-Donato
Once every couple of months I love to take a Friday afternoon and evening off from the studio and stroll through the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see some old ‘friends’, and discover some new ones.
It is always a wonderful visit, with a quartet playing in the main lobby entry hall, and most of the crowds off to dinner. For not everyone realizes that the Met is open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday. It is an excellent time to have the art to yourself and a few other die hard ‘cognoscente’.
Enjoy the tour!
Caravaggio
The Room of Rembrandts
Edwin Austin Abbey
John White Alexander
A new Sargent in the American Wing! A brilliant piece…can you spot the two deer in the dappled light?
Here is a hidden secret. On the second floor of the American Wing is one of the storage areas which is glassed in. There is some amazing art to discover in these corridors!
One of these discoveries . H.O. Walker…who? Stunning work none the less by a previously unknown artist to me.
One of the Met’s Maxfield Parrishs. You can see how they rate illustrators as I have never seen this image out on the main floors, but there is always space for plenty of deserted rooms filled with modern art. Don’t get me started!
I always have to nod hello to the knights in armor.
Lastly, this entryway to the American Wing says it all.
Many have passed before, and many more will do so in the future. I am grateful to have the chance to live in this city with institutions that share the best of what artists have offered up to the world.
Many have passed before, and many more will do so in the future. I am grateful to have the chance to live in this city with institutions that share the best of what artists have offered up to the world.
Whoah, I gotta get back to New York!
Oof, last time I was there the American wing was closed! I'll have to go back. The Sargents and the Hudson River School are my favorite paintings sections.
I went to art school in NYC about 12-15 years ago, and I think I learned as much about painting at the Met as I did in class. It's a shame that a lot of great paintings like the Parrish probably won't leave the storage room, but I think the museum has actually gotten better. Back then then the Parrish and many others like it weren't even on display at all. I think the storage room displays are new? I remember storage rooms, but it was mainly furniture and decor type stuff. I also noticed on my last trip a few months ago that there was a lot more orientalist art, particularly some wonderful Geromes, on display in the European section that were never out when I was in school.
It's great to see what attracted you in such a vast universe of inspiration. The worn step is a poetic statement of the power of tradition. It's a big leap forward to see Abbey's Lear in the galleries (it used to be in the stairway). The way to get Parrishes and other worthies out of confinement is to thank the curators and to do more blog posts like this one. They notice.
As a student I had the opportunity to spend several months in New York City and the Met was one of my favorite places to go. Thank you for this glimpse into your inspiration, and for the views from a place that will always be one of the best, to me.
It took me a while to see the second deer in the Sargent but… am I hallucinating? I see a man in the lower right corner, older gent, bare chest and arms, looking up and to the viewer's left, looks like a man sitting up in bed.
Very timely post for me, as I will be there for the first time in my life tomorrow afternoon. So looking forward to it!