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More than 170 rarely exhibited unique ceramic works by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), created by the artist in the South of France primarily from 1947 to 1962, will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Picasso: Painter and Sculptor in Clay, from March 3 through June 6, 1999. Although Picasso is acknowledged as one of the most revolutionary artists of this century, with an unquestioned reputation as a painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker, this exhibition is the first large-scale examination of his ceramic oeuvre, which he commenced at the age of 66. Intimately related in theme and subject matter to Picasso's art in other media, the subjects of these works range from still lifes to bullfights and include a lively cast of characters: a mistress and a wife, lovers and clowns, dancers and musicians, centaurs and fauns, as well as birds and fish. These join many sculpted and painted ceramics that celebrate the female form — nude and clothed, standing and seated.
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Nearly 300 outstanding examples of medieval art — all drawn from the superb holdings of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and all acquired during the last two decades — will be moved from their customary settings this spring for Mirror of the Medieval World, an important new exhibition of the art of the Middle Ages. Organized thematically, the exhibition will feature several unexpected groupings of works of art created between the fourth and the 16th century, inviting visitors to reassess familiar works and to draw stylistic comparisons among objects created for purposes as diverse as personal adornment, the activities of daily life, and liturgical rites.
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The third in a four-part series on Islamic ornament dating from the 9th to the 18th century, The Nature of Islamic Ornament, Part III: Geometric Patterns will open on March 17, 1999. Some 25 objects that feature predominantly geometric decoration, drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's own collection — including illuminated manuscripts, rugs, carved and inlaid woodwork, and pottery — reflect the variety of production of Islamic art and the wide range of application of geometric patterns.
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The work of the noted abstract artist and influential teacher Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) will be the subject of an exhibition, Hans Hofmann at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on view from April 13 through October 17, 1999. The focus of the exhibition will be the nine paintings of "The Renate Series" and several other paintings by Hofmann in the Museum's collection.
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Throughout the 18th century, France was an artistic center whose influence reached far beyond its borders. In a culture that placed a high value on artistic inspiration and individuality, the appreciation of drawings — one of the most immediate and intimate of art forms — saw a vast expansion. Though drawings continued to play a utilitarian role in the artist's creative process, they were increasingly made as independent objects, with an eye toward display and delectation. On view February 2 through April 25, 1999, Eighteenth-Century French Drawings in New York Collections surveys the many achievements of this widely-admired period of French art, when artists such as Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Robert, David, and Greuze, among others, created images of surpassing beauty and virtuosity.
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Paintings, watercolors, drawings, and portrait miniatures by the greatest names in American folk art — Rufus Hathaway, Edward Hicks, Joshua Johnson, Ammi Phillips, and other artists working within naive and provincial traditions in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries — will be featured in American Folk Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on view in The American Wing.
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In an unprecedented collaboration, the Ministry of Culture in Rome, the Apostolic Library at the Vatican, and the Basilica and Convent of San Francesco at Assisi have organized this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition to heighten awareness of the effects of the earthquakes that devastated Assisi, Italy, in September 1997. Nearly 70 masterpieces of medieval and Renaissance panel painting, sculpture, goldsmiths' work, textiles, and manuscript illumination have been lent from the collections of the Basilica of San Francesco. These will be joined at The Metropolitan Museum of Art by an additional 30 works of art from museums and private collections throughout Europe and America in The Treasury of Saint Francis of Assisi. Among the works featured will be some of the key monuments in the development of early Renaissance art, leading up to that epoch's first flowering in the work of Cimabue and Giotto in Assisi approximately 700 years ago.
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The first American exhibition devoted exclusively to the Kenyah-Kayan art of central Borneo will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 13, 1999. With loans from museums and private collectors nationwide, Guardians of the Longhouse: Art in Borneo will feature more than 60 works exploring the theme of the supernatural and physical defense of the longhouse community in Kenyah-Kayan art. Dating from the classic period of Borneo art, from the late 19th to the early 20th century, works in the exhibition — many of which have never been displayed before — range from robust wooden figures and architectural sculpture to delicately carved items of personal adornment.
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The first monographic survey of Dosso Dossi's work, opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art January 14, will include some 60 paintings carefully chosen to reflect the richness and quality of the artist's achievement. On view January 14 through March 28, 1999, Dosso Dossi, Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara features rarely lent masterpieces from collections in America and Europe — above all, the Borghese Gallery in Rome — and offers a unique opportunity to experience the full scope of Dosso's work, not seen since the dispersal of Ferrara's artistic treasures following the end of Este rule in the late 16th century.
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Cubism and Fashion — an exhibition demonstrating how the fundamental traits of Cubism in art have been translated into fashion — will open in The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 10, 1998. The examples on display will range from the beginnings of Cubism in 1908 to the present day. This landmark exhibition will be launched on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of The Costume Institute Gala, known as the "Party of the Year."