SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS JANUARY - APRIL 2006

A Taste for Opulence: Sèvres Porcelain from the Collection
February 21–August 13, 2006

The Sèvres porcelain factory, established in the Château of Vincennes just outside Paris in 1740, quickly became the preeminent producer of porcelain in Europe. Supported in its early years by the patronage of Louis XV, the factory was named the manufacture du roi in 1753 and was purchased by the king in 1759. Catering in large part to the tastes of the court, the factory strove for constant innovation and originality throughout the 18th century, frequently employing the leading artists and designers of the day to provide models and inspiration for the factory's artisans. This installation, which focuses on the diversity of the factory's production, is drawn entirely from the Museum's superb holdings of Sèvres porcelain and from its unparalleled collection of 18th-century French furniture decorated with Sèvres plaques.

The Fabric of Life: Ikat Textiles of Indonesia
February 28–September 24, 2006

In many Indonesian societies, textiles are both literally and figuratively interwoven with an individual's life from earliest infancy to the wrapping of the funerary shroud. This exhibition explores the imagery, forms, and functions of one of the most important, widespread, and technically sophisticated of all Indonesian textile traditions—the colorful and boldly patterned fabrics known as ikat. Drawn primarily from the Metropolitan's own collection, the exhibition includes ikat from several distinctive regional traditions, woven with astonishing artistic and technical virtuosity.
This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of the Friends of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

Samuel Palmer (1805–1881): Vision and Landscape
March 7–May 29, 2006

Samuel Palmer ranks among the most important British landscape painters of the Romantic era. This exhibition—the first major retrospective of his work in nearly 80 years—celebrates the 200th anniversary of Palmer's birth and unites approximately 100 of Palmer's finest watercolors, drawings, etchings, and oils from public and private collections in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States. The exhibition highlights the artist's celebrated early work, executed in a visionary style inspired by William Blake, and re-examines Palmer's vibrant middle-period Italian studies and masterful late watercolors and etchings. It also includes a selection of works by artists in Palmer's circle. The exhibition is made possible by Gilbert and Ildiko Butler.
Additional support has been provided by William G. and Grace Brantley Anderson,
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and The Schiff Foundation.
The exhibition was organized by The British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and
the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, March 6, 10:00 a.m.–noon

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, contemporary American artist Kara Walker (b. 1969)— widely recognized for her explorations of issues of race, gender, and sexuality through the 18th-century medium of cut-paper silhouettes—juxtaposes American paintings from the Museum's collection with her own work to explore waterborne disasters and their impact on black Americans.
Press preview: Monday, March 20, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Hatshepsut, the great female pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, ruled for two decades—first as regent for, then as co-ruler with her nephew Thutmose III (ca. 1479–1458 B.C.). During her reign, at the beginning of the New Kingdom, trade relations were re-established with western Asia to the east and were extended to the land of Punt far to the south as well as to the Aegean Islands in the north. The prosperity of this time was reflected in the art, which is marked by innovations in sculpture, decorative arts, and such architectural marvels as Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. In this exhibition, the Metropolitan's own extensive holdings of objects excavated by the Museum's Egyptian Expedition in the 1920s and 1930s are supplemented by loans from other American and European museums, as well as by select loans from Cairo.
The exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is made possible by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman.
The exhibition is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
The exhibition at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/de Young is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund at the Metropolitan Museum, in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Press preview: Monday, March 20, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet
April 5–July 2, 2006

This exhibition is the first comprehensive study of armor, weapons, and equestrian equipment from the Tibetan plateau, a subject that has remained virtually unexplored until now. Many rare or previously unknown examples of helmets, body armor, swords, horse armor, saddles, and stirrups are exhibited and published here for the first time. Dating from the 13th to the 19th century, these objects include some of the finest examples of Himalayan ironwork decorated with gold and silver and extremely rare leatherwork embellished with paint or lacquer.
The exhibition is made possible by The Brine Family Charitable Trust.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Carl Otto von Kienbusch Memorial Fund and the Grancsay Fund.
Press preview: Monday, April 3, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Art of Betty Woodman
April 25–July 30, 2006

American-born artist Betty Woodman (b. 1930) is celebrated internationally for her contribution to contemporary ceramic sculpture and for the interrelationship between ceramics, sculpture, and painting in her work. This retrospective of her work includes some 70 examples of early utilitarian objects, large vessel groups, wall installations, paintings, and drawings.
The exhibition is made possible by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc. Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Monday, April 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
April 25–October 29, 2006 (weather permitting)

An installation of contemporary art 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 New York City skyline. Beverage and sandwich service is available from 10:00 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings.
Press preview: Monday, April 24, 10:00 a.m.–noon

AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
May 3–September 4, 2006

AngloMania will focus on British fashion from 1976 to 2006, a period of astounding creativity and experimentation. In their search for novelty over the past 30 years, designers have looked to past styles with an appetite that is as audacious as it is rapacious. Focusing on their postmodern, historicizing tendencies, this exhibition will present a series of tableaux based on Britain's rich artistic traditions. The irony of satirical prints, the romance of landscape paintings, and the glamour and bravado of grand manner portraits will be evoked through a wide spectrum of British designers. The exhibition will be set in the Metropolitan Museum's English Period Rooms—The Annie Laurie Aitken Galleries—to create a potent dialogue between the past and the present.
The exhibition and its accompanying book are made possible by Burberry.
Additional support has been provided by Condé Nast.
Press preview: Monday, May 1, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Girodet: Romantic Rebel
May 24–August 27, 2006

This is the first American retrospective devoted to Anne-Louis Girodet (1767–1824), a favored but rebellious pupil of Jacques-Louis David. Girodet's idiosyncratic style fuses David's Neoclassical ideal with his own prescient Romantic vision. A selection of approximately 110 paintings and works on paper will reflect his originality and the diversity of his works, from mythological subjects to portraits and representations of Napoleon's military triumphs. The exhibition is supported by The Isaacson-Draper Foundation.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Isaacson-Draper Foundation and The Florence Gould Foundation. Additional support for the catalogue has been provided by the Getty Research Institute and the Getty Grant Program. The Cleveland Museum of Art receives operating support from the Ohio Arts Council.
This exhibition was initiated by the Cleveland Museum of Art and organized by the musée du Louvre and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the special support of the Musée Girodet, Montargis.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Press preview: Monday, May 22, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Treasures of Sacred Maya Kings
June 13–September 10, 2006

Early in the first millennium A.D., Maya kings elaborated on an inherited tradition for interacting with supernatural powers by portraying themselves in the roles and costumes of divinities. Using specific symbolic attributes and performing conjuring rituals evoking deities and deified ancestors, the kings of city-states such as Calakmul in Mexico, Tikal in Guatemala, and Copan in Honduras rendered themselves divine. This exhibition will include items of kingly regalia, objects that depict their real and mythic actions, and works that were part of these activities, ranging from large-scale relief sculpture in stone, to ceramic vessels of distinctive shape, to objects of carved jade, shell, bone, and pearl.
The exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The exhibition was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, June 12, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece
June 20–September 3, 2006

In 1901, J. Pierpont Morgan acquired the last major altarpiece by Raphael still in private hands, a work that had been painted by the young artist for a convent in Perugia and that had been owned successively by the Colonna family in Rome and the King of Naples and the Two Sicilies. To obtain it, Morgan had paid the phenomenal sum of two million francs. News of the banker's acquisition caused a sensation in the press and the picture was judged to be the most important ever to cross the Atlantic. Since 1916 it has been one of the treasures of the Metropolitan Museum. This exhibition will reunite the two main panels with all the scenes from its predella, which were separated from the altarpiece in 1663. A select group of drawings and paintings by Raphael produced close in time to the Colonna Altarpiece, including a preparatory study for the Metropolitan's predella panel, will also be included.
The exhibition is made possible in part by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a Bulletin.
Press preview: Monday, June 19, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Ambroise Vollard: Patron of the Avant-Garde from Cézanne to Picasso
September 13, 2006–January 7, 2007

At the age of 28, Ambroise Vollard (1867–1939) established himself in Paris with the presentation of Cézanne's first-ever solo exhibition. Over the succeeding years Vollard bought and sold pictures by Bonnard, Cézanne, Degas, Derain, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Maillol, Matisse, Picasso, Redon, Renoir, Rouault, Rousseau, Vlaminck, Vuillard, and others. This exhibition will include highlights from some of Vollard's greatest exhibitions: Cézanne's 1895 exhibition; a particularly important Van Gogh retrospective in 1896; a Gauguin exhibition in 1898 that focused on Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); Picasso's first exhibition in France in 1901; the Matisse exhibition of 1904; and Derain's London series, painted in 1905–6 at the suggestion of Vollard in response to Monet's paintings of the same theme. The exhibition will also address Vollard's seminal role as a publisher of fine prints, sculpture, and livres d'artistes. The exhibition will conclude with a room of portraits of Vollard, ranging from Cézanne's austere homage (1899), to Picasso's Cubist analysis (1910), to Renoir's vision of Vollard as a toreador (1917).
The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of
Chicago, the Musée d'Orsay and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Tuesday, September 12, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Facing the Middle Ages
September 26, 2006–February 18, 2007

The Museum's rich collection of medieval heads, complemented by selected loans from American and European collections, will serve as a springboard for looking at a variety of artistic and thematic issues: iconoclasm and the legacy of furor, sculpting identity and the evolving notions of the "portrait," sculpture without context and the search for provenance, head reliquaries as power objects, Gothic Italy and the antique. The works will be examined in different ways, drawing together science and connoisseurship, archaeology and history.
The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, September 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Sean Scully: Wall of Light
September 26, 2006–January 14, 2007

This exhibition will feature recent work by abstract artist Sean Scully (American, b. 1945), specifically his Wall of Light series of paintings, watercolors, pastels, and aquatints. Begun in 1983 during the first of the artist's several visits to Mexico, this ongoing and distinctive body of work focuses on architecture and light. Paintings from 1998 to the present are constructed with rectangular bricklike forms, closely fitted and arranged in horizontal and vertical groupings as if in a wall and characterized by broad, gestural brushstrokes, a wide range of luminous colors built up in layers, and varying degrees of overall light and darkness. The core of the exhibition will feature 25 paintings on canvas, with related watercolors, pastels, and aquatints.
The exhibition is made possible by Paula Cussi and Ignacio Garza Medina.
The exhibition was organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Accompanied by a publication.
Press preview: Monday, September 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Americans in Paris, 1860–1900
October 17, 2006–January 28, 2007

The exhibition will demonstrate the importance of Paris as a center for late-19th-century American art: as the key venue for study, a magnet for expatriates, and a stimulus for the creation of newly sophisticated American art schools, exhibitions, and criticism. While the exhibition will emphasize American painters who were aligned with vanguard tendencies—Whistler, Sargent, Cassatt, Hassam, Chase, and other American Impressionists—some of the artists who espoused academic principles will also be represented. About 100 oil paintings, arranged thematically, will highlight "Paris as Training Ground and Proving Ground," which will include canvases shown in the Salons and major expositions; "Pictures of Paris"; "At Home in Paris"; and "Summers in the Country," which explores Giverny and other French art colonies where Americans worked as Impressionists, and the colonies they founded after their return to the United States.
The exhibition in Boston and New York is made possible by Bank of America.
In New York, additional support has been provided by the Marguerite and
Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund.
The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery, London and the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, October 16, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf
October 24, 2006–September 2, 2007

The powerful and graphically arresting sculpture of the Papuan Gulf area of New Guinea will be 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 sculptures represent spirits in the form of masks, figures, and ancestor boards that were used to cajole and coax supernatural beings to attend to human needs. The exhibit will focus on sacred objects and the performance ceremonies in which they were activated. The juxtaposition of photographic images with the objects—objects often specifically identifiable in the photographs—allows for a ready presentation of culturally specific ideas. The selection of historical photographs, taken by early travelers to the Papuan Gulf, will be drawn from The Photograph Study Collection of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
The exhibition was organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall—An Artist's Country Estate
November 7, 2006–February 4, 2007

Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany's extraordinary country estate in Oyster Bay, New York, completed in 1905, was the epitome of the artist's aesthetic achievement and in many ways defined this multifaceted artist. Conceived almost as a house-museum, Tiffany designed every aspect of the project inside and out, creating a total aesthetic environment. The exhibition will be 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 will bring together many of its surviving architectural elements and interior features. In addition, the exhibition will feature Tiffany's personal collections of his own work—breathtaking stained-glass windows, paintings, glass and ceramic vases—as well as the artist's collections of Japanese, Chinese, and Native American works of art.
The exhibition is made possible by The Tiffany & Co. Foundation.
The exhibition 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.
Press preview: Monday, November 6, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Glitter and Doom: Portraits from the Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
November 14, 2006–February 18, 2007

The short-lived Weimar Republic saw political, economic, and social turmoil, yet also innovation in literature, music, film, theater, and art. The most vital of the artists working in the various Post-Expressionist styles in Germany in the 1920s were part of the movement toward a dead-pan, matter-of-fact realism known variously as Verism and Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). In their best works, their portraits, they depict with clinical detachment the glittering yet doomed and rootless society that flourished or floundered during these years mislabeled The "Golden" Twenties. The exhibition will feature some 40 paintings and some 60 drawings by Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Karl Hubbuch, Christian Schad, and Rudolf Schlicher, among others.
The exhibition is supported by The Isaacson-Draper Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Press preview: Monday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.–noon

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
November 21, 2006–January 7, 2007

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 will add to the enjoyment of the holiday display. Lighting ceremony Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00.
The exhibit of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund and
the Loretta Hines Howard Fund.

Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437
Through January 3, 2006

Crowned King of Bohemia in 1347, Charles IV sought to make his capital city—Prague—the cultural rival of Paris and Rome. The remarkable flowering of art that resulted is celebrated in an exhibition that draws together some 200 stunning examples including panel paintings, goldsmiths' work, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, silk embroideries, and stained glass. These little-known masterpieces attest to the wide-ranging achievements of the hundreds of artists affiliated with Prague and the Bohemian crown during the reign of Charles IV and his two sons, Wenceslas IV and Sigismund. The exhibition draws on numerous collections in the Czech Republic as well as other European and American collections.
The exhibition is made possible in part by Carl B. and Ludmila Schwarzenberg Hess; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
Additional support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Transportation assistance has been provided by Czech Airlines.
The exhibition 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, and Prague Castle Administration.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Through January 8, 2006

See description above.

Medieval Masterworks on Loan from the Morgan Library
Through January 8, 2006

The Metropolitan is displaying seven superb examples of medieval art from the Morgan Library while that facility undergoes renovation. Among them are some of the favorite works of the noted financier and collector J. Pierpont Morgan, a past president of the Metropolitan Museum.

Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands
Through January 15, 2006

Created to honor the archipelago's gods and ancestors, adorn the bodies of its people, and ornament the objects they used, art in the Marquesas Islands northeast of Tahiti encompassed virtually every aspect of sacred and secular life. Celebrated for its elegant stylization of the human image and intricately decorated surfaces, Marquesan art comprised an astonishing diversity of forms, from works in wood and stone to the most elaborate tattooing in the Pacific. Featuring works from the Metropolitan and other museums, libraries, and private collections, the exhibition explores how art captured and enhanced the central themes of secular and religious life.
The exhibition is made possible by Air Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Tourisme
(www.NYCtoTahitiNonstop.com).
Additional support has been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt
Through May 7, 2006

The causes of illnesses were little understood in ancient Egypt, and their prevention and cure were a major concern for most Egyptians—one that informs much of ancient Egyptian art, yet has been given relatively little attention. This exhibition highlights objects from the Museum's collection that address this concern, allowing visitors to appreciate them in new ways. Included is the rarely seen Edwin Smith Papyrus, one of the world's oldest scientific documents, which is on loan from the New York Academy of Medicine.
The exhibition is made possible in part by Raymond and Beverly Sackler.
Additional support for the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue has been provided by The Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund, in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families.

Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection
Through January 22, 2006

An American original in the truest sense, Iris Barrel Apfel is one of the most vivacious personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design and has cultivated a personal style that is both witty and exuberantly idiosyncratic. Her originality is typically revealed in her eclectic mixing of styles—Dior haute couture with flea-market finds, Dolce & Gabbana striped leather trousers with a Zuni belt. Highlights of this Costume Institute exhibition include individual accessories ranging from a Gripoix brooch to a Roger Jean-Pierre necklace, a Mexican turquoise and hammered-silver belt to a Central Asian silver choker, a pair of 18th-century paste earrings to a pair of modern plastic cuffs.

Clouet to Seurat: French Drawings from The British Museum
Through January 29, 2006

This exhibition culls nearly 100 highlights representing four centuries of French master drawings from the renowned holdings of The British Museum. From the refined production of 16th-century court society to the café society of the 19th century, the elegance and innovation characteristic of French art are traced through outstanding examples of draftsmanship from the Renaissance to Postimpressionism, including works by Jean Clouet, Claude Lorrain, Antoine Watteau, Edgar Degas, and Georges Seurat. The exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is in memory of William Slattery Lieberman. The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The British Museum.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Fra Angelico
Through January 29, 2006

This first major exhibition of Fra Angelico's work since the quincentenary exhibition of 1955 in Florence—and the first ever in this country—reunites approximately 75 paintings, drawings, and manuscript illuminations covering all periods of the artist's career, from ca. 1410 to 1455. Included are several new attributions and paintings never before exhibited publicly, as well as numerous reconstructions of dispersed complexes, some reunited for the first time. An additional 45 works by Angelico's assistants and closest followers illustrate the spread and continuity of his influence into the second half of the 15th century.
The exhibition is made possible by the Homeland Foundation, Inc.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible in part by the Roswell L. Gilpatric Publications Fund.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

David Milne Watercolors: "Painting Toward the Light"
Through January 29, 2006

Canadian painter David Milne (1882–1953) spent nearly 25 years working in the United States during the early part of his career. Much of his time was spent in New York City, where he exhibited modernist works in the 1913 Armory Show, and in upstate New York, where he was inspired by the natural scenery. These stays, as well as his travels in Europe during World War I and his final years in Canada, precipitated shifts in his subject matter and painting style. The 45 watercolors in this retrospective, the first outside Canada, reintroduce Milne to an American audience.
The exhibition is made possible by Rosamond Ivey.
The exhibition is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Accompanied by a publication.

Cameo Appearances
Through January 29, 2006

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

A Curator's Eye: J. Stewart Johnson at the Met, 1990–2004
Through February 5, 2006

From 1990 to 2004, J. Stewart Johnson served as the principal curator for the modern design and architecture collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During these 14 years, he made a number of important acquisitions that augmented and reshaped an already significant collection. This selection of these works demonstrates his skill as a connoisseur and a scholar.

The Bishop Jades
Through February 12, 2006

This selection of the most refined works from the Heber R. Bishop Collection includes carvings of jade, agate, quartz, lapis lazuli, and many other hard stones. The objects represent the sophisticated art of Chinese lapidaries during the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911) as well as the highly accomplished works of Mughal Indian jade carvers that provided an exotic inspiration to their Chinese counterparts. Also on display is a set of Chinese lapidary tools and illustrations of jade workshops, which demonstrate the traditional method of working jade.

Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master
Through March 5, 2006

Antonello da Messina (ca. 1430–1479) was one of the most innovative and influential painters of the Quattrocento. Trained in the brilliant artistic climate of Naples, he traveled to Venice in 1475, where his art had a profound impact on Giovanni Bellini and other Venetian painters. His portraits marked a new stage in the evolution of that genre in Italy. Three of his masterpieces from Sicilian museums—never before seen in the United States—are on view at the Metropolitan Museum, including the compelling Virgin Annunciate.
The exhibition was organized and made possible by the Cultural Commissioner for the Sicilian Region, Hon. Alessandro Pagano, and the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, with the generous support of Bulgari and ACP Group.
Additional support has been provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.
The exhibition catalogue is made possible by the Drue E. Heinz Fund.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture
Through March 5, 2006

Santiago Calatrava (b. 1951), the author of some of the most beautiful structures of our epoch, spends much of his time drawing and conceiving sculptures. This exhibition shows how many of the forms of his celebrated buildings originated in independent works of art. It includes approximately two dozen sculptures in marble and bronze, many drawings, and 12 architectural models, including work related to the Path Terminal at the World Trade Center site.
The exhibition is made possible by UBS.

Pearls of the Parrot of India: The Emperor Akbar's Illustrated "Khamsa," 1597–98
Through March 12, 2006

Poet Amir Khusrau Dihlavi's classic Khamsa (quintet of tales) was one of the most sumptuous manuscripts created for the great Mughal emperor and patron of the arts Akbar. Twenty-nine surviving full-page illustrations from the manuscript are shared between the Metropolitan Museum and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The unbinding of the Walters's manuscript for conservation purposes allows all painted folios to be reunited, together with some illuminated text pages, in this jewel-like exhibition.
The exhibition is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.
Accompanied by a publication.

Robert Rauschenberg: Combines
Through April 2, 2006

This exhibition takes a comprehensive look at the highly inventive body of work Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) terms "combines." It includes 67 objects produced between 1954 and 1964. With these mixed-media works of art, the artist transformed the traditional technique of collage through his unconventional use of materials, such as textiles, taxidermied animals, newsprint, and photographic reproductions. Many of these works can be seen as syncopated grids composed of materials from everyday life. This selection of wall-hung and freestanding combines highlights Rauschenberg's best-known works while also bringing to light a number of his less-familiar objects.
The exhibition is made possible in part by Jane and Robert Carroll and the Wasserstein family. Corporate support has been provided by Merrill Lynch.
The exhibition was organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480–1620
Through January 14, 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.

The "Hundred Antiques" in Chinese Textiles
February 8–July 30, 2006

The "hundred antiques," a Chinese decorative pattern that can include antiquities, scholars' objects, and three-dimensional decorative arts of all types, became popular during the 17th century. Especially common in the decorative arts of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), some of the "hundred antiques" were incorporated into patterns of rebuses for auspicious wishes. This installation highlights examples of dress and furnishing textiles from the Museum's collection dating from the 17th century to the late Qing dynasty, decorated with the "hundred antiques" pattern.

Secular and Sacred: Scholars, Deities, and Immortals in Chinese Art
Through January 8, 2006

In China's traditional culture, statecraft, philosophy, and religion were often seen as complementary and interrelated belief systems. An individual might subscribe to Confucianism's strong sense of ethics and social responsibility in his public life, embrace Daoist ideals of quietude and naturalness in his private life, and aspire to Buddhist salvation in the afterlife. This worldview is reflected in the arts, where the same circle of artists and patrons might create or own works that represent seemingly divergent philosophical or religious perspectives. This exhibition of more than 60 paintings, calligraphies, and related works of art explores the varied kinds of imagery that have coexisted from the 11th through the 20th century.

A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Spring and Summer
Through June 4, 2006

The paintings, screens, and objects displayed in this installation reflect the Japanese people's keen attentiveness to seasonal changes. Cultivated after the nation's capital was established in 794 in Kyoto, a city surrounded on three sides by mountains and pierced by the Kamo River, a sensitivity to the all-encompassing sweep of the seasons formed the foundation of Japanese life and culture. In painting, landscapes were almost always tinged with seasonal signs, and the subject of flowers and birds in paintings was depicted in an appropriate seasonal context. A pair of six-panel screens was an ideal format in which to illustrate various subjects—landscapes, flowers and birds, or human activities—over the twelve months of the year. This installation will be followed, starting in late June, by a rotation of the arts of fall and winter.

Reopening of the Charlotte C. Weber Galleries
for the Arts of Ancient China
Reopened August 2005

Extensively renovated and now reopened to the public, these galleries have been reconfigured to accommodate an expanded presentation that includes both new purchases and gifts from a number of the Museum's patrons, most notably a large collection of nomadic art from Eugene V. Thaw. Greatly enhanced by improved lighting, updated maps, and text panels, the new display offers a more comprehensive and illuminating interpretation of the complex development of ancient Chinese art.

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 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:
Chefs-d'oeuvre de la peinture européenne

On view will be a selection of 50 European paintings dating from about 1500 to 1900, all drawn from the Museum's holdings.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland June 23–November 12, 2006

Lions, Dragons, and Other Beasts:
Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages, Vessels for Church and Table

The entire aquamanilia collection of the Metropolitan Museum, as well as selected examples from other major collections, will be on display. Additional objects drawn from the Metropolitan's extensive collection will provide context. Late Antique, Byzantine, and Islamic works suggest sources and models. Stylistic and technical relationships are explored with other medieval examples in various media such as tapestry and ceramic.
Accompanied by a catalogue.

Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the July 12–October 15, 2006
Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture

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 sponsored by Bloomberg 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
in the Main Building
January 16, February 20, May 29, July 3,
September 4, and October 9, 2006
All other Mondays Closed
January 1, Thanksgiving, and December 25 Closed

THE CLOISTERS HOURS

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

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

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

Adults $15.00
Senior citizens $10.00
Students $ 7.00
Members and children under 12
accompanied by adult Free

Advance tickets available at www.TicketWeb.com or 1-800-965-4827

For more information www.metmuseum.org

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December 12, 2005

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