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Perspectives

The Met’s home for deep dives on art, interviews, personal essays, scientific discoveries, and more.

Featured

Woman seated on a bench in a museum gallery in front of a large abstract painting.
Video
Autumn Rhythm: Number 30, 1950—In Focus
Explore Jackson Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm with Met curator Brinda Kumar and discover what it reveals about artistic intention and staying true to oneself.
Brinda Kumar
September 17
Black-and-white portrait of a woman in dark clothing resting her cheek on her hand, gazing calmly at the camera in a quiet interior.
Fukuko Ando: Listening to the Fabric
For Fukuko Ando, the body is a catalyst for artistic intuition.
Ayaka Iida
September 11
Oil portrait of an 18th-century gentleman with powdered hair, a dark coat, gold buttons, and a white ruffled cravat, gazing calmly.
Considering Young Jefferson
How do visual representations of the flawed but fascinating American revolutionary allow us to reflect on—and rethink—his legacy?
Andrew M. Davenport
August 11
Detail of a black ceramic vessel with a shiny, burnished surface and two small raised bumps at the base of the neck.
Audio
Meditations on Clay
Magdalene Odundo reflects on ceramic traditions, gender, and the universality and humanity of clay through the lens of a Kurumba vessel.
Magdalene Odundo
September 8
Brightly lit reading room with long tables, walls of book shelving, and wood-paneled walls with abstract motifs.
Welcome Back to Watson
Watson Library has reopened to the public with a redesigned Nolen Study Room and Circulation Desk area.
Mirabelle Cohen
August 19

The Latest

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Series from The Met

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Woman holding a camera and filming a child in dancing attire, with text at the top reading "Africa's Cultural Landmarks"
Africa’s Cultural Landmarks
Short documentaries direct a local lens on some of Africa’s most notable cultural landscapes.
A chalk-line illustration of an art detective points her magnifying glass at a microscope; hands reach towards the microscope while a crew of bugs and a fingerprint ghost look on
MetKids Microscope
See the science behind the art (and the art behind the science!) at The Met.
A black-and-white still from the 1928 film Behind the Scenes: The Working Side of the Museum, which depicts the superimposed image of an old-fashioned time-card machine over the face of a wall clock
From the Vaults
Audiovisual materials from the Museum’s extensive archive.

Music

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The intersection between music, art, and history seen through the lens of The Met collection.

Colorful cover
The Sounds of Style
Exploring fashion through the lens of music in The Costume Institute Library.
Julie Lê
July 22
Manuscript page with a labeled hand diagram, flanked by scrolls, two religious figures, and Latin text.
The Guidonian Hand
How did this revolutionary musical notation technique, developed by a monk in the tenth century, transform music pedagogy?
Rebecca Lindsey
July 20
Purple mannequin hand holding a body shaped guitar.
Video
Exhibition Tour—Musical Bodies
Join Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, Curator in the Department of Musical Instruments, and Ava Valentino, Research Assistant in the Department of Musical Instruments, along with Brett Renfer, Senior Project Manager of Emerging Technologies, to virtually explore the Musical Bodies exhibition.
Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, Ava Valentino, and Brett Renfer
June 18

Archives

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Articles, images, and film from The Met’s 150-year history.

Close-up painted portrait of a serious, bald man with dark eyes, heavy brows, mustache, and weathered features against a muted background.
Video
From The Vaults
Gombrich Themes, Part 2, 1989
In Part 2 of this two-part program on the natural phenomenon of light and its representation in art, Austrian art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich discusses reflection.
September 22
Blue-toned close-up portrait of a bearded person with eyes closed, conveying a quiet, introspective mood through grainy, textured lighting.
Video
From The Vaults
Gombrich Themes, Part 1, 1989
In Part 1 of this two-part program on the natural phenomenon of light and its representation in art, Austrian art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich discusses illumination, shadows, and the direction of light source.
September 22
A glamorous-looking woman caught mid-laugh. She holds a camera.
Video
From The Vaults
Bazaar and Beyond: A Portrait of Lillian Bassman, 2026
This film offers a rare look into the life and work of the artist Lillian Bassman, who helped introduce an avant-garde sensibility to the American newsstand.
July 23

In Circulation

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Read articles and the latest news about The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Libraries’ collections, activities, and research related to the history of art.

Brightly lit reading room with long tables, walls of book shelving, and wood-paneled walls with abstract motifs.
Welcome Back to Watson
Watson Library has reopened to the public with a redesigned Nolen Study Room and Circulation Desk area.
Mirabelle Cohen
August 19
Colorful cover
The Sounds of Style
Exploring fashion through the lens of music in The Costume Institute Library.
Julie Lê
July 22
Interior of Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi
Facsimiles at The Cloisters Library and Archives
Rare reproductions of medieval illustrated manuscripts.
Michael Carter
June 17
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