Researching, Part 2

I was going to do two posts for my trip, D.C. and NYC, but I have too many New York pictures. So seeing as the Metropolitan Museum of Art is practically it's own universe, I decided it deserves it's own post.

My bus from D.C. arrived in New York City at about 10:30pm. I walked up 7th Ave to my hotel through Times Square. It's a very bright place.
The next morning I had an appointment at the Met's library to see an artist's file. I walked there through Central Park. I was glad that I did because it was my only chance to go through the park, and it was so pretty.
I finally made it to the museum.
I spent my morning here, in the Watson Library, looking through their Paul Meltsner file. If his name doesn't sound familiar it's because he's pretty much a forgotten artist these days.
After I finished going through the file and doing a bit of other research it was about 12:30, and I decided to see the museum. I started with European art.

Artists clockwise from upper left: Tiepolo, Rodin, Canova, Stubbs, Rodin, David, Caravaggio, Vermeer

Then I made my way over to the American Wing. This is the American courtyard.
After a quick detour through the musical instruments (awesome) where I gazed down on these fellows, I ate lunch and prepared to tackle the American Wing full-force.
One of the lovely things about a museum as big and as maze-like as the Met is that no matter how crowded it is you can find someplace quiet. The American section was very quiet. That was probably due to the fact that a lot of the art wasn't on display due to construction on the upper floors.

I saw John Vanderlyn's Cyclorama, a 360 degree view of Versailles.
Then I wandered through the reconstructed rooms, which really was one of my favorite parts of the museum. Here I am in the mirror.
Here's the Frank Lloyd Wright Room.
This room was the oldest on display in the American section. It's from a 1680 house in Ipswich Massachusetts.
There was a special exhibition of 20th-century American paintings (I could have jumped for joy), and an exhibition of American landscapes.

Artist's clockwise from upper left: Marsden Hartley, Georgia O'Keeffe, Thomas Cole, Grant Wood,
Thomas Cole detail, Hartley detail, Stuart Davis, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Charles Sheeler

The Met also has Luce Foundation visible storage! Look at all that furniture.

Next I wandered through Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. They were setting up for a party in the Egyptian temple room. Pretty sweet location for a party.
Visitors can walk through this Egyptian building.
Here are some highlights from Greece and Rome:
The Met is a very big place with hundreds of rooms. It's one of those museums where you must keep your visitor's guide handy at every moment if you don't want to a) miss anything or b) get lost. It reminded me a little of the Louvre in that sense, but at least here you don't keep getting dumped out into the room with the French Neoclassical Sculptures.
The Met has a lovely collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionists paintings. Predictably, it was the most crowded section of the museum. Here are the Van Gogh's getting a lot of love.

Artists clockwise from upper left: Monet, Gauguin, Monet, Cezanne

And from the Modern Sections:

Artist clockwise from upper left: Picasso, Pollock (detail), Van Gogh (detail), Kline, Brancusi, Segal
(Paige, it is a particularly nice Segal. You would like it.)

On my way out I stopped by the armored fellows again.

And then jumped into the studiolo for a minute. These rooms were trendy in Italy during the early Renaissance. The walls are illusions constructed entirely of wood inlay.
I left the Met at closing time and walked the few short blocks to gaze at the Guggenheim. After a day in the Met I feel like Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim, with it's continuous spiraling floor plan, in direct opposition to the hundreds of maze-like rooms in the Met.
Then, because it was raining hard, I took the subway back to Times Square and went and bought student rush tickets to Promises, Promises, staring Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenoweth.
I didn't know the musical was based on the movie The Apartment until after it started. The movie is a bit more satirical than the mostly funny musical. It was still quite enjoyable.

Another busy day gone.