New York City - Fashionable Exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum

In 2026, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (colloquially, “the Met”) will be presenting “Raphael: Sublime Poetry” — the first comprehensive exhibition on Raffaello di Giovanni Santi (1483 — 1520) in the U.S.A., featuring over 200 of the Renaissance artist’s brilliant works of art. This special show will be on view from March 29 until June 28, 2026.

*The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist in a Landscape* (The Alba Madonna), 1509–11 by Raphael

The MET Museum Has Renovated Its Most Beloved Wings

Todd, visiting from California, in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

Gold *Tunjos*, ca. 1000 (left) in the shape of mythical ancestors who took the form of snakes, Colombia

Following a multiyear renovation, the new galleries within the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing reopened in May 2025 to showcase the Met’s collection of art from Oceania, Africa and the ancient Americas.

*Atingting kon* (slit gong), 1960s by Tin Mweleun, Vanuatu

19th-century Undulating Serpent *Baga Headdress*, Guinea (left) & Tolima Gold Pendant, Colombia

*Between Earth and Heaven*, 2006 by El Anatsui

19th-century wood *Malu*, Papua New Guinea & *Mangaaka* power figure, ca. 1880, Congo

19th-century *Kelemui* feast bowl, Papua New Guinea

European Paintings

The Met’s celebrated European Paintings collection, encompassing 2,500+ works of art from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century reopened in November 2023 following a 5-year renovation. In addition to an outstanding display of early Italian and Northern art, the Met possesses one of the world’s foremost collections of seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, including outstanding works by Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck. The Museum’s holdings of El Greco and Goya are arguably the finest outside of Spain, and its galleries of nineteenth-century French paintings provide one major reason why United States museums are considered second only to the museums of Paris for appreciating art created in France. Highlights from the Met’s collection appear at the end of this article beneath the heading “European Paintings 1300 — 1800.” If you are going to visit one museum in New York City, it is best to come to the Met.

*Virgin & Child with Four Angels*, ca. 1510 by Gerard David at the Met Fifth Avenue

Medieval Art at The Met Cloisters

The Met Cloisters is a museum on the Upper West corner of Manhattan, located about 8 miles (over 12 kilometers) from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue. The Cloisters holds about 5,000 works of art and architecture, all European, dating primarily from the Byzantine and early Renaissance periods and created mainly during the 12th-15th centuries.

These buildings are centered around four cloisters — the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont, and Trie-sur-Baïse — that were acquired by an American sculptor in France before 1913, moved to New York City, and reassembled. The Cloisters opened as a museum in 1938, containing medieval gardens and a series of chapels dedicated to medieval art and architecture, with a focus on the Romanesque and Gothic periods.

Architectural elements from the four abbeys in France and Catalunya were disassembled stone-by-stone before being shipped to New York, then reconstructed and integrated into a cohesive whole over a five-year period. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased the collection for the Met Museum and later donated around 700 acres of land (clifftops) across the river, known as the Palisades in the State of New Jersey, to preserve the terrain and the views from future development.

The Cloisters is best known for the *Mérode Altarpiece*, created 1422-28 by Robert Campin & the Flemish *Unicorn Tapestries*

*Pentecost Plaque*, ca. 1150, Netherlandish from the Meuse Valley

The John Singer Sargent Exhibit Was the Highlight of 2025

Over the past 150 years, no Western portrait painter surpassed the artistry of John Singer Sargent (1856 — 1925).

*Man Wearing Laurels*, 1874-80 by John Singer Sargent

This Sargent Exhibit Is on Display in Paris Through January 11, 2026

Like Courbet and Manet, Sargent challenged the existing art establishment of his day and the traditional values it upheld. The 2025 blockbuster exhibit entitled “Sargent & Paris” closed in August at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is on view in Paris until January 11, 2026. This unique show focuses on the first decade of Sargent’s dazzling career, which began with his arrival in Paris in 1874 as an 18-year-old art student.

*Portrait of Frances Sherborne Ridley Watts*, 1877 (above right) marked Sargent’s “first attempt at a serious, finished work,” according to the artist’s father.

*Mme Allouard-Jouan*, 1882 by John Singer Sargent

*In the Luxembourg Gardens*, 1879 by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence in 1856, the eldest surviving child of American parents, Dr. Fitzwilliam Sargent and his wife Mary Newbold Singer. Even though his father practiced medicine in Philadelphia, the Sargents traveled to Europe in 1854 and embarked on an expatriate existence, returning to the USA only for visits.

The “Sargent & Paris” exhibition illuminates Sargent’s path to becoming a great artist by gathering diverse paintings from his early period, when he was based in Paris and traveled beyond France in search of inspiration for his art. Sargent found subjects for his paintings in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and North Africa and, over the course of one extraordinary decade spent in Paris, Sargent achieved international fame by creating boldly ambitious portraits that pushed the boundaries of conventionality.

*Portraits of Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron*, 1881

John Singer Sargent had a cosmopolitan childhood, with winters spent in Nice, Rome or Florence and summers in the Alps or resort cities like Pau and Biarritz. Sargent was immersed in European art and culture, and he spoke French, Italian, German and English.

In Paris, Sargent entered the independent atelier of the fashionable portrait painter Carolus-Duran and enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to study drawing. Carolus-Duran, a friend of Manet and Monet, was perceived by his contemporaries to be allied with the modernist camp; he was concerned with direct, realistic painting and taught his students to work au premier coup (at the first touch), applying paint directly on the canvas with a loaded brush — a technique that encouraged a broad, painterly style.

*Carolus-Duran* (Charles-Auguste-Emile Durant), 1879 by John Singer Sargent {not in exhibition}

In 1877, Carolus-Duran invited Sargent to work with him on the commission for a ceiling decoration entitled Gloria Mariae Medici for the Luxembourg Palace {now installed in the Louvre}. Sargent’s formal portrait of Carolus-Duran (above) was shown at the Salon in 1879.

Like Manet, Carolus-Duran had made a journey to Spain and had fallen under the aesthetic spell of Velázquez, an enthusiasm that Sargent absorbed. That same year, Sargent journeyed to Madrid to copy works by Velázquez in the Prado (shown above), and in 1880 he traveled to Haarlem to study the expressive brushwork of Frans Hals.

In 1880, Sargent copied this Officer from a painting by Frans Hals.

“Sargent & Paris” Is on View in Paris at the Musée d’Orsay from September 23 Through January 11, 2026

In 1884, 10 years after his arrival in Paris, the 28-year-old Sargent completed his infamous portrait entitled Madame X, which was a scandalous success at the Paris Salon. This exhibition takes an in-depth look at the iconic Madame X portrait — a highlight of the Met’s permanent collection — with numerous preparatory sketches, and fortunately it is displayed alongside fine portraits of Parisiennes by Sargent’s contemporaries, including Giron, Bonnat and Whistler.

Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a Parisian socialite, was the model for Sargent’s portrait of Madame X.

*Portrait of Madame X*, 1883-84 (above left) by John Singer Sargent & *Woman Wearing Gloves (The Parisienne)*, 1883 by Charles-Alexandre Giron

*Arrangement in Black, No. 5: Lady Meux*, 1881-82 by James McNeill Whistler

*Madame Errázuriz (Eugenia Huici Arguedas)*, 1883 by John Singer Sargent

The MFA Boston lent Sargent’s 1882 painting *The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit* for this exhibit

*Atlantic Sunset*, 1876 by John Singer Sargent

*Neapolitan Children Bathing*, 1879 by John Singer Sargent

*Among the Olive Trees, Capri*, 1878 by John Singer Sargent

*Staircase in Capri*, 1878 & *Smoke of Ambergris*, 1880 by John Singer Sargent

*Alhambra, Patio de los Arrayanes* (Courtyard of the Myrtles), 1879 by John Singer Sargent

*Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd White*, 1883 by John Singer Sargent & *Comtesse Emanuella Pignatelli Potocka*, 1880 by Léon Bonnat

*Venetian Interior*, 1880 by John Singer Sargent

*Judith Gautier (A Gust of Wind)*, 1883 & *François Flameng and Paul Helleu*, 1880 by John Singer Sargent

*Courtyard, Tétouan, Morocco*, 1879 by John Singer Sargent

*Dr. Pozzi at Home*, 1881 (above right) by John Singer Sargent

*A Dinner Table at Night*, 1884 by John Singer Sargent

*Madame Paul Escudier (Louise Lefevre)*, 1882 & *Self-Portrait*, 1886 by John Singer Sargent

*An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul Helleu with His Wife)*, 1889 by John Singer Sargent

*La Carmencita*, 1890 by John Singer Sargent

*Ramon Subercaseaux in a Gondola*, 1880 by John Singer Sargent

*Young Man in Reverie*, 1876 & *Auguste Rodin*, 1884 by John Singer Sargent

*Venice in Gray Weather*, 1882 by John Singer Sargent

The John Singer Sargent Exhibit Closed in New York in August and Is on Display in Paris Through January 11, 2026

Chinese Bronzes

14th-century copper Vases from the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

Chinese bronzes created from the 12th to the 19th century provide the inspiration for the exhibit entitled “Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes,” on display through September 28, 2025. These bronze vessels were emblems of ritual and power. Archaic bronzes, used in ancient China as containers for food or wine, sparked a revival across all the arts to reclaim the virtues of classical traditions which resulted in so-called “later bronzes” that adapted antique shapes and decorative motifs to serve new functions as incense burners, vases, and containers for scholarly objects.

The 18th-century 5-piece altar set (above center) represented the standard for state rites dating back even prior to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

15th-16th century copper Vase with gold and silver inlays from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644)

15th-16th century Ming dynasty Iron Vase from The Palace Museum, Beijing

“Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900” Is on View Until September 28, 2025

Ming dynasty Rabbit-shaped Mirror Stand from the The Capital Museum, Beijing

Previous Exhibitions at the Met

Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature Closed in May 2025

*Two Men Contemplating the Moon*, circa 1825 by Caspar David Friedrich

Fascination with the moon ranked high among the German Romantic painters, who regarded the motif as an object for pious contemplation. From February until May 2025, the Met in New York City presented the exhibit Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature.

*Neubrandenberg*, 1816 by Caspar David Friedrich

*Meadows Near Greifswald*, 1821 & *Ruins at Oybin*, 1812 (below left) by Caspar David Friedrich

*Woman Before the Rising Sun*, 1818 (right) by Caspar David Friedrich

Friedrich (1774 — 1840) re-imagined European landscape painting by portraying nature as a setting for profound spiritual and emotional encounters. This special show, designed to honor the 250th anniversary of Friedrich’s birth, was the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the artist held in the United States.

*Mountain Peak with Drifting Clouds*, 1835 by Caspar David Friedrich

*The Stages of Life*, 1834 by Caspar David Friedrich {detail of ships, above left}

*Morning Mist in the Mountains*, 1807 by Caspar David Friedrich

*Cross by the Baltic Sea*, 1815 & *Gothic Windows at Oybin*, 1828 by Caspar David Friedrich

*The North Sea in Moonlight*, 1823 by Caspar David Friedrich

*Woman at the Window*, 1822 & *Bushes in the Snow*, 1827 by Caspar David Friedrich

*Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog*, 1817 (above) & *Figures Contemplating the Moon*, 1799 (below) by Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature Closed in New York City in May 2025

*Winter Landscape*, 1811 by Caspar David Friedrich

Two noteworthy exhibits were on view during 2024-25 at the Met in New York City: “MANDALAS — Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet” and “SIENA: The Rise of Painting 1300 — 1350”

*The Annunciation*, circa 1308-11 by Duccio di Buoninsegna

The show entitled “SIENA: The Rise of Painting 1300–1350” possessed the good fortune that results when two venerable institutions — in this case The National Gallery, London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City — collaborate in order to break new ground in the understanding of Renaissance painting. Sienese artists such as Duccio di Buoninsegna, Pietro Lorenzetti and Ambrogio Lorenzetti played a pivotal role in the development of Western religious art at the dawn of the Italian Renaissance. The Orsini Polyptych (pictured above and below) was created circa 1335–40 using tempera and gold leaf on panel. It is a fine example of the dramatic expressiveness of the artist Simone Martini (ca. 1284 — 1344).

Panels from the *Orsini Polyptych* by Simone Martini

The achievements and innovations of the painters from Siena were influential in Florence (considered the center of the Renaissance) and beyond. The motifs used by Martini in his Orsini Polyptych, for example, were admired and copied in Northern Europe, where his influence can been seen in the manuscript (below) created by the Franco-Netherlandish Limbourg Brothers over 60 years later.

*The Lamentation*, 1405-09 from a prayer book decorated with the Limbourg Brothers’ illuminations

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Considered the greatest of the Sienese painters, Duccio di Buoninsegna (known as “Duccio”) was born around the year 1255 when the Tuscan city of Siena was one of the great capitals of Italy, having defeated the Florentines in 1260. Before his death, circa 1319, Duccio founded the Sienese School, fused the fresh spirituality of the Gothic style with the formality of the Italo-Byzantine tradition, and painted the most important altarpiece for Siena’s cathedral. Duccio is widely regarded as one of the most influential Italian painters of the Middle Ages.

*The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea*, 1312-15 by Duccio (above and below left). *Virgin and Child* (below right), circa 1290-1300, a small painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, was purchased by the Met in 2004 for $45,000,000.

*Crucifixion with Saints Nicholas and Gregory and the Redeemer with Angels*, circa 1311-18 by Duccio di Buoninsegna

Simone Martini

*Saint Luke* (from the Palazzo Pubblico altarpiece), 1326-30 by Simone Martini

*Virgin and Child with Four Saints and a Dominican Nun*, 1325 by Simone Martini

Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti brothers, and the other artists on view here did not survive the catastrophic bubonic plague known as the Black Death that gripped Europe from 1346 to 1353 killing as many as 50 million people, perhaps 50% of Europe’s 14th-century population.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1320 — 1348)

*Madonna del Latte (Nursing Virgin)*, ca. 1525 & *Croce Sagomata* (silhouetted crucifix) ca. 1520 by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

*The Miracle of the Grain Ships*, 1332-34, one of four panels (below) created by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

*The Crucifixion*, 1340s by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, one of two surviving panels illustrating the Passion

*Christ Before Pilate* & *The Crucifixion*, 1340s by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

*The Annunciation*, 1344 by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Pietro Lorenzetti (1280 — 1348)

*Saint Sabinus before the Roman Governor of Tuscany*, 1335-42 by Pietro Lorenzetti

*Virgin Enthroned*, 1345 by Pietro Lorenzetti & *The Crucifixion*, 1345 by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

*The Pieve Altarpiece*, ca. 1320 by Pietro Lorenzetti

*Head of Christ*, 1338 {walnut with polychromy} by Lando di Pietro

*The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine*, ca. 1340 by Barna da Siena

Lippo Memmi, a follower of Simone Martini, decorated this wood panel, ca. 1350

“SIENA: The Rise of Painting 1300 — 1350” Closed in January 2025

A mandala is both a symbolic universe and a visual prayer that in Tibet is used to conceptualize a rapid path (or map) to spiritual enlightenment. The modern renderings of mandalas (shown above) were the result of a newly commissioned work of contemporary art by Tenzing Rigdol, a Tibetan artist.

The bulk of objects and imagery in the “Mandalas” show explored Himalayan Buddhist devotional art through more than 100 artifacts and paintings, most dating from the 12th to 15th centuries.

*Thousand-Armed Chenresi, a Cosmic Form of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara*, 1430 by Sonam Gyaltsen

17th-c. Bronze Buddha, Mongolia & Protective Goddess *Tara*, 14th-c. Copper, Nepal

Distemper on Cotton Mandala, ca. 1429, Tibet. BELOW: Mahapratisara, 10th-c. Black Stone, India

14th-c. *Mandala of Jnanadakini*, Tibet & 19th-c. Stag Mask, Tibet, Monastic Dance Robe, China

Mandalas (above) & 15th-c. Tibetan Initiation Cards (below)

Distemper on Cloth *Hevajra Mandala*, 15th c., Tibet

*Mahakala* Protector of the Tent, Distemper on Cloth, 1500, Tibet & 7th-c. Sandstone, India

Distemper on Cotton Painting, ca. 1450-1500, Tibet

*Buddha Akshobhya*, 13th-c. Distemper on Cloth, Tibet

“MANDALAS — Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet” Was on View at the Met in New York City in 2024

In 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presented “SLEEPING BEAUTIES — Reawakening Fashion,” a large show featuring over 200 garments spanning four centuries, including the “Butterfly” ball gowns circa 1955 (below) designed by Charles James.

2024 Ensemble (above left) by Francesco Risso for Marni, the Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1994

Dress with hand-painted pattern of sea life, 2020, by Iris van Herpen

Sarah Burton’s 2011 Dress of black silk organza appliqued with painted feathers in the form of Monarch Butterflies {featured in her debut collection for Alexander McQueen}

Wedding ensemble, originally worn at a wedding in 1930, from Callot Soeurs, a leading Parisian design house opened in 1895

“Nautiloid” & “Physalia” dresses with hand-painted patterns of sea life, 2020, by Iris van Herpen

2023 Collina Strada “Meadowsweet” dress designed by Hillary Taymour

Marni’s 2024 cotton canvas Dress (above & below left) designed by Francesco Risso with digitally printed polychrome flowers

Rodarte’s 2012 Dress inspired by “Sunflowers” painted by Vincent van Gogh

Fashion inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s paintings were on display as part of the show entitled SLEEPING BEAUTIES.

ABOVE: Black silk charmeuse Dress {Maison Martin Margiela, 2014} in the pattern of Van Gogh’s painting “Irises” & BELOW: Detail from Yves Saint Laurent’s “Irises” jacket, 1988

“Venus” ball gown, 1949 (above & below left) from the House of Dior

“Rose Rouge” ball gown (center) by Yves Saint Laurent for the House of Dior, 1958

The Collection of Marc Jacobs put a fresh spin on iconic vintage dress designs

Evening Dresses, 2021, by Ronald van der Kemp

This 2010 dress (above left) by Alexander McQueen with a digitally-printed pattern of sea life is embroidered with blue enamel stones in the shape of fish scales (below)

Detail (above) from the “Junon” ball gown, 1949 (below) by Christian Dior

EARTH, AIR & WATER: Nature is a theme that unites and inspires this exhibition on fashion by focusing on flowers & foliage, birds & insects, fish & shells

Richard Malone’s nylon knits, 2020 (above) made from recycled ocean waste

Silk satin Cape embroidered with sequins, pearls, beads in a dove pattern, 2017, by Gucci

Black silk faille dress, 1946 House of Dior, embroidered with leather flowers / glass beads

French Evening Dress & Coat circa 1912 (left) & 1878 Dress (right) by Mme Martin Decalf

Red silk chiffon Hat with black coq feathers, 1992, by Jasper Conran

“Digitalis” Evening Dress, 2018 by Mary Katrantzou {synthetic faille / digitally printed flowers}

Biodegradable “Algae Sequin” dress derived from bamboo & seaweed, 2021 (above center) designed by Phillip Lim

Blue Moire Silk Taffeta Ensemble by Olivier Theyskens, 2000

Late 18-c. French Court Suit and Pierre Balmain’s “Oriane” 1954 dress (above left) & Evening Dress, 1938 (right) by Madeleine Vionnet

Dress by Jun Takahashi, 2024 for Undercover, the high-end Japanese streetwear brand

“Memento Mori” Necklace, 1986 by Simon Costin & floral Hat

“Tulipes Hollandaises” by Charles F. Worth, 1889 & Ensemble by Dries Van Noten, 2014

SLEEPING BEAUTIES: Reawakening Fashion Closed in New York City in September 2024

The hottest museum tickets in New York City during 2023-24 season were for exhibitions focused on THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, KARL LAGERFELD, VINCENT VAN GOGH, and EDOUARD MANET & EDGAR DEGAS, all presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Even though those and other well-regarded shows have now closed, you can view highlights from “The Harlem Renaissance,” “Women Dressing Women,” “Manet / Degas,” “Karl Lagerfeld — A Line of Beauty,” and “Van Gogh’s Cypresses” in this article, plus you will learn about the permanent collection and various wings and departments within the Met, the premier art museum in New York City.

*Elks Marching,* 1934 by Marvin Gray Johnson

On view through July 28, 2024, the show entitled THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE contrasted the depiction of Black life by artists living & working in Harlem with the portrayal of the international African diaspora by their European counterparts, including Henri Matisse.

*Cocktails*, circa 1926 by Archibald J. Motley, Jr.

Harlem — known for jazz clubs, gospel choirs and African-American heritage — attracts tourists and locals alike. This vibrant New York City neighborhood is located in Upper Manhattan, bounded by Central Park North, Fifth Avenue, the Harlem River, and the Hudson River. Originally a Dutch village dating back to 1658, and named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, Harlem is home to the famous Apollo Theater located on 125th Street, the neighborhood’s main artery.

*Louis R. Drenthe*, 1930 by Nola Hatterman & *Flowers*, 1939 by William H. Johnson

*Girl with Pomegranate*, 1940 by Laura Wheeler Waring

*Aaron Douglas*, 1930 by Edwin Harleston & *Marian Anderso*n, 1944 by Laura Wheeler Waring

*Portrait of a Cultured Lady*, 1948 by Archibald J. Motley, Jr. & *Smoking My Pipe*, 1934 by Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr.

*Josephine Baker*, circa 1925, by Adolf de Meyer

*Dans la Rue*, 1929 by Archibald J. Motley, Jr.

*Girl in a Green Cap*, 1930 by Laura Wheeler Waring

*Brown Girl After the Bath*, 1931 (left) by Archibald J. Motley, Jr. & *White Feathers*, 1912 by Kees van Dongen

This groundbreaking and inspirational exhibit (featuring over 160 paintings, photographs and film) explored the development of Black modern art in New York City and Paris since 1920 and broke new ground regarding the international influence of African culture on 20th-century art.

The Harlem Renaissance Was on View in New York City in 2024

*Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction*, 1934 by Aaron Douglas

WEAVING ABSTRACTION

15th-century Man’s Tunic, camelid fiber & feathers, Chile

*The Principal Wife*, 1965 (above center) by Sheila Hicks {silk, linen, wool, synthetic fibers}

A Fresh Examination of Textiles as a Medium in International Art History

Feathered Panel (feathers on camelid fiber, cotton), 600 — 900, Peru (above) & Embroidered Border Fragment, circa 4th-century BC (below left), Peru

Lenore Tawney (1907 — 2007) used rayon, wool & emulated the Peruvian openwork technique of gauze to weave original works of art (above) during the 1960s

Tunic, 1460-1540, cotton & camelid fiber woven in Southern Peru at the time of the Inca Empire

The dryness along the desert coasts of South America (in what is now Chile and Peru) has enabled the remarkable preservation of the natural camelid fibers used in these garments over millennia. The geometric wave pattern (above) used to create this tunic (shown below) differs from the checkerboard patterns which were a hallmark of Inca identity, even though the date of this shirt — 1460-1540 — indicates that it was fabricated during the period of Inca occupation of the central Peruvian coast, a century before the Spanish invasion. Therefore, the local weaving traditions continued to flourish in this region despite the imperial rule of the Inca.

The Exhibit “Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art” Was on Display in New York City Through June 2024

Olga de Amaral, born 1932 in Colombia, combined gold leaf on linen to weave tile tapestries such as *Alchemy 13*, 1984 (above)

*Bad News at Court* from a Manuscript “History of a Thousand Years” {Mughal}, circa 1592

Painter and printmaker Howard Hodgkin (1932 — 2017) assembled this painting/drawing collection, spanning the late 1500s to the middle 1800s

*Majaraja Ranjit Singh in a Bazaar*, circa 1830

Book Cover with tree, birds, insects, circa 1700

*Majaraja Medini Pal Smoking a Hookah*, 1730 & *A Pair of Mynahs* {Mughal}, 1660

*In Mirza’s Room*, 1995 by Howard Hodgkin & *Rama’s Forest Dwelling in Panchavati*, 1605 (below)

“Indian Skies” Closed in New York City in June 2024

In 2023-24, with so many fashion houses managed by men in New York City and throughout Europe, the Met decided to present “Women Dressing Women” to set the record straight on contributions made by female designers.

Designs by Sarah Burton & Elsa Schiaparelli

In October 2023, when Sarah Burton departed Alexander McQueen — where she worked for 26 years, and served as the brand’s creative director since its founder committed suicide in 2010 — the fashion world asked “Where are the women in positions of power in our industry?”

Since the fashion conglomerate Kering announced that Ms. Burton was replaced by Sean McGirr (a white man), the top positions at Rochas, Tod’s and Moschino have been filled by three more white men, all Italians. It is perhaps even more astounding to recognize that “Women Dressing Women” marked the first time the Met devoted a show solely to female fashion designers in the 85 years since the Costume Institute joined the museum.

This exhibition, which was on view in New York City through March 2024, served as more than a celebration of talented female designers from the early 20th century to the present. “Women Dressing Women” represented both an awakening and a timely provocation about equality and power in a multi-trillion-dollar industry that caters primarily to women!

Yellow Wool Coat, 1968 (left) by Zandra Rhodes; Leopard-print ensembles, 1972 by Diane von Furstenberg and Barbara Hulanicki; Yellow & Brown-striped skirt suit, 1966 by Betsey Johnson

Black silk velvet Evening Dresses from 1928 by Sonia Levienne & 1938 by Valentina Schlee (above left) & Silk Taffeta “Cyclone” Evening Gown by Jeanne Lanvin, 1939 (above right)

Schiaparelli’s green silk Evening Dress, 1937

Ivory silk organza Dress trimmed with monkey fur by Ana de Pombo, 1938 (left) & a 2012 White silk organza Ensemble (right) by Sarah Burton, who was at the helm at Alexander McQueen for 13 years and turned that iconic label into a modern luxury powerhouse

“Parfleche” Dress, 2021 of black silk satin by Jamie Okuma, a self-taught fashion designer based on the La Jolla California Indian Reservation

*Gospel Book with Journey of the Magi*, 1510-30, Ethiopia

The exhibit “Africa and Byzantium” explored the profound artistic contributions from North and East Africa — Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and other powerful kingdoms — on the Byzantine Empire (330 — 1453). This special exhibition closed on March 3, 2024.

While art history has long emphasized the glories of Byzantium, this show shed new light (with art rarely or never seen before in public) on the staggering artistic achievements of medieval Africa.

Painted Wood *Chalice Case*, mid-18th century, Egypt

*Virgin Hodegetria* (She Who Shows the Way), early-13th century Icon, Constantinople & *Virgin and Child, Saints & Angels*, late 6th-century Icon, Constantinople

*Gospel Book*, late 14th-century, Ethiopia {BELOW: Gold Bracelet, circa 400, Egypt}

*St. George, Virgin & Child*, late 15th-century, Ethiopia & *St. George*, early 13th-c. Icon, Egypt

*St. George & the Virgin*, circa 1500, Ethiopia

“British Vision 1700 — 1900”

Department of Drawings & Prints, Closed March 5, 2024

*Flower Study*, 1866 (above right) by John Jessop Hardwick

*The Orange Market, with the Rialto Bridge Beyond, Venice*, 1867 by James Holland

*Fanny Eaton*, 1860 (left) by Simeon Solomon

*Rouen*, 1821 by Richard Parkes Bonington

*Leith Hill from Broadmoor*, Surrey, 1860 by Edmund George Warren

*Figures on a Beach in Northern France*, 1830 by Thomas Shotter Boys

*St. Ives Bridge, Huntingdonshire*, 1895 by William Fraser Garden

VERTIGO OF COLOR — Matisse, Derain, and the Origins of Fauvism

*Woman with a Shawl, Madame Matisse in a Kimono*, 1905 by André Derain

The Met presented a special exhibit entitled “VERTIGO OF COLOR — Matisse, Derain, and the Origins of Fauvism” from October 13 through January 21, 2024. Co-organized with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 65 works of art (watercolors, drawings and paintings) by Henri Matisse and André Derain revealed how these two great Fauvists manipulated colors in radical ways — where nature took on hues responding to the artists’ sensations, rather than reality — to create the first important modernist movement of the 20th century.

*The Faubourg of Collioure*, 1905 by Derain

*Still Life*, circa 1905 by Henri Matisse

*Fishing Boats, Collioure*, 1905 by Derain

*Landscape at Collioure*. *Study for “The Joy of Life,”* 1905 by Matisse

*Still Life with Geranium*, 1906 by Matisse

*Portrait of Henri Matisse*, 1905 by André Derain

*The Palace of Westminster*, 1906-07 by Derain

*Mountains at Collioure*, 1905 by André Derain

“Matisse, Derain & the Origins of Fauvism” Closed in January 2024 in New York City

Exhibition Space in the Lehman Wing

This exhibit dedicated to Fauvism was presented in the Lehman Wing, one of the most serene areas inside the Met. The Lehman Wing possesses two levels of gallery space, and we encourage you to stop in to unwind and to view some of the fine pieces of art that are regularly on display, plus the “Mandalas” exhibit on display through January 12, 2025.

This new work of contemporary art by Tenzing Rigdol, a Tibetan artist, was commissioned for the MANDALAS exhibit

Masterpieces in the Lehman Wing

*Princesse de Broglie*, 1851-53 by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

*The Creation of the World & the Expulsion from Paradise*, 1445 by Giovanni di Paolo

*A Goldsmith in His Shop*, 1449 by Petrus Christus

*Coronation of the Virgin*, 1455 by Giovanni di Paolo

Steven & Channing enjoying the intimate alcoves inside the Lehman Wing, with *Virgin and Child with a Donor Presented by Saint Jerome*, 1450 (above left) by a Bavarian Master

*Saint Anthony the Abbot in the Wilderness,* 1435 by Osservanza Master

*The Holy Family,* 1527 by Workshop of Joos van Cleve (left) & *Saints John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen*, 1335 by Neapolitan Follower of Giotto (right)

*Portrait of a Woman,* 1475 by a Netherlandish or French Painter

*Christ Carrying the Cross*, circa 1577 (left) & *St. Jerome as Scholar*, ca. 1610 (right) by El Greco

*The Adoration of the Magi*, circa 1340 by a Follower of Giotto

*The Annunciation*, 1480 by Hans Memling

*Portrait of a Woman*, 1632 by Rembrandt

*A Pond near Nangis,* 1829 by Paul-Désiré Trouillebert

*Portrait of a Man*, 1632 (left) & *Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse*, 1665-67 by Rembrandt

*View of Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme,* 1896 by Edgar Degas

*Misia at the Piano,* 1895 & *Mme Vuillard in a Set Designer’s Studio,* 1893 by Édouard Vuillard

*The Bouchardon Mill, Crozant*, 1898 by Armand Guillaumin

*Evening Calm, Concarneau, Opus 220,* 1891 by Paul Signac

*Tahitian Women Bathing,* 1892 by Paul Gauguin

*Boats on the Seine at Chatou*, 1906 by Maurice de Vlaminck

*Avenue du Bois,* 1925 by Kees van Dongen

*House Behind Trees,* 1906 by Georges Braque

*House on the Seine near Vernon*, 1916 by Pierre Bonnard

*Houses on the Achterzaan,* 1871 by Claude Monet

*Railroad Bridge over the Marne at Joinville*, 1871-75 by Armand Guillaumin

*The Bridge at Villenueve-la-Garenne,* 1872 by Alfred Sisley

*Olive Trees at Collioure*, 1906 by Henri Matisse

*Sea and Cliffs,* 1885 by Auguste Renoir

The New British Galleries

*Portia*, 1886 (above left) by John Everett Millais

*Princess Elizabeth*, 1606 by Robert Peake the Elder

*The Music Lesson*, 1765 {porcelain} by Joseph Willems

Glass Vases, circa 1880 — 1890 from London

Exhibits Presented in New York City During 2023

A blockbuster exhibit on view at the Met in New York City until January 2024 was entitled “MANET / DEGAS,” a collaborative effort with the Musée d’Orsay.

The Manet / Degas show highlighted two significant (and contrasting) contributors to the “new” style of painting explored in Paris between the 1860s and 1880s. It was displayed at the Musée d’Orsay during the summer of 2023 before traveling to New York City.

*Young Lady in 1866,* 1866 by Manet (left) & *The Dancing Class,* 1870 by Edgar Degas (right)

*Semiramis Building Babylon,* 1861 by Degas

*The Madonna of the Rabbit, after Titian,* 1850 by Manet

*The Dead Toreador*, circa 1864 by Édouard Manet {National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.}

*Berthe Morisot in Mourning,* 1874 by Édouard Manet

*Interior,* 1868 by Degas {also entitled “The Rape”}

*Therese de Gas*, 1863 by Edgar Degas {Portrait of the artist’s sister, Musée d’Orsay}

“Lagerfeld’s fluid lines united his designs for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his eponymous label, Karl Lagerfeld, creating a diverse and prolific body of work unparalleled in the history of fashion,” according to the Met Museum. The 150 creations by the German-born designer assembled by the Met’s Costume Institute, dating from the 1950s through 2019, were on view in New York City until July 16, 2023.

This pleated dress of black silk tulle appliqued with polychrome goose feathers required 800+ hours of craftsmanship, CHANEL 2017-18

Dress of black & beige silk satin crepe de chine (right) overlaid with silk lace, CHANEL 1986

Dress (center) of black viscose-silk velvet printed with celestial motifs, FENDI 2014-15

FENDI blouse & skirt of white silk chiffon printed with polychrome circle motifs, 2008 (left) inspired by Sonia Delaunay’s 1938 painting (right)

Dress of black silk tulle (right) with a Mandarin-style collar, accessorized with Chinese-inspired jadeite jewelry, CHANEL 2009-10

Dress & gloves of gold silk chiffon (far left) appliqued with metal lace, embroidered with gold sequins, cord, leaves & bugle beads, CHANEL 1996-97

Coat of black silk organza & satin embroidered with polychrome sequins, gold beads, inspired by a 1750 Louis XV Chinese lacquer cabinet, CHANEL 1996-97

“Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” Closed in New York City in July 2023

*A Wheatfield, with Cypresses*, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh

*Orchard Bordered by Cypress Trees*, 1888

Through August 27, 2023, the Met displayed a tightly-conceived thematic exhibit of “Van Gogh’s Cypresses.” Some 40 works of art, including “The Starry Night” (above) from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, illuminated Vincent van Gogh’s fascination with the distinctive evergreen trees that sparked his creativity during his two years in the South of France.

*Farmhouse Among Olive Trees*, 1889 & *Drawbridge*, 1888

*Trees in the Garden of the Asylum*, 1889

“Van Gogh’s Cypresses” Was on View in New York City During the Summer of 2023

*Landscape Under Turbulent Skies*, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is open from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, closed on Wednesdays, and we suggest you plan a visit in the early evening on a Friday or Saturday when the Met museum offers extended hours from 10:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the evening!

View of Midtown Manhattan & Central Park from the Roof Garden (open May-October, weather permitting) atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Enjoying the Permanent Collection of the Met in New York City

Imperial Napoleonic Egg (1912) in green enamel (upper left) & Imperial Caucasus Egg (1893) in bronze (right) from the House of Carl Fabergé

Harpsichord converted to a Piano,1754 {BELOW: South Asian sitars, 1940 — 1990}

While some of the possessions of the Met may also be commonly found in other Western museums — such as furniture, tapestries, and antique weapons / armor from around the world — the most wonderful quality of museums in the United States in general is the broad range of ceramics, jewelry, timepieces, glass, fashion, photographs, mathematical & musical instruments, and architectural elements on display. In other words, art museums in North America are often surprising (and never boring) because they do not limit their purpose to the exhibition of sculpture and painting.

Golden Harpsichord by the Italian instrument maker Michele Todini (1616 — 1690)

*Box with Falcon Statuette*, 332 — 30 B.C. Egypt

“The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing” (opened in 1982) housing fine art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas is unique; unfortunately, this section of the museum is closed for renovation through 2025. The good news is that a number of pieces from the Rockefeller Wing may be seen in a room adjacent to Egyptian art under the title “The African Origin of Civilization.”

*Iyoba* (Queen Mother) Pendant Mask, 16th century by an Edo artist & *Serpent Headdress*, early 20th century by a Baga artist

Sphinx in the Met’s Wing of 40 Egyptian galleries & the Dept. of Arms and Armor (right)

The Temple of Dendur {carved from Aeolian sandstone} was completed by 10 B.C.

BELOW: 1st century B.C. Roman Wall Frescos

Roman Statue of an Aristocratic Boy {bronze}, 27 B.C. — A.D. 14

Etruscan Chariot {bronze, inlaid with ivory}, 6th century B.C.

*Swan-Neck Glass Bottles*, 19th century, Arabic

*Pear-shaped Bottles*, 17th century, Iran

*Enameled Glass Bottle*, 13th c. (above left), Arabic & 19th c. Enameled Mosque Lamp (below)

European Paintings 1300 — 1800

*The Triumph of Marius*, 1729 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

*Salvator Mundi*, circa 1505 by Albrecht Dürer

*The Dormition of the Virgin*, 1510 by Hans Schaufelein

*A Roman Landscape with Figures*, circa 1630 by Goffredo Wals

*Hermann von Wedigh III*, 1532 (above left) & *Benedikt von Hertenstein*, 1517 by Hans Holbein the Younger

*Hugo van der Goes Painting the Portrait of Mary of Burgundy*, 1872 by Wilhelm Koller

If you plan to visit New York City and you’re in the mood to see paintings, fortunately you can head to the top of the Met’s Great Hall staircase and enter the 45 galleries devoted to European Paintings. After a five-year renovation project, this suite of galleries dedicated primarily to German, French, British, Italian, Spanish and Netherlandish art has reopened, with a few surprises sprinkled into the mix, such as “The Beginning” (below) painted between 1946 and 1949 by Max Beckmann.

*Dainichi, the Cosmic Buddha*, 12th century {wood, lacquer, gold leaf} Japan

*The Fortune-Teller*, circa 1630 by Georges de la Tour

*The Mouth of a Cave*, 1784 by Hubert Robert & *Portrait of a Young Woman as a Vestal Virgin*, 1767 by Francois Hubert Drouais

*The Death of Socrates*, 1787 by Jacques Louis David

French art on display includes *The Virgin Annunciate*, circa 1500, a limestone sculpture of the Virgin Mary by Jean Guillaumet & *Ingres as a Young Man*, circa 1850 by Mme Hequet

Hubert Robert’s six Italian landscape paintings commissioned for the family of King Louis XV

*Head of a Young Woman* & *Jean Jacques Caffieri*, circa 1765-85 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

*The Calmady Children*, 1823 by Thomas Lawrence

Mural of *Buddha of Medicine* (left wall) & *Bodhisattva* {sandstone sculpture} ca. 550 China

*Madonna and Child with Saints*, 1454 by Giovanni di Paolo

*The Triumph of Fame*, 1449 by Giovanni Guidi

*Madonna and Child*, late 1480s by Giovanni Bellini

*Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints*, circa 1504 (above left) by Raphael & *Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza*, 1547 by Lorenzo Lotto

*Madonna and Child* surrounded by Saints Benedict (left) and Sylvester Gozzolini (right), 1320 by Segna di Buonaventura

*The Flight into Egypt*, 1664 by Carlo Maratti

*Saint Matthew and the Angel*, circa 1550 by Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo

*The Crucifixion*, circa 1315 (top) by Ugolino da Siena

*Head of a Woman*, 1903 by Pablo Picasso

*Still Life on a Piano*, 1911-12 by Pablo Picasso

*Portrait of a Man*, circa 1650 attributed to Diego Velazquez

*The Holy Family with Saints Anne & Catherine of Alexandria*, 1648 by José de Ribera

*Don Andres de Andrade y la Cal*, circa 1665-72 by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

*Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter*, 1787-88 (center) by Francisco de Goya

*José Costa y Bonells*, ca. 1810 & *Majas on a Balcony*, ca. 1800-10 by Francisco de Goya

*The Glorification of the Barbaro Family*, 1750 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

BELOW: The Actor, 1904-05 by Pablo Picasso & The Vision of Saint John, 1608 by El Greco

With a Collection Numbering over 2,000,000 works of art, where to begin at the Met

*Portrait of a Woman*, circa 1625 by Peter Paul Rubens

The permanent collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is curated by 17 departments, and the main building on Fifth Avenue in New York City is by area one of the largest art museums in the world.

*The Harvesters*, 1565 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Some departments, housing art from classical antiquity (Greece and Rome) as well as the ancient Near East, for example, cannot compare with stronger collections found in Europe. We therefore recommend you begin with the Met’s impressive holdings of Netherlandish art inside the “European Paintings from 1300 — 1800” galleries.

*The Holy Family with Saints Francis and Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist*, ca. 1635 by Peter Paul Rubens

*The Annunciation*, circa 1445 by Petrus Christus

*The Annunciation*, 1506 by Gerard David

*The Rest on the Flight into Egypt*, ca. 1512 by Gerard David

*The Crucifixion* and *The Last Judgment*, circa 1436-38 by Jan van Eyck

*The Adoration of the Magi*, 1475 by Hieronymus Bosch

*Self-Portrait*, 1660 by Rembrandt van Rijn

*Landscape with a Cottage*, 1629 by Pieter de Molijn

*Portrait of a Man*, 1632 by Rembrandt & *Self-Portrait*, circa 1620 by Anthony van Dyck

*Tommaso di Folco Portinari*, circa 1470 by Hans Memling

Two paintings (above) by Johannes Vermeer

*Aeneas and the Sibyl in the Underworld*, circa 1630 by Jan Brueghel the Younger

After seeing art from Western Europe, Japan, China and Egypt, we decided to view European paintings from the early part of the nineteenth-century (below), when many artists from Scandinavia and France would embark on sojourns to Italy and North Africa for inspiration. We also had a keen interest in seeing stained glass, seascapes, portraits and landscapes by some of the most talented artists from the United States, notably Tiffany, Homer, Twachtman, Sargent and Inness — so we added the American Wing of the museum to our agenda.

*The Massacre of the Innocents*, 1824 by Francois-Joseph Navez

*Columns of the Temple of Neptune at Paestum*, 1838 by Constantin Hansen

*Sunset, Sorrento*, 1834 by Thomas Fearnley

*Bashi-Bazouk*, 1868-69 by Jean-Léon Gérôme

*Edge of a Wood*, 1850 by Theodore Caruelle d’Aligny

*The North Cape by Moonlight*, 1848 by Peder Balke

*The Basilica of Constantine* (left) & *The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine*, 1822-25 (right) by Charles Remond

*The Arch of Constantine Seen from the Colosseum*, 1818-38 by Lancelot Turpin de Crisse

*The Grotto of Posillipo, Naples*, 1820 (left) by Gustaf Soderberg & *Salome*, 1870 (right) by Henri Regnault

*Prayer in the Mosque*, 1871 by Jean-Léon Gérôme

*Hamlet in the Auvergne*, 1830 by Theodore Rousseau

Planting the Seeds of Impressionism

In 1830, the 18-year-old Frenchman Theodore Rousseau ventured into the rugged terrain of the Auvergne region to draw and paint from a high perch in the hills. Shortly thereafter, Rousseau’s panoramic view (shown above) of a hamlet at the base of a steep cliff was celebrated in Paris by leaders of the ascendant Romantic movement. As a result, the French countryside would soon take its place as the equal of Italy’s in terms of artistic inspiration and innovation, and the en plein air sketching expeditions of Rousseau and Charles-Francois Daubigny (below) would profoundly change the course of landscape painting over the next 60 years in France, North America and even Italy where in the late 1850s a group of Tuscan painters known as the Macchiaioli broke with the antiquated conventions taught by the European academies in order to paint outdoors to capture natural light, shade and color.

*Apple Blossoms,* 1873 (left) & *Boats on the Seacoast at Etaples*, 1871 (right) by Charles-François Daubigny

*Sunset Near Arbonne*, 1860-65 by Theodore Rousseau

Édouard Manet & Claude Monet

While both Manet and Monet achieved initial success by submitting their paintings to the official Salon, their modernist tendencies and styles would eventually lead them down independent paths. In 1861, Manet submitted two paintings to the Salon; both were accepted and one — The Spanish Singer (on view at the Met) — won an honorable mention. Manet would not receive unequivocal recognition from the Salon for another 20 years. Luncheon on the Grass {Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe}, Manet’s 1863 submission to the Salon, was rejected and the scandal caused by the presentation of Olympia (below right) prompted Manet to flee to Spain.

*The Spanish Singer*, 1860 {the Met} & *Olympia*, 1863 by Édouard Manet {Musée d’Orsay}

In 1866, Claude Monet’s Woman in the Green Dress was accepted by the jury at the Salon and received positive reviews. In the following year, however, Monet’s submission was rejected and Monet proposed the idea of exhibiting independently — together with other painters who would one day be called the Impressionists — a proposition that would not be realized due to a lack of funds until 1874.

The Impressionists organized eight exhibitions between 1874 and 1886 but Manet never exhibited with them. Manet was one of the first nineteenth-century artists to paint modern life and his alla prima {at once} technique was adopted by the Impressionists because this style allowed them to paint quickly enough to capture on canvas the changing effects of light. In retrospect, Édouard Manet was the most pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

*The Bodmer Oak, Fontainebleau Forest*, 1865 by Claude Monet

*The Pardon in Brittany*, 1886 by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret

*The Wisteria Dining Room*, 1910-14 by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer

*Head of Saint John the Evangelist*, 1818-20 (top left) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres & a *Stained Glass Window* from New York City’s Bliss House, 1908-09 (right) by John La Farge

The American Wing inside the Met is illuminated by a wall of windows facing Central Park

*Grapevine Panels* (1902-15) designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany

Neoclassical marble facade (1822-24) of the United States Branch Bank of Wall Street

Winslow Homer seascapes (1895-96): *Maine Coast*, *Cannon Rock*, and *Northeaster* (left to right)

*Arques-la-Bataille*, 1885 by John Henry Twachtman

*Spring Blossoms*, *Montclaire, New Jersey*, 1891 by George Inness

Metalwork, glass and ornamentation by Tiffany Studios in the American Wing

The American Wing (above) is especially enjoyable in the early morning, during lunch, or on Friday & Saturday evenings when the Met is open until 9:00 p.m.

The Busy “Great Hall” Inside the Met in New York City

The main entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, known as the Great Hall, opened to the public in December 1902. At that time, the Evening Post newspaper announced that New York City finally had a neoclassical palace for the display of art, “one of the finest in the world, and the only public building in recent years which approaches in dignity and grandeur the museums of the old world.”

*The Virgin Adoring the Host*, 1852 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a fine example of Neoclassicism

During this visit to the Met Museum, we explored some of the artistic movements which enabled France to become the creative center of Europe during the 19th century, displacing Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Guardians of Neoclassicism such as Ingres in France and Navez in Belgium and leaders of Orientalism like Gérôme would gradually see their traditional movements wane in influence as proponents of Naturalism and Romanticism (Dagnan-Bouveret and Rousseau, respectively) gained recognition.

Of course, French Impressionism would surpass all of these 19th-century artistic trends in popularity and longevity.

*The Valley of the Nervia*, 1884 by Claude Monet

*The Seine at Bougival*, 1876 by Alfred Sisley

*The Daughters of Catulle Mendes*, 1888 by Pierre Auguste Renoir

The Metropolitan Museum of Art possesses the finest holdings of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting in New York, so please take a look at our article entitled “New York City — 4 of the Best Art Museums” to enjoy the depth of the Met’s collection of art from the 1860s through the beginning of the 20th century.

Autumn view of Fifth Avenue from the Met’s Roof Garden

Remember, the Met’s Roof Garden will be open (weather permitting) from May through the end of October. The Met Museum’s popular Holiday Tree and creche, shown below, are on view every Christmas season (from late November through the first week of January).

We sincerely look forward to seeing you in the future.