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Security officer Jack Laughner on lessons learned from great artists in the Met's galleries.
My name is Jack Laughner and I'm a security officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. My topic is "The Master Class."
A very unique element to the Museum is that a lot of the guards are artists, myself being one. And as
an artist, I use the time in between answering questions and on my days off, or
that half hour before the Museum opens, to learn from the works.
I'm a pen and ink artist. I like not only the immediacy of the pen to the paper, but its black and white quality which, to the human eye is immediately abstracted. The piece shown here is called Tower of Babel, which is
my representation of a Bruegel painting, where the Tower of Babel now sits inside the main hall of the Museum.
Refinement in artwork is incredibly important. If one could peel away everything that is unnecessary you get
to the soul of the work and from there, it's much easier to understand what the artist's intentions were, or as an artist myself, what I'm trying to depict in my work.
Michelangelo, the lengths that he went to creating those very small gestures
really speaks to me as an artist, where you may be thinking to yourself, "Am I overdoing it?" You find out they went to the same lengths to create.
Albrecht Dürer's Adam and Eve is an incredible work to view.
It's quite small and the technical virtuosity almost can't be seen.
You have to get as close as you can. I get quite close and actually have to take my glasses off to see the incredible detail.
Every time I walk in front of Kunz Lochner's Armors for Man and [his] Horse, my romantic side comes out, and I
imagine the artist toiling away in his metalsmith shop
putting in detail, most likely no one ever would see.
I could speak for myself where I've been on the floor like this figure here with his head on the desk, trying to find that power inside you to create, can be very scary.
Another important element is the idea of power, and not only visual power
but the emotional or psychological effects that the work of art has.
George Grosz, here he depicts a industrialist holding a
hand puppet, which I believe to be a politician.
The background is filled with industry and destruction
and in the foreground, money and skulls.
Nast is an inspiration to me, and he's a perfect example of the pen is mightier than the sword. He
defeated Tweed, not physically, he did drawings on paper and drawings on stone, and when "Boss" Tweed was actually captured by officials in Spain, they recognized his face from Thomas Nast's drawings.
The power of consequence in this work is incredibly real. To me it's a testament to artists and to the freedom of speech that we all fight for.
Life is a battle, and it's represented here as a storm. The woman pushing on, the determination in her face, nothing is gonna keep her from protecting her child.
My attraction to a lot of these artists is the fact that, where some may choose not to or pretend to not see what's
going in the world, these artists stood up to the bullies of their time, and they never backed down.
Being faced with these masters, it's an endless fountain of inspiration. To me as an artist and to me more so as a person, that's how
I want to live my life, and that's how I always have.
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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 Life Class, Second Stone 1917 George Bellows (American) Lithograph Purchase, Charles Z. Offin Art Fund, Inc. Gift, 1978 (1978.670.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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The Harvesters 1565 Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish) Oil on wood Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.164) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Cottage among Trees 1648–50 Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch) Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, on paper washed with brown H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.939) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Under a Cloud ca. 1900 Albert Pinkham Ryder (American) Oil on canvas Gift of Alice E. Van Orden, in memory of her husband, Dr. T. Durland Van Orden, 1988 (1988.353) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a Small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso) 1508–12 Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian) Italian Red chalk (recto); charcoal or black chalk (verso) Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1924 (24.197.2) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Adam and Eve 1504 Albrecht Dürer (German) Engraving Fletcher Fund, 1919 (19.73.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Armors for Man and Horse dated 1548 Kunz Lochner (German) Etched steel, leather Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Mrs. Bashford Dean, 1929 (29.151.2) Rogers Fund, 1932 (32.69) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: Plate 43 of The Caprices (Los Caprichos) 1799 Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish) Etching, aquatint, drypoint, and burin Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., 1918 (18.64) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Big Fish Eat Little Fish 1557 Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish) Engraving; first state of three Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917 (17.3.859) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Night Shadows 1921 Edward Hopper (American) Etching Harriet Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925 (25.31.2) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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The Secret Emperor (The Industrialist Hugo Stinnes) 1920 George Grosz (American, born Germany) Ink on paper Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2002 (2002.492) Estate of George Grosz More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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"What are You Laughing at? To the Victor Belong the Spoils" November 25, 1871 Thomas Nast (American, born Germany) Wood engraving Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928 (28.111.4(2)) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834 August and September 1834 Honoré Daumier (French) Lithography Rogers Fund, 1920 (20.23) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Retreat from the Storm ca. 1846 Jean-François Millet (French) Oil on canvas Signed (lower left): J.F. Millet Gift of Sarina Tang and Peter M. Wood, 2002 (2002.613) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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And There's Nothing to Be Done (Y no hai remedio) 1810–23 Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish) Etching, drypoint, burin, and burnisher Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1932 (32.62.17) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Le Passé–Le Présent–L'Avenir (Past, Present, Future) January 9, 1834 Honoré Daumier (French) Lithograph Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1941 (41.16.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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© 2011 The Metropolitan Museum of Art |