SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS - JANUARY–APRIL 2008

Lee Friedlander: A Ramble in Olmsted Parks
January 22–May 11, 2008

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the design of New York's Central Park, this exhibition features approximately 40 photographs made by Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) in the public parks and private estates designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903), North America's premier landscape architect. The show celebrates the complex, idiosyncratic picture making of one of the country's greatest living photographers. Rambling with intent across bridges and through the parks' open meadows and dense understory, Friedlander finds pure pleasure in Olmsted's landscapes—in the meticulous stonework, in the careful balance of sun and shade, and in the mature, weather-beaten trees and their youthful issue.

Jasper Johns: Gray
February 5–May 4, 2008

The exhibition examines the use of the color gray by the American artist Jasper Johns (b. 1930) between the mid-1950s and the present, bringing together more than 120 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 is the first to focus on this important thematic and formal thread in Johns's career and includes some of the artist's best-known works, such as Canvas, Gray Target, Jubilee, 0 through 9, No, Diver, and The Dutch Wives, as well as works from the artist's Catenary series and new paintings never before exhibited.
The exhibition in New York 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.
The exhibition in New York is supported by an award from the National Endowment
for the Arts and by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 4, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions
February 12–May 11, 2008

French master Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) painted some of the most beautiful as well as influential landscapes in Western art. In these works, nature is viewed "through the glass of time" and is endowed with a poetic quality that has been admired by painters as different as Corot, Constable, Turner, and Cézanne. This landmark exhibition—the first to examine Poussin's response to nature and landscape—brings together about 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. Also on view are an equal number of 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.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts
and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 11, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Gustave Courbet
February 27–May 18, 2008

This is the first full retrospective of the French Realist artist Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) in 30 years, presenting some 130 works by this pioneering figure in the history of modernism, from his seminal manifesto-paintings of the 1850s to the views of his native Ornans and portraits of his friends and family. They are accompanied by a selection of 19th-century photographs that relate to his work, especially his landscapes and nudes. The works are drawn from public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
The exhibition is made possible by The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation and
the Janice H. Levin Fund.
Education programs are made possible by The Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the
Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, and the
Communauté d'agglomération de Montpellier/Musée Fabre, Montpellier.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, February 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru
February 26–September 1, 2008

In the Andean regions of ancient South America, the brilliantly colored feathers of tropical birds were a luxury item that was much treasured and long used. Feathers served various ceremonial and secular purposes throughout the many centuries of preconquest Peruvian history. Radiant blues, reds, yellows, and greens embellished high-status objects, ranging from figurative ear ornaments barely two inches high, to grand headdresses and garments, ritual objects, and large-scale wall hangings, examples of which are included in the exhibit. Many works are drawn from the Museum's collection, supplemented by loans from public and private collections.
Press preview: Monday, February 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Jeff Koons on the Roof
April 22 – October 26, 2008 (weather permitting)

On view will be an installation of sculptures by American artist Jeff Koons (b. 1955), featuring several of the artist's meticulously crafted works. The works are set 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 Manhattan skyline. Beverage and sandwich service will be available from 10:00 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings.
The exhibition is made possible by Bloomberg.
Additional support is provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.
Press preview: Monday, April 21, 10 a.m. - noon

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
May 7–September 1, 2008

This exhibition will explore the symbolic and metaphorical associations between fashion and the superhero. Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear, it will reveal how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. Objects will be organized thematically around particular superheroes, whose movie costumes and superpowers will be catalysts for the discussion of key concepts of superheroism and their expression in fashion.
The exhibition and its accompanying book are made possible by Giorgio Armani.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.
Press preview: Monday, May 5, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Medieval and Renaissance Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum
May 20–August 17, 2008

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has one of the world's finest collections of European decorative arts. As the institution undergoes extensive renovations, it provides a rare opportunity for the museum to lend some of its precious medieval and Renaissance works. On display at the Metropolitan will be 35 treasures from the collection that are rarely lent, and most have not been seen previously in New York. Included in the exhibition will be the Carolingian ivory cover of the Lorsch Gospels, an ivory statuette of the crucified Christ by Giovanni Pisano, Donatello's bronze Winged Putto with Fantastic Fish, a pair of gilt-bronze statuettes of prophets by Hubert Gerhard, and the Codex Forster 1, one of Leonardo da Vinci's treasured notebooks.
The exhibition was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Monday, May 19, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Framing a Century: Master Photographers, 1840–1940
June 3–September 1, 2008

The exhibition will tell the story of photography's first 100 years through the work of key figures who helped shape the aesthetic and expressive course of the medium: Gustave Le Gray, Roger Fenton, Carleton Watkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar, Édouard Baldus, Charles Marville, Eugène Atget, Walker Evans, Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Brassaï. The exhibition will present 10 to 12 iconic works by each of these artists to convey a broad sense of their contributions to photography. Many of the works are drawn from the Museum's 2005 acquisition of the Gilman Collection.

J. M. W. Turner
July 1–September 21, 2008

The first American retrospective of the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) in over 40 years, this international exhibition will highlight approximately 140 paintings and watercolors—more than half of them from Tate Britain's Turner Bequest—along with works from other collections in Europe and North America. The artist's extensive iconographic range will be represented, from seascapes and topographical views to historical subjects and scenes from his imagination.
Bank of America is proud to be the national sponsor.
Additional support is generously provided by Access Industries.
The exhibition is also made possible in part by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund
and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.
It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Dallas Museum of Art, in association with Tate Britain, London. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, June 23, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe
July 1–September 21, 2008

This will be the most comprehensive exhibition on the tradition of hardstone carving (pietre dure) that developed in Italy in the 16th century and subsequently spread through Europe. Roman masters cut colored marbles and laid them in geometrically patterned tabletops, such as the celebrated Farnese Table in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, while Milanese artisans preferred to cut designs in rock crystal, lapis lazuli, and other precious materials. In Florence, the passion of the Medici for importing precious stones led to Ferdinando I de' Medici's founding of the court workshops that still survive as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Royal patronage encouraged Florentine craftsmen to migrate to Prague, and their practices gradually spread to such centers as Augsburg, Paris, Madrid, and St. Petersburg. Some 150 tables, cabinets, caskets, jewelry, vases, and sculptures will represent the range of this brilliant art form of the courts of Europe through four centuries.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, June 30, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632–1717)
September 9, 2008–January 4, 2009

Wang Hui, the most celebrated painter of late 17th-century China, played a key role in reinvigorating past traditions of landscape painting as well as in establishing the stylistic foundations for the imperially sponsored art of the Qing court. An artist of protean talent and immense artistic ambition, Wang's all-embracing synthesis of historical landscape styles marked one of the most innovative moments in the arts of late imperial China. The exhibition will feature 27 masterpieces from the Taipei and Beijing Palace Museums, the Shanghai Museum, and the Tokyo National Museum, together with six outstanding works from the Metropolitan's permanent collection.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Refinement and Elegance: Early 19th-Century Royal Porcelain
September 9, 2008–April 19, 2009

The porcelain factories of Berlin, Sèvres, and Vienna achieved a remarkable level of both artistic and technical skill in the first half of the 19th century, and the quality of painted decoration practiced at these three factories at this time has never been surpassed. This exhibition will bring together approximately 90 extraordinary examples from these three European porcelain manufactories and will illustrate both the rivalry and the exchange of ideas and styles between the factories that resulted in some of the most remarkable porcelain ever produced.
The exhibition was organized by the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg in cooperation with the Twinight Collection, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Giorgio Morandi, 1890–1964
September 16–December 14, 2008

This will be a complete survey—the first in this country in three decades—of the career of Giorgio Morandi, one of the greatest 20th-century masters of still-life and landscape painting in the tradition of Chardin and Cézanne. The exhibition will comprise approximately 110 paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings from his early "metaphysical" works to his late evanescent still-lifes, culled mainly from Italian collections formed by Morandi's friends, either renowned scholars or eclectic collectors.
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939
September 23–December 7, 2008

Rhythms of Modern Life will be the first major exhibition in the United States to examine the impact of Futurism and Cubism on British modernist printmaking from the beginning of World War I to the beginning of World War II. Featuring the work of 14 artists, Rhythms of Modern Life will showcase selective works inspired by Vorticism, the first radically modern, inherently abstract British art movement of the 20th century. The principal artists represented are the prominent early followers of Futurism and Vorticism and the later color linocut artists of the esteemed London's Grosvenor School of Art. The exhibition will feature prime examples of graphic work that celebrate the vitality and dynamism of modern life, from Edward Wadsworth's hard-edged, industrial-inspired woodcuts to C. R. W. Nevinson's Futurist etchings of the first mechanized war to Cyril Power's vibrantly colored linocuts of London's modern tube stations.
The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, 1937–1940
September 23, 2008–January 2009

In the late 1930s, Rudy Burckhardt—then a recent émigré to America from Switzerland—created what are today considered to be some of the greatest photographs of New York ever made. This exhibition will present in its entirety a unique album (acquired by the Museum in 1972) of 67 now-classic images of street furniture, outdoor advertising, and pedestrians, selected and sequenced by Burckhardt in 1940.
Accompanied by a facsimile edition of the album.

Design without End: The Essential Art of African Textiles
September 30, 2008–March 2009

Throughout Africa, weavers in thousands of distinct cultures have designed and produced a dazzling array of textiles carried by traders across the length and breadth of Africa's cultural landscape. Many Africans consider the aesthetic of textiles to be the quintessential marker of individual expression, and leading contemporary African artists frequently pay direct tribute to its importance through sculpture, painting, photography, installation art, and other media. This exhibition will afford an appreciation of the stunning variety and range of the textile genres created by artists across the continent through some of their earliest documented and finest works. Highlights of the Metropolitan's collection will be presented along with some 35 works lent by the British Museum. The exhibition will be introduced by a selection of eloquent, inventive works by several of Africa's leading contemporary artists, addressing the synergy between Africa's classical heritage and modern aesthetics and visual language. Press preview: Monday, September 29, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Love and Marriage in Italian Renaissance Art
November 11, 2008–February 16, 2009

This exhibition will explore the various extraordinary objects created to celebrate love and marriage in the Italian Renaissance. The approximately 140 objects dating from 1400 to 1600 will range from cassone panels painted as elements of great bridal chests, to marriage portraits and paintings that extolled sensual love and fecundity, such as the Metropolitan's Venus and Cupid by the Venetian Lorenzo Lotto. Also included will be extraordinary examples of maiolica, glassware, jewelry, boxes, and works of art on paper.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Beyond Babylon: Art and International Exchange in the Second Millennium B.C.
November 18, 2008–March 15, 2009

This exhibition of approximately 400 objects will highlight the extraordinary art found in both Near Eastern and neighboring royal palaces of the second millennium B.C. From Mesopotamia to Egypt, these elaborately decorated buildings, their treasuries filled with objects of the highest artistry, were part of a sophisticated network of kings, diplomats, and merchants. Throughout the second millennium B.C., powerful kingdoms were linked through commerce and diplomacy. The artistic impact of their interaction is reflected by the importation of precious materials destined for royal and temple treasuries and the creation of gold and silver vessels, ivories, seals, jewelry, and wall paintings, reflecting a fusion of Near Eastern, Aegean, and Egyptian styles. Such interrelations are clearly demonstrated by, among other finds, the astonishing material found in merchant shipwrecks off the shore of southern Anatolia that contained rich cargoes destined for the international elite.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The catalogue is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
November 25, 2008–January 6, 2009

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 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.

Choirs of Angels: Painting in Italian Choral Manuscripts, 1300–1500
December 2008–March 2009

Some two dozen leaves of the most splendid examples from the Museum's little-known collection of choral manuscript illumination will be exhibited, coinciding with the publication of a Museum Bulletin devoted to the subject. With jewel-like color and gold, these precious images—which include scenes of singing angels, Hebrew prophets, heroic saints, and Renaissance princes—spring from the unique, artful marriage of painting, text, and music. The Museum's collection includes works created for cathedrals and monasteries across Italy, from Florence to Venice, from Cremona to Naples, by some of the most celebrated painters of their day.

Calder Jewelry
December 9, 2008–March 1, 2009

American-born artist Alexander Calder (1898–1976) is celebrated for his mobiles, stabiles, paintings, and objets d'art. This landmark exhibition will be the first museum presentation dedicated solely to his extensive output of inventive jewelry. During his lifetime Calder produced approximately 1,800 pieces of brass, silver, and gold body ornaments, often embellished with found objects such as beach glass and wood. This exhibition will feature nearly 70 works—bracelets, necklaces, earrings, brooches, and tiaras—as well as several notebooks of Calder's working drawings. While Calder's more diminutive avant-garde creations converged closely with the aesthetics of the modern age, they always remained personal and unmistakably Calder.
The exhibition is made possible by Wachovia.
It was organized by the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida and the
Calder Foundation, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
Through January 6, 2008

Conceived as a sequel to Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence (spring 2002), this international loan exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of 17th-century European tapestry. Drawing from collections in more than 15 countries, Tapestry in the Baroque presents rare tapestries made in Brussels, Paris, London, Florence, Rome, and Munich between 1590 and 1720, along with approximately 25 drawings, engravings, and oil sketches. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition investigates 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 spectacular ways.
The exhibition is made possible by the Hochberg Foundation Trust and the
Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
Corporate support is provided by Fortis.
The exhibition is also made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Society of Friends of Belgium in America, and the Flemish Government.
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the
Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc., and the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
with the generous participation of the Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Through January 6, 2008

The Metropolitan Museum is home to the finest collection of Dutch art outside of Europe—including 20 works by Rembrandt himself—and all 228 of these masterpieces are displayed together for the first time in this major special exhibition. The exhibition, which coincides with the publication of the first comprehensive catalogue of the collection, is a rich array of works dating mostly between 1600 and 1700 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 reflects the taste for Dutch art in America and among New York's great collectors of the past two centuries. The exhibition is made possible by Accenture.
The publication is made possible by Hata Stichting Foundation and
Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Zukerman.
Additional support is provided by the Kowitz Family Foundation and
The Christian Humann Foundation.
Accompanied by a publication.

The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece
Through 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 provides 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 Museo. The panels and elements from the doorframe—two of its supremely elegant figures of prophets and two finely modeled 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 is made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Richardson.
Additional support is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the
Oceanic Heritage Foundation.
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 and by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Bridging East and West: The Chinese Diaspora and Lin Yutang
Through February 10, 2008

Featured are gifts and promised gifts to the permanent collection from the family of Lin Yutang (1895–1976), one of the most important interpreters of Chinese culture to Western audiences. Comprising 43 paintings and calligraphies by 19 leading Chinese artists of the mid-20th century, this donation significantly enhances the Museum's ability to illustrate the continued vitality of China's traditional arts in modern times. Forty additional masterworks in the Museum's collection acquired from other members of the Chinese diaspora demonstrate how significantly this community has contributed to the Metropolitan's holdings in this area. The publication and the related exhibition are made possible by The Miriam and
Ira D. Wallach Foundation.

Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples
Through 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, the influences that acted upon it, and its meaning. On view from domestic and international collections are 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 from the so-called Third Intermediate Period (1070–664 B.C.), which represents the apogee of Egyptian metalwork.
The exhibition is made possible by Orascom Hotels and Development.
The catalogue is made possible by The Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund, in memory of
the de Groot and Hawley families.
Additional support is provided by the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

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

This exhibition presents a selection of paintings, sculpture, and drawings from The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, which was given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006. Formed primarily in the early 1950s, it has long been recognized as one of the preeminent collections of Abstract Expressionist art 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 catalogue is made possible by the Blanche and A.L. Levine Fund and the Mary C. and James W. Fosburgh Publications Fund.

Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary
Through March 2, 2008

This exhibition presents 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 addresses 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 reveals 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 150 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 provides 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 considers reliquaries from other world cultures alongside those produced in Africa, drawing upon related works from the Metropolitan Museum's Asian, Medieval, and Photographs departments.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the
Doris Duke Fund for Publications.

blog.mode: addressing fashion
Through April 13, 2008

As a living art form, fashion is open to multiple readings, and this exhibition invites the public to share their reactions to some 40 costumes and accessories dating from the 18th century to the present—all recent Metropolitan Museum acquisitions—via a blog on the Museum's website. During the exhibition individual objects are posted on the blog periodically with commentary from curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, and where relevant from contemporary designers. The blog is the Museum's first and can be accessed from the "Special Exhibitions" page of www.metmuseum.org. Visitors can also comment on the objects from a "blogbar" of computer terminals in the galleries. A catalogue, to be published after the close of the exhibition, will include photographs of all the garments, curatorial and designer commentary, and excerpts from the blog.
The exhibition is made possible by Manolo Blahnik.

Tara Donovan at the Met
Through June 29, 2008

Artist Tara Donovan (American, b. 1969) is known for creating abstract sculptural installations, each made of a single commonplace manufactured material—such as tape, Styrofoam cups, or drinking straws—accumulated on a vast scale and amassed into a structure that often takes on a biomorphic feel or resembles a topographical landscape. For a new work conceived specifically for this exhibition, the artist used silver Mylar tape to create a wall-mounted installation that encompasses an entire gallery. Through a vast accumulation of webs of metallic loops, laboriously assembled, Donovan transforms the space into a unique phenomenological experience for the viewer. This exhibition is the fourth in the Met's ongoing series of solo exhibitions of contemporary artists, which has featured Tony Oursler (2005), Kara Walker (2006), and Neo Rauch (2007).

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

The silversmithing firm established in Boston in 1808 by Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner, and relocated to Philadelphia three years later, 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 features 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 provide background and context for the American achievements. In addition, an extremely rare group of surviving drawings belonging to the Metropolitan Museum illuminates the creative process.
The exhibition is made possible by Alamo Rent A Car, Inc.
The catalogue is made possible in part by the William Cullen Bryant Fellows.
The exhibition was organized by Winterthur Museum and Country Estate.

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 Greek Revival architectural elements link the Federal-style period rooms of the original 1924 building with the later 19th-century rooms in the 1980 addition.

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.
The publication is made possible in part by James and Mary Hyde Ottaway, and Sandra and Joseph Rotman. Additional support is provided by The Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund, in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families.

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

The Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography is the Metropolitan's first gallery designed specifically for and devoted exclusively to the display of photographs created since 1960. 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 allows 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. The inaugural installation, Depth of Field: Modern Photography at the Metropolitan, continues through March 23 and traces the medium's varied paths from its role in conceptual, earth, and performance art of the 1960s to a central place in today's contemporary art scene. It will be followed by Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960, opening April 8, which surveys the ways in which artists have directed the camera toward photography itself.

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

The Wrightsman Galleries for French decorative arts recently underwent extensive renovations to improve climate control, introduce new lighting and fire suppression systems, and incorporate numerous decorative changes. The new lighting, in particular, greatly enhances the revised presentation of the Museum's renowned collection of French furniture and related decorative arts. All of the 18th-century boiseries have received conservation and cleaning, and several pieces of seat furniture have been reupholstered with modern re-creations of the original show covers. A large group of objects has received conservation treatment and the galleries also include important works previously not on view, such as a late 18th-century carved and gilded state bed.

New Galleries for Oceanic Art
Opened 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, 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 displays sculpture and decorative arts from the regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Australia. The displays also feature the Museum's first gallery devoted to the arts of the indigenous peoples of Island Southeast Asia.
The publication is made possible by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and
The MCS Endowment Fund.

New Gallery for the Art of Native North America
Opened November 14, 2007

The Museum's renovated gallery devoted to Native North American art displays approximately 90 works made by numerous American peoples. Ranging from the beautifully shaped stone tools known as bannerstones of several millennia B.C. to a mid-1970s tobacco bag, the objects illustrate a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, artistic styles, and functional purposes, all qualities inherent in the art of the peoples of the North American continent. Works include wood sculpture from the Northwest Coast of North America, ivory carvings from the Arctic, wearing blankets from the Southwest, and objects of hide from the Great Plains. Anchored by the Metropolitan's American Indian holdings drawn from the Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, the installation is augmented by loans from the well-known private collections of Ralph T. Coe of Santa Fe and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Diker of New York.

New Galleries for 19th- and Early 20th-Century European Paintings and Sculpture
Including the Henry J. Heinz II Galleries
Opened December 4, 2007

The New Galleries for 19th- and Early 20th-Century European Paintings and Sculpture have recently opened to the public with renovated rooms and 8,000 square feet of additional gallery space—the Henry J. Heinz II Galleries—to showcase works from 1800 through the early 20th century. The renovated and expanded galleries feature all of the Museum's most loved 19th-century paintings, which have been on permanent display in the past, as well as works by Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Picasso, and other early modern artists. Among the many additions are a full-room assembly of "The Wisteria Dining Room," a French art nouveau interior designed by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer shortly before World War I that is the only complete example of its kind in the United States; Henry Lerolle's large painting The Organ Rehearsal (a church interior of 1885), recently cleaned; a group of newly acquired 19th-century landscape oil sketches; and a selection of rarely exhibited paintings by an international group of artists.

In the Light of Poussin: The Classical Landscape Tradition
January 8–April 13, 2008

Complementing the exhibition Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions opening February 12, 2008, this selection of drawings and prints from the Museum's collection includes works by Poussin's French, Italian, and Northern contemporaries as well as by later artists influenced by his conception of landscape. Examples range from plein air studies to poetic evocations of pastoral scenes to highly structured settings for classical subjects. A section of the installation is devoted to the neoclassical period, which saw a revival of interest in the classical landscapes of Poussin and his contemporaries.

Anatomy of a Masterpiece
March 1–August 10, 2008

The exhibition dissects 36 paintings and calligraphies from the permanent collection, juxtaposing actual artworks with enlarged photographic details that focus on fine points of style or content, in order to elucidate what makes each one a masterpiece. The display, which spans 1,000 years of Chinese art history, from the 8th to the 17th century, examines many of the museum's finest paintings, including figures, landscapes, flowers, birds, and religious subjects.

Beauty and Learning: Korean Painted Screens
March 11–June 1, 2008

Painted screens depicting books, scholarly accoutrements, antiquarian collectibles, and auspicious objects first gained popularity in Korea during the reign of King Chŏngjo (r. 1776–1800). They served as pictorial representations of objects suitable for display in a scholar-gentleman's study. This special installation presents four screens dating from the late 19th to the early 20th century, drawn from American collections, including one screen from the Metropolitan Museum. It is the first exhibition in the U.S. to focus on this important and visually arresting genre of Korean painting.
This exhibition is made possible by The Kun-Hee Lee Fund for Korean Art.

Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960
April 8–October 19, 2008

This installation of works from the permanent collection—the second in the Museum's new gallery for contemporary photographs—surveys the ways in which artists have directed the camera toward photography itself, taking aim at its claims of transparency and objectivity, its ubiquity in modern life, and its inextricable ties to advertising and consumer culture. Artists include William Anastasi, Robert Heinecken, Allen Ruppersberg, Sherrie Levine, Thomas Ruff, Christopher Williams, Roe Etheridge, Liz Deschenes, James Welling, and Kota Ezawa, among many others.

Classic/Fantastic: Selections from the Modern Design Collection
Opened December 21, 2007

Order and disorder, reason and emotion, restraint and excess: such opposing impulses have guided design since the beginning of civilization. The exhibition juxtaposes these divergent approaches, presenting an Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy that explores the manifestations of these contradictory design philosophies in the modern era. With approximately 75 works in a wide range of media—including furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, textiles, and drawings—half the exhibition will be devoted to designs rooted in the centuries-old vocabulary of classicism, updated yet still linked to the rules and traditions of the past. The other half will address romantic and surreal objects of fantasy drawn from the realm of pure imagination.

Drawings and Prints from Holland's Golden Age: Highlights from the Collection
Through January 6, 2008

On display is a selection of drawings and prints from the Museum's collection by artists active in Holland during the 17th century, including masterworks by Rembrandt, Adriaen van Ostade, Willem Buytewech, Jacques de Gheyn, Albert Cuyp, and Jacob van Ruisdael.

Rumi and the Sufi Tradition
Through February 3, 2008

The mystic writings of the Persian poet known as Rumi (1207–1273) are generally considered to be the supreme expression of Sufism, the mystical trend in Islamic thought and culture. Rumi and the Sufi Tradition coincides with the worldwide celebration of the 800th anniversary of the poet-philosopher's birth. On view are nearly three dozen works from the Museum's Islamic art collection—including miniature paintings, Islamic calligraphy, ceramics, metalwork, glass, and textiles created between the 13th and 19th centuries—that evoke the world in which Rumi lived and suggest the scope of his enduring legacy.

Abstract Expressionist Drawings
Through February 2008

This small installation of drawings from the Museum's permanent collection, including several new acquisitions, features works from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s by such notable Abstract Expressionists as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and David Smith, among others. The works exemplify that movement's identification with gestural line and innovative experimentation with materials and techniques.

Depth of Field: Modern Photography at the Metropolitan
Through March 23, 2008

This inaugural installation in the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography—the Metropolitan's first gallery designed specifically for and devoted exclusively to the display of photographs created since 1960—draws from the Museum's growing collection of contemporary photographs to trace the medium's varied paths from its role in conceptual, earth, and performance art of the 1960s to a central place in today's contemporary art scene. Included are works by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Rodney Graham, Sharon Lockhart, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Ruff, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Struth, and Wolfgang Tillmans, among others.

The Art of Time: European Clocks and Watches from the Collection
Through April 27, 2008

The exhibition draws upon the Metropolitan Museum's extensive holdings of English, Dutch, French, German, and Swiss horology, ranging in date from the 16th through the 18th century. 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 are shown in a new—and sometimes surprising—context. The exhibition is made possible by The David Berg Foundation.

Asian Lacquer: Masterpieces from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection
Through May 11, 2008

Lacquer, a sap that is a natural plastic, has served as an artistic medium in China, Korea, and Japan for millennia. Lacquer is used for painting and is combined with gold, mother-of-pearl, and other materials. In addition, layers of lacquer can be carved to create wondrous patterns or engaging figural scenes. Ranging in size from small boxes for incense to larger containers for sake, and in date from the 14th to the 19th century, the exquisite works in this exhibition also have cultural significance. Some are associated with the art of writing. Others illustrate themes important in the history and literature of East Asia.

Tibetan Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection
Through fall 2009

This installation presents approximately 35 highlights from the Museum's extensive permanent collection of rare and exquisitely decorated armor, weapons, and equestrian equipment from Tibet and related areas of Mongolia and China, dating from the 15th to the 20th century. Included are several recent acquisitions that have never before been exhibited or published.

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.

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 50 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

The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean of France, Duke of Berry

An exhibition of all the illuminated pages of the Belles Heures painted by the Limbourg Brothers in 1405–1408/09 for Jean of France, Duke of Berry. Works of art in other media acquired by the duke and other Valois princes in the opening decade of the 15th century will also be included.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles November 18, 2008–February 8, 2009

'Twixt Art and Nature: English Embroidery 1575–1700

Using examples from the Museum's extensive collection of English embroidery, this exhibition will explore the context of embroidered objects in English life. On display will be samplers that illustrate the primary role of embroidery in the education of young women, costume accessories for personal use and as gifts, domestic and professional interior furnishings, and portraits of royalty, as well as decorated bibles and ceremonial objects.
The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, New York November 20, 2008–March 22, 2009

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.
Met Holiday Mondays through June 2008 are sponsored by Bloomberg.
Beginning July 1, 2008, Holiday Mondays will be sponsored by CIT.
January 21, February 18, May 26, September 1,
October 13, and December 29, 2008
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

SUGGESTED 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