth-Century Qing Court
August 25–November 25, 2007

Drawn from the permanent collection and complemented by select loans, this exhibition will feature a remarkable assemblage of porcelain, metalwork, jade, lacquer, and textiles that represent an unprecedented height of technical virtuosity and artistic richness in Chinese history. These works, characterized by elegance and refinement, illustrate the imperial taste for ancient themes, interest in Western motifs, and exacting patronage that contributed to the flourishing of decorative arts.

Drawings and Prints from Holland's Golden Age: Highlights from the Collection
September 11–December 17, 2007

On display will be a selection of drawings and prints from the Museum's collection by artists active in Holland during the 17th century, including masterworks by Rembrandt van Rijn, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Albert Cuyp.

European Clocks and Watches from the Collection
December 18, 2007–April 27, 2008

The exhibition will draw upon the Metropolitan Museum's extensive holdings of English, Dutch, French, German, and Swiss horology, ranging in date from the 16th through the 18th centuries. Acquired primarily as decorative objects or as a specialized variety of furniture, some of these clocks and watches are equally important in illustrating technical developments in European clock making. While a few have never been exhibited previously and many have not been seen for more than a decade, some will be familiar from their inclusion in the galleries of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts but will be shown in a new—and sometimes surprising—context.
The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.

Flowing Streams: Scenes from Japanese Art and Life
Through June 3, 2007

Since ancient times the ceaseless flow of streams and rivers that crisscross the islands of Japan has been likened to the transitory nature of life. Japanese paintings from all ages portray the phases of Japanese life as they unfold on and alongside the flowing creeks, rivulets, and rivers. In this special installation, paintings and screens from the Metropolitan's own collection are complemented by loans from private collections in New York and other areas.

Europe and the Islamic World: Prints, Drawings, and Books
Through June 24, 2007

In conjunction with the exhibition Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797, a related installation of prints and drawings from the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art examines the broader theme of interactions between Europe and Islamic regions. From Albrecht Dürer's 15th-century engraving of a Turkish family to the sketches and costume studies drawn by Eugène Delacroix during his visit to Morocco in 1832, this exhibition explores the West's ongoing fascination with Islamic culture. While some prints and drawings record the foreign travels of Europeans, others provide evidence of Muslims living in Europe. The ways in which Islamic traditions influenced European costume, architecture, and ornament are also featured.

Journeys: Mapping the Earth and Mind in Chinese Art
Through August 26, 2007

This installation, featuring more than 60 works dating from the 12th to the 21st century, explores the theme of journeys both real and imagined. Depictions of real journeys range from intimate scenes of individual departures and returns to grand imperially commissioned panoramas of royal inspection tours and extravagantly detailed maps of the Yangzi River and Grand Canal. But Chinese artists have more often been inspired by journeys of the mind: roaming through the mountains or escaping to wilderness retreats or utopian paradises that can provide refuge, if only vicariously, from challenging realities. Contemporary artists have extended these themes, embarking on new journeys through transformations of traditional art forms.

One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement
Through September 3, 2007

The studio craft movement developed in the United States during the post–World War II years. By the 1970s in both Europe and the United States, a shifting political climate and an "anything goes" art scene encouraged a new freedom in artistic expression. Artists working with traditional materials began to experiment with new materials and techniques, producing bold, abstract, and sculptural art. This exhibition of approximately 50 works from the Metropolitan's collection includes furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, jewelry, and fiber.

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.

The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920

A selection of 135 masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum's treasured collection of French painting—including works by Bonnard, Cézanne, Corot, Courbet, Degas, Van Gogh, Ingres, Manet, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, and Renoir—will be lent exclusively to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin while the Met's galleries undergo renovation. The Berlin venue will also feature 15 French sculptures, including 9 works by Rodin.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 4–May 6, 2007
The Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin June 1–October 7, 2007

The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This selection of 50 works from The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, given to the Museum in 2002, focuses on the highlights of this personal collection of Pierre Matisse, the brilliant and prescient New York art dealer and younger son of Henri Matisse. In addition to 24 works by Henri Matisse in all media, the exhibition also includes works by those artists whose careers Pierre Matisse launched in New York, among them Balthus, Dubuffet, Giacometti, and Miró.
Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain March 26–September 9, 2007

Cast Images: American Bronze Sculpture from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The centuries-old tradition of casting bronze into sculptural form reached the United States by 1850, realizing its apogee in the early decades of the 20th century. Sculptors such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Frederick MacMonnies, and Frederic Remington were innovators in this medium; by mastering a vital French-based naturalism and choosing modern subjects, they popularized the American bronze as a fine collectible object. A selection of 45 statuettes and portrait busts from the Metropolitan's unparalleled collection traces the historical development of the small American bronze from technical, aesthetic, and thematic standpoints.
New York State Museum, Albany October 20, 2007–February 24, 2008

MAIN BUILDING HOURS

Fridays and Saturdays 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Sundays, Tuesdays–Thursdays 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Met Holiday Mondays in the Main Building 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Bloomberg
January 15, February 19, May 28, July 2,
September 3, October 8,
All other Mondays Closed
January 1, Thanksgiving, and December 25 Closed

THE CLOISTERS HOURS

March–October:

Tuesdays–Sundays 9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m.
Mondays Closed

November–February:

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

RECOMMENDED ADMISSION (INCLUDES MAIN BUILDING AND THE CLOISTERS ON THE SAME DAY)

Adults $20.00
Seniors (65 and over) $15.00
Students $10.00
Members and children under 12
accompanied by adult Free

Advance tickets available at www.TicketWeb.com or 1-800-965-4827
For more information (212) 535-7710; www.metmuseum.org

No extra charge for any exhibition

April 18, 2007

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