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Opening of New Classical Galleries in Metropolitan Museum's American Wing Represents First Phase in Multi-Year Construction Project
Monday, January 22, 2007, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, January 23, 2007)—A suite of galleries devoted to American art created between 1810 and 1840 was formally opened on the first floor of the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art today. The opening of the new galleries marks the completion of the first phase of a project to reconfigure, renovate, or upgrade nearly every section of the American Wing by 2010. A major goal of the plan is to improve public access to, and visitor flow within, the American Wing galleries.
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Architectural Elements from Medieval Monastery Installed at The Cloisters
Monday, January 22, 2007, 5:00 a.m.
A dozen architectural elements from the medieval monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, which is located in the northeast Pyrenees, have gone on public display at The Cloisters – the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. Part of the collection of The Cloisters since 1925, the pieces of carved stone have been in storage for nearly 70 years. The carvings, which include decorative elements from three nearly complete arches, and blocks carved with images of a musician, the Lamb of God, and other figures, have recently been embedded in the east wall of the Cuxa Cloister. Although the walls surrounding the Cloister are modern, the series of marble columns, boldly carved capitals, and arches forming the Cuxa Cloister date from the 12th century and also originated from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa. All are carved from the beautiful pinkish stone of the Pyrenees known as "Languedoc marble." The installation also will incorporate new lighting and a new sound system.
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents' Day – January 15 and February 19 – Head List of Metropolitan Museum's 2007 Schedule of "Met Holiday Mondays"
Thursday, January 11, 2007, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, January 10, 2007) – The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be open to the public on two upcoming holiday Mondays – January 15 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and February 19 (Presidents' Day) – as the latest in its popular "Holiday Monday" programs. The Museum will also open the doors of its main building on May 28 (Memorial Day), July 2 (Independence Day Holiday), September 3 (Labor Day), and October 8 (Columbus Day).
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Photographs of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb on Display at Metropolitan Museum
Thursday, December 14, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
An exhibition of vintage photographs celebrating one of the most memorable
episodes in the history of archaeology – the discovery and exploration of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (Dynasty 18; ruled ca. 1336-1327 B.C.) – will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning December 19. The photographs, documenting every stage in the process of the excavation, were taken by the renowned archaeological photographer Harry Burton, who was a staff member of the Metropolitan Museum Egyptian Expedition when he was "lent" to Howard Carter, the famed excavator of Tutankhamun's tomb. Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton features his spectacular black-and-white images of the entrance passage to the tomb, the opening of the sealed chambers inside, the first view of the contents and removal of the objects, and the beautifully made and decorated treasures that were found. The four chambers of the tomb were crammed with objects such as gold-covered chariots; elaborately inlaid furniture and chests; a vast array of the king's personal belongings, including jewelry; a series of shrines and coffins that protected the king; and the famous solid-gold mask that adorned his mummy – the last, among the most iconic examples of ancient Egyptian art ever to have come to light.
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Venice and the Islamic World, 828 – 1797
Thursday, December 14, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
With nearly 200 works of art from more than 60 public and private collections around the world, Venice and the Islamic World, 828 – 1797 is the first major exhibition to explore one of the most important and distinctive facets of Venetian art history: the exchange of art objects and interchange of artistic ideas between the great Italian maritime city and her Islamic neighbors in the eastern Mediterranean. Glass, textiles, carpets, arms and armor, ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, furniture, paintings, drawings, prints, printed books, book bindings, and manuscripts tell the fascinating story of the Islamic contribution to the arts of Venice during her heyday, from the medieval to the Baroque eras. 828, the year two Venetian merchants stole Saint Mark's hallowed body from Muslim-controlled Alexandria and brought it to their native city, and 1797, when the Venetian Republic fell to the French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte, form the chronological parameters of the exhibition that opens at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 27, 2007.
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Сады музея The Met Cloisters
Saturday, December 2, 2006, 6:45 p.m.
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Музей The Met Cloisters. Краткий обзор
Saturday, December 2, 2006, 4:49 p.m.
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Metropolitan Museum Participates in 18th Annual "Day Without Art" Observance of World AIDS Day
Thursday, November 30, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will participate in World AIDS Day for the 18th consecutive year by observing Day Without Art on Friday, December 1, 2006. In recognition of the devastating losses suffered by the cultural community as a result of AIDS, the Metropolitan will remove from view or shroud 16 objects around the Museum. Black ribbons will be tied around the flowers in the Great Hall. In addition, the Museum will lower the flags on its plaza to half-mast to symbolize the losses due to AIDS-related deaths in the art community.
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WELLINGTON Z. CHEN ELECTED A TRUSTEE AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
Sunday, November 26, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
(New York, November 14, 2006)--Wellington Z. Chen has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art representing the borough of Queens, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. The election took place at the November 14 meeting of the Board.
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Mother-of-Pearl: A Tradition in Asian Lacquer
Sunday, November 19, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
An exhibition of exquisite Asian lacquer decorated with mother-of-pearl will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 2. Featuring some 50 works dating from the eighth to the 19th century, Mother-of-Pearl: A Tradition in Asian Lacquer will illustrate the remarkable variety of effects found in the use of minute pieces of mother-of-pearl to create mosaic-like patterns and dazzling scenes. It will also explore the importance of lacquer decorated with mother-of-pearl in interregional trade from the 12th to the 19th century and in the development of maritime global trade – particularly works made in India and Japan – in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Drawn largely from the Museum's permanent collection, the exhibition will include recent acquisitions as well as several important loans from public and private collections in the United States.