«For the past three seasons, the Met Museum Presents Ticketed Talks program has tapped into the talent within the Museum—and why not? With the foremost scholars and researchers right under our own (very massive) roof, it became clear that audiences were keen to peek behind the art with those who know it best: the curators. It's the insider understanding we all crave when listening to a talk or panel or purchasing one of the Museum's many Audio Guides, and the reason we attach ourselves to the daily gallery tours—to hear the details, background, and compelling information to be learned from those in the know.»
New talks featuring Met curators and industry experts are added each season, and returning favorites explore fresh topics and masterpieces. Take, for instance, the Life and Times series led by Rebecca Rabinow—Leonard A. Lauder Curator of Modern Art and the Curator in Charge of the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art—which returned for its second season this month and looked at different aspects of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection and specific works of Cubist art.
Left: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973). Student Reading a Newspaper (L'etudiant au journal), Winter 1913-14. Oil and sand on canvas; 28 3/4 × 23 1/2 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Promised Gift from the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust © 2014 Estate of Pablo Picasso /Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Right: Tullio Lombardo's Adam during the extensive restoration process
Still ahead this season is an exciting talk by Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Curator in Charge of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Luke Syson about Tullio Lombardo's Adam and his fig leaf. A dynamic speaker, Luke Syson's TEDxMet talk, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love 'Useless' Art" has received almost one million views on the TED website. He'll be back on the Grace Rainey Rogers stage for Behind the Fig Leaf on April 8.
Another popular series is led by Associate Museum Educator Kathryn Calley Galitz, which varies in subject but is always an ambitious and extensive exploration into paintings in the Met's collection. This year she charts the development of British paintings in the Rule, Britannia! series.
Sound interesting, but can't make the date? Or perhaps you attended a talk or performance and loved it so much you want to share the experience with all of your friends? All of Met Museum Presents' talks and performances are available on MetMedia, the Museum's online portal for video and audio features which allows digital visitors from across the globe to explore the Met in more depth.
An incredible resource, MetMedia allows visitors to enhance their visit to the Museum and provides an accessible way to search for past events. Much more than an event archive, MetMedia is a way to look deeply at Matisse's The Three O'Clock Sitting (1924) with Rebecca Rabinow or hear Luke Syson's own struggle to accept a pink, porcelain elephant vase as an iconic piece of art. When it comes to performances, you can watch Alarm Will Sound drown their violins in The Temple of Dendur moat once again, or take in Rosanne Cash's sold-out performance from earlier this year!
There's so many videos to view, and even more live events to attend this season, with talks beginning again in February. Check back in with MetMedia regularly, and stop by the Met to hear, firsthand, about your favorite works of art.