Old Masters

After a long hiatus from tours, I went on a very informative Old Masters tour this evening.

Reading in the Lehman Wing

After my Old Masters tour, I wandered into the Robert Lehman Wing just downstairs from the European Paintings galleries. I recently started reading former Met director Thomas Hoving's memoir, Making the Mummies Dance. What fun it was to sit looking at Lehman's Impressionists and read about what an ordeal it was to secure the collection and build an entire pavillion to house it.

Balthus Reunited

The largest painting, The Mountain, recently returned from the Philippe de Montebello exhibition to join three other paintings by the Polish/French artist, Balthasar Kłossowski de Rola (aka Balthus).

I am strangely drawn to Balthus; his flattened perspective and muted palette strike me as interesting, though not particularly beautiful. His paintings are stylistically unique, taking on characteristics of both medieval and modern portraiture, slightly abstracting the human figures and environments, while remaining relatively faithful to realism compared to the work of his contemporaries (Picasso, Miró, Giacometti).

The Met Artist

This may classify me as a bit of a stalker, but I can't resist photographing my favorite Met artist. I always see him. One day I'll get up the courage to actually talk to him, rather than throwing out the errant compliment here and there. Previous posts: 1/2/3.

Per Reader Suggestion

I received a comment on my post, Thoughts on Change, that suggested I take a look at the new additions to the Modern Art wing, particularly those that hang near the staircase where my (yes, I take ownership of them since they are my favorite) beloved Rosenquists once lived.


The most prominent painting is Kehinde Wiley's "The Veiled Christ (study) 2008," which I definitely noticed as soon as it arrived. It portrays the stiff, clearly deceased subject laying on his back with his hand on his abdomen, a crown of thorns and metal stakes at his feet, against the backdrop of bright floral wallpaper with a black background, some of the same flowers coming to life in the foreground, dispersed about the body. Regardless of its size, the image itself is powerful and arresting.


On the facing wall next to Norman Rockwell and Grant Wood, hangs a Thomas Hart Benton: "Cotton Pickers, Georgia, 1928-29." In Benton's signature style, the squiggly characters float atop the wavelike landscape.


And just to the left, Andrew Wyeth's "A Crow Flew By, 1949-50" captured my undivided attention. The egg tempera on wood gives the painting a very rustic feeling — the shirt and hat in the top right corner are expertly painted to look worn out, and the expression on the man's droopy-eyed face is perfectly highlighted by the ray of light.

A Pleasant Surprise

These beauties just showed up the other day in the space that the Shigeyuki Kihara exhibition recently vacated. They are particularly enthralling to me because of my graphic design background.

Cherry Blossoms and Pussy Willows

Thoughts on Change

Considering the series of life decisions I have made, it comes as a surprise even to me that I am, perhaps uncharacteristically, averse to change. Maybe I'm not being completely fair, because I am most uncomfortable when changes are not in my favor, but change (even the expected kind), nonetheless, comes as a jolt to my system.

After visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art as frequently as I, one might expect to be more attuned to subtle changes in the galleries — but today I was alarmed to find that my favorite paintings had been removed from the stairwell at the southwest corner of the Modern Art wing. My Rosenquists! I was seriously distraught...

I don't know if I am just more inclined to notice changes in the galleries now, but I have since noticed several new paintings and several that no longer hang where they used to — and I'm not talking special exhibitions. I guess it's pretty naive for me to be so surprised that after visiting the Met 'everyday' for four months I've noticed some relatively insignificant changes — but maybe I am.

I can tell you though, that Pollock's Pasiphaë and another abstract expressionist painting have been replaced by two different Pollock paintings (one of which had, until February 2, been part of the Philippe de Montebello exhibition); that between Chuck Close's colorful circles portrait and Warhol's self-portrait with camouflage, now hangs a grey-toned Jasper Johns with a shadowy figure on the right; that instead of the Stephen Hannock landscape that hung beside its waterfall mate, there is now a panoramic horizontal painting of Christ with an overlying floral motif — all of which I plan to revisit and study. So, as I continue to mourn the loss of Rosenquist's Gift Wrapped Dolls, I will stay positive and look forward to picking new favorites.

*When I first began this project, part of the idea was to learn something about myself. In visits prior to the genesis of this blog, I had done some serious thinking and extensive soul-searching within the walls of the Met. So it seemed natural that, by going every day, I'd continue — and I have. So today's post has reflected on the way I felt inside the Met; and I will try to include more of my personal experiences in the future.

Just Dropped in on Thursday Afternoon

My friend Justin is crashing on my couch this week, so we ventured to the Met to meet up with a couple of his other friends this afternoon. I didn't have much time, so I basically walked across the park with him and dropped him off with his friends in the Modern Art wing. I did come across these two fellows I'd met before — they told me where to get the cool chairs they have for sketching: Houtz and Barwick.

Looking Forward to Fashion

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute issued a press release today, announcing the upcoming exhibition: The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion. Though I admittedly know only a teeny bit about fashion, I thoroughly enjoy studying it — Project Runway and previous exhibitions at the Met are to thank for that — and I cannot wait until this opens in May!

Past Costume Institute Exhibitions I Attended
Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
blog.mode: addressing fashion