Points of View: 100 Connections to Art

Across ages and cultures, artists have found inspiration in the human urge for connection. This compendium of short, thought-provoking essays and surprising insights by the staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art focuses on 100 works—both famous highlights and little-known gems—to explore artistic representations of relationships, the self, politics, spirituality, and the environment. The wide-ranging texts probe the enduring resonance of an Egyptian temple built two thousand years ago, reflect on an ancient Roman sculpture of a wounded warrior, examine spirituality through a fourteenth century Chinese incense box, muse on Giorgio de Chirico’s family history drawn from his painting Ariadne (1913), and touch on many other topics. For the first time, a book brings together voices from across The Met—curators, conservators, designers, editors, educators, and librarians—to consider how art inspires us to connect to the world and to each other.