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My name is Annie Labatt and I'm a fellow at the Met. My topic is "Flux."
The great fortune of being an art history graduate student is that I get to travel, and
I need to travel, because, it may sound trite, but it doesn't mean anything when it's in a book.
You have to see it in the space it belongs in, in its context.
I'm in a moment in my life where things are rather unstable. I graduated from Barnard
and then I went to London for a year and
then I went back to New York for a year
and then I went to Chicago for a year
and then I went to New Haven for three years
and then I went to Rome for two years
and I was in DC and now I'm back in New York.
I think of my journey as being Odyssean, because I've been traveling and now I'm full circle. There's something evocative about that
unknown that the black background represents, that he's forging ahead, and he'll get there, but he doesn't know quite when.
The travels that I've gone through represent a chance to be somewhere new and learn about that place and grow from that experience rather than isolate myself, although
I have to say, I never knew how much I liked hamburgers until I moved to Rome. I grew up in Texas where hamburgers are a major part of the cuisine, but it wasn't until I was abroad that I needed them desperately.
Sargent is part of this story of the American abroad. He went to Italy and was taken, captivated, just as I was. The golds and the shimmery, broken lines reflects his
similar grappling with these unusual monuments.
I have the most fun when I'm looking at Panini, because looking at the painting is like having my own souvenir.
I get to relive those times and those walks that I had when I was living in Rome. The monuments I study were often times built on top of by Baroque people, and so
these are the sorts of underground monuments that I would find, the hidden Rome. Sometimes there were no stairs, there would just be a pile of mud, and I'd traipse down into these lower spaces and walk around in the dark and then search for traces of paintings. And you can almost see
in the background, that there are marks and hints of pigment. In looking at those outlines, it's possible to create something and imagine what might have been.
As I come back from these travels, I've been changed in a way. I bring back memories. This stereograph is duplicated. It's not only one memory. It represents something in your mind's eye, something that you try to capture when you go to these sites.
People say that if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. And it seems as though the people in this painting don't really have
a direction, that they're sort of enjoying rambling and losing themselves in the landscape.
Saint Anthony, he's in the middle of an incredible wilderness of disasters and fires and little hobgoblins, even one
is pulling at his coat. Being in this very unstable and insecure space, he still keeps his focus. And in fact, it may very well help him establish his focus
on the painting of the crucified Christ. When I was abroad, I was able to recognize what made me, me. It's not only an exterior struggle, but it's also an interior struggle.
I'm finishing my dissertation and now I'm moving into a new phase, and it's a little uncertain what that's going to be like. Henry James said in The Portrait of a Lady that
Isabel Archer affronts her destiny, not confronts, but affronts her destiny. For the moment, I don't know what my journey is going to be.
I'm just going to try every path and every time that I go on these adventures I learn more things
so I'm not worried about it. I'm excited.
Works of art in order of appearanceLast Updated: June 22, 2015. Not all works of art in the Museum's collection may be on view on a particular day. For the most accurate location information, please check this page on the day of your visit. |
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The Journey of the Magi ca. 1435 Sassetta (Stefano di Giovanni) (Italian, Sienese) Tempera and gold on wood Maitland F. Griggs Collection, Bequest of Maitland F. Griggs, 1943 (43.98.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
King Dasaratha and His Retinue Proceed to Rama's Wedding: Folio from the Shangri II Ramayana Series ca. 1690–1710 Bahu Masters (Indian) Opaque watercolor and ink on paper Purchase, The Dillon Fund, Evelyn Kranes Kossak, and Anonymous Gifts, 1994 (1994.310) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Asian ArtSecond Floor | |
Large Figures on the North Porch, Chartres Cathedral 1852 Henri Le Secq (French) Salted paper print from paper negative Purchase, The Howard Gilman Foundation and Harriette and Noel Levine Gifts, Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr. Bequest, and Rogers Fund, 1990 (1990.1130) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
The Fall of Icarus 1692 Johann Caspar Hessius (Swiss?) Pen and black ink, brush and grey wash, and gouache Purchase, Jean A. Bonna Gift, 2007 (2007.223.49) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog) 1903–4 Claude Monet (French) Oil on canvas Bequest of Julia W. Emmons, 1956 (56.135.6) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
[12 Views of New York City Skyline and Painting by Walker Evans] 1940s–50s Walker Evans (American) Film negative Walker Evans Archive, 1994 (1994.252.167.1–12) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Impressions of Chicago—The Lights of Grant Park 1932 Gordon H. Coster (American) Gelatin silver print Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987 (14.44) Photograph and print by Gordon Coster More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
[Couple on Footpath, Yale University Campus, New Haven, Connecticut Possibly for Unpublished Fortune Portfolio "The Clothes"] June 10, 1963 Walker Evans (American) Gelatin silver print Anonymous Gift, 1999 (1999.246.122) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Colosseum mid-16th century Italian school Published by Antonio Lafréri (French, active in Rome) From the Metropolitan Museum's copy of the Speculum Romanae magnificentiae (Mirror of Rome's Magnificence) Engraving Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1941 (41.72[1.59]) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. June 10, 1963 Walker Evans (American) Photomechanical reproduction Walker Evans Archive, 1994 (1994.264.65.7) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Terracotta oinochoe (jug) Classical, ca. 430–420 b.c. Attributed to the Disney Painter Greek, Attic Terracotta Fletcher Fund, 1924 (24.97.24) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Greek and Roman ArtFirst Floor and Mezzanine | |
American Girl in Italy 1951 Ruth Orkin (American) Gelatin silver print Rogers Fund, 1967 (67.543.25) © Ruth Orkin More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Rodeo, New York City 1955 Robert Frank (American, born Switzerland) Gelatin silver print Gift of Barbara and Eugene Schwartz, 1992 (1992.5162.3) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Angels, Mosaic, Palatine Chapel, Palermo 1897–1903 John Singer Sargent (American) Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on off-white wove paper Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950 (50.130.83f) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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American Paintings and SculptureFirst and Second Floors | |
Apse 1175–1200 Spanish; from the Church of San Martin, Fuentidueña, Segovia Limestone Exchange Loan from the Government of Spain, 1958 (L.58.86) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Medieval Art and The CloistersFirst Floor | |
Ancient Rome 1757 Giovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, Roman) Oil on canvas Gwynne Andrews Fund, 1952 (52.63.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
Study of Light in a Vaulted Interior Wilhelm Bendz (Danish) Oil on paper laid down on canvas Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009 (2009.400.3) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
[Group of 12 Stereograph Views of British Cathedrals] 1850s–1910s Unknown Artist (British) Tempera on wood, embossed and gilt ornament Gift of Weston J. Naef, in memory of Kathleen W. Naef and Weston J. Naef Sr., 1982 (1982.1182.886–.897) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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PhotographsSecond Floor | |
Landscape with Travelers on a Woodland Path ca. 1607 Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish) Oil on copper Bequest of Hertha Katz, 2000 (2001.216.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
The Temptation of Saint Anthony ca. 1550–60 Workshop of Herri met de Bles (Netherlandish) Oil on wood Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971 (1976.100.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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European PaintingsSecond Floor | |
Hilly Landscape with Travellers late 18th–mid-19th century Johann Georg von Dillis (German) Black chalk, pen and brown and black ink, brush and gray ink, heightened with white body color on beige paper Karen B. Cohen Fund, 2003 (2003.517) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Drawings and PrintsSecond Floor | |
Traveling by Moonlight Meiji period, 19th century Kawabata Gyokushô (Japanese) Album leaf; ink and light color on silk Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914 (14.76.61.66) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Asian ArtSecond Floor | |
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