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SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS SEPTEMBER 2008 - AUGUST 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Information provided below is subject to change.
To confirm scheduling and dates, call the Communications Department at (212) 570-3951.
CONTACT NUMBER FOR USE IN TEXT IS (212) 535-7710.
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Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche on Display for Holiday Season at Metropolitan Museum
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
The Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a long-established yuletide tradition in New York, will be on view for the holiday season from November 25, 2008 through January 6, 2009. The brightly lit, 20-foot blue spruce – with a collection of 18th-century Neapolitan angels and cherubs among its boughs and groups of realistic crèche figures flanking the Nativity scene at its base – will once again delight holiday visitors in the Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall. Set in front of the 18th-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid, with recorded Christmas music in the background and daily lighting ceremonies, the installation reflects the spirit of the holiday season.
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David H. Koch Elected a Trustee at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, November 13, 2008)—David H. Koch has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. Mr. Koch's election took place at the November 12 meeting of the Board.
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Medieval Europe Celebrated in Northern Manhattan in November
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
For the month of November, two unique institutions located in northern Manhattan's historic Fort Tryon Park—The Cloisters museum and gardens and the New Leaf Restaurant & Bar—will join together in an innovative partnership to offer a "total medieval experience" that starts with a museum visit in the afternoon and ends with dinner or begins with lunch at the New Leaf and follows with a tour of The Cloisters. The Cloisters, a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the only museum in the United States devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. The New Leaf, a venture of Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project (NYRP), features seasonal specialties made from locally grown ingredients.
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Metropolitan Museum to Reopen Galleries for Byzantine Art and the Art of Medieval Europe
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
Some 900 outstanding examples of medieval art created between the fourth and 14th centuries return to view this fall in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's newly expanded Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries for Byzantine Art and new Gallery for Western European Art from 1050 to 1300. The new galleries incorporate the recently acquired "Jaharis Byzantine Lectionary"—an important, rare, and beautifully ornamented liturgical manuscript from about 1100—in an apse-like space, while the former Medieval Tapestry Hall has been transformed into a grand space for the presentation of western European art from the early Middle Ages.
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Metropolitan Museum Audio Guide Introduces Costume: The Art of Dress Narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker
Thursday, November 6, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
Audio Tour Organized by The Costume Institute Highlights Historical Fashion Depicted in the Met's Collections
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Contemporary Photographs Explore Truth and Illusion in Reality Check at Metropolitan Museum
Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
More than any other type of picture, photographs seem to have a direct and natural connection to visible reality. Reality Check: Truth and Illusion in Contemporary Photography surveys the ways in which artists exploit illusionism in photography to blur the distinction between what is real and what is not. Among the works featured are photographs of staged scenarios and constructed environments that appear to be real, as well as real scenes or landscapes that appear strangely artificial. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 4, 2008, through March 22, 2009, Reality Check is the third installation in the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography, the Museum's new gallery for contemporary photographs.
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Curators Pay Tribute to Outgoing Director with Exhibition The Philippe de Montebello Years
Sunday, October 19, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
To celebrate Philippe de Montebello's 31 years as Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the curators of the Museum have organized an exhibition of approximately 300 of the more than 84,000 works of art acquired during his tenure. This unique project – The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions, which will be on view in The Tisch Galleries from October 24, 2008, through February 1, 2009 – is a collaboration of the curators currently working in the Museum's 17 curatorial departments. Special emphasis will be placed on works that were transformative to the Metropolitan Museum's collections by building on existing strengths and expanding into new areas of collecting. Mr. de Montebello – the eighth and longest-serving Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art – announced in January his plans to retire at the end of the year.
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El Metropolitan Museum Realizará Exhibición de Maquetas Arquitectónicas Precolombinas con Piezas Únicas de Latinoamérica
Monday, October 6, 2008, 1:15 p.m.
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Photographs by Samoan Multimedia Artist On View at Metropolitan Museum This Fall
Monday, October 6, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
Sixteen photographs by contemporary artist Shigeyuki Kihara (b. 1975, Samoa) will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning October 7. This marks the first presentation of Samoan contemporary art at the Museum. Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs explores themes of Pacific culture, identity, colonialism, indigenous spirituality, stereotypes, gender roles, and consumerism. Works on view include a hauntingly beautiful picture from the artist's 2004 Vavau series called Taema ma Tilafaiga: Goddess of Tatau, depicting Samoan goddesses chanting about the art of tattooing, as well as a highly praised work titled Fa'a fafine: In a Manner of a Woman, Triptych 1-3, a sequence of photographs, in which the artist re-create and addresses a Samoan portrait genre, in which women were posed as reclining "South Seas Belles." All works on view were printed this year by the artist in Auckland, New Zealand, except two from the Metropolitan's own collection. Complementing the exhibition will be a performance by the artist, Taualuga: The Last Dance, in the Museum's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on October 19.
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大都會博物館秋季展出中國名畫家王翬的山水畫
Sunday, October 5, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
中國十七世紀下半最著名的藝術家王翬的繪畫九月九日開始，將在大都會博物館展出。《山水清暉：王翬（1632-1717）藝術展》闡述王翬的藝術發展歷程，從早年對傳統山水畫風的精湛詮釋，至1689年獲選繪製康熙皇帝南巡中國文化區行程，事業臻於巔峰爲止。展出的二十七幅畫來自臺北、北京、上海、和北美洲的幾個公私收藏，其中十一件作品—包括兩件山水長卷巨幅—從來沒有在西方展出過。配合王翬作品展出的，還有精選的早期山水畫，大都來自大都會博物館的館藏，以彰顯王翬藝術的淵源。
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Costume Institute Collection Database Available on Metropolitan Museum Website
Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
Information on More than 29,000 Objects in Preeminent Costume Collection Available Online
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Endowment Ensures Continuation and Growth of Met Museum's Online Timeline of Art History
Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
A generous grant from the family of Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn, through New Tamarind Foundation and Zodiac Fund, will ensure the further growth and development of the Timeline of Art History, a major, evolving feature of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website. This landmark gift is the first endowment to be dedicated to support of an online resource at the Metropolitan Museum. The Timeline, which can be found on the Museum's website at www.metmuseum.org/toah and which has more than 30,000 visitors daily, is a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, illustrated principally by the Metropolitan Museum's encyclopedic collection.
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Elyse Topalian Elected Vice President for Communications
Monday, September 22, 2008, 5:14 p.m.
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Dynamic Exhibition of Modern British Prints on View at Metropolitan Museum
Sunday, September 21, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914-1939, the first major exhibition in the United States to examine the impact of modern artistic movements – especially Italian Futurism – on British printmaking from the outbreak of World War I to the beginning of World War II, will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning September 23, 2008. Featuring the work of 14 artists, Rhythms of Modern Life will showcase more than 100 prime examples of graphic works that celebrate the vitality and dynamism of modern life.
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Classic 1930s Street Photographs of New York City on View at Metropolitan Museum September 23
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
In the late 1930s, Rudy Burckhardt—then a recent émigré to America from Switzerland—photographed his adopted hometown of New York City, and immediately made some of the most lyrical, witty, and poetic images of the city ever created. New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, 1937–1940, opening September 23 at the Metropolitan Museum, will present in its entirety Burckhardt's unique, handmade album of 67 classic images of sidewalks, outdoor advertising, and pedestrians, selected and sequenced by Burckhardt in 1940 and acquired by the Museum in 1972.
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Contemporary Works by African-American Artists Featured in Provocative Visions Installation
Monday, September 15, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
Thirteen works by seven contemporary African-American artists – Chakaia Booker, Willie Cole, Glenn Ligon, Whitfield Lovell, Alison Saar, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker – are featured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Provocative Visions: Race and Identity – Selections from the Permanent Collection. The installation, which opened August 19, examines the ways these artists challenge accepted perceptions and assumptions about race, gender, and identity. Cultural heritage and personal history provide a context for these images. All of the sculptures, prints, and drawings were acquired during the past 13 years, within a year or two of their creation – supported in large part by gifts from the Peter Norton Family Foundation and the Hortense and William A. Mohr Sculpture Purchase Fund. Most works are on display at the Metropolitan Museum for the first time.
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Exquisite 19th Century Porcelain from Europe's Most Renowned Factories on View at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, September 11, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
The porcelain factories of Berlin, Sèvres, and Vienna achieved a remarkable level of 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. Approximately 75 extraordinary examples from these three European porcelain manufactories will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning September 16, 2008, in the exhibition Royal Porcelain from the Twinight Collection, 1800-1850. The exhibition will illustrate the exchange of ideas and styles among the factories that resulted in some of the most splendid porcelain ever produced.
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Thomas P. Campbell Named Next Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
(New York, September 9, 2008)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that Thomas P. Campbell – an accomplished curator with a specialty in European tapestry who has worked at the Museum since 1995 – has been elected its next Director and CEO, succeeding Philippe de Montebello, who announced in January his intention to retire from the Metropolitan Museum at the end of this year. Mr. Campbell, who organized the groundbreaking and widely acclaimed exhibitions Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence (2002) and Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (2007), is currently Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts as well as Supervising Curator of the Museum's Antonio Ratti Textile Center. He was elected at today's meeting of the Board of Trustees and will assume the directorship of the Metropolitan Museum on January 1, 2009.
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Metropolitan Museum Concerts 2008-2009 Season Opens with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Joined by Metropolitan Museum Director Philippe De Montebello and Pianists Orion Weiss and Inon Barnatan Performing Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals
Monday, September 8, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
To mark both the opening of the 55th anniversary season of the Metropolitan Museum Concerts series and Philippe de Montebello's valedictory year as Metropolitan Museum Director, the Museum will present a concert by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra that features a performance of Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals with Philippe de Montebello reading the Ogden Nash verses as narrator, and pianists Orion Weiss and Inon Barnatan as soloists. Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 10 for Strings in B Minor; and Mozart's Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201, complete the program, which takes place in the Museum's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.