«When the Museum was founded nearly 150 years ago, in 1870, it owned not a single work of art. Over the years, through the combined efforts and brilliance of generations of curators and researchers, collectors and patrons, The Met collection has grown geographically and culturally to represent more than 5,000 years of art from across the globe—from the first cities of the Ancient Near East to works being created today. So why does The Met continue to collect? Because art inspires the stories we tell: A first look at just one beautiful object gives us a new perspective on another, or asks questions of us that we never before considered, or changes the way we see the world.»
With this in mind, I'm delighted to introduce our new blog, Collection Insights, which will give you greater access to the stories and unique understandings of the people who engage with the collection every day. This blog will present the viewpoints of authors from across the Museum community—from curators and conservators to high school interns—each of whom is eager to share with you their own perspectives and the life experiences they bring to their studies. This new blog is your go-to destination for discovering diverse insights, and, in turn, we hope you will share back with us. Be forewarned, readers, it will be contagious!
The Met collection is constantly evolving through the addition of new works and continual research, revealing new stories and ideas every day. Our curators interrogate the collection and update their research, seeking out the gaps in our narrative of world cultural heritage. At The Met, our mission challenges us to answer these questions, to look at historic art anew, to put modern art in the context of the past, to invite new voices and ideas into the dialogue. Each work of art, each new research project, each new reinstallation of the collection reveals new ways of thinking, new viewpoints to consider. With so many insights occurring every day in our scholarly work, we want our readers across the globe to have access to our collection and to make their own discoveries.
In just the first week of this blog, you will be able to explore the techniques and artistry of Moroccan jewelry; hear about the Museum's upcoming skylights replacement project, which will greatly enhance the viewing of our world-renowned collection of European paintings; get a behind-the-scenes look at our Paper Conservation lab; and learn more about the selection of brass instruments now on view in Fanfare, the signature installation of the Department of Musical Instruments' ongoing renovation and reinterpretation project.
Welcome to our new blog. We hope that it will expand the ways in which this ever-evolving collection can surprise, delight, and inspire you.