Grid of six black and white photographic portraits of artists

The Artist Project

What artists see when they look at The Met

Ever since it was founded in 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been a place where artists come to gain inspiration from works of art from their own time and place, and also from across time and cultures.

The Artist Project is an online series in which we give artists an opportunity to respond to our encyclopedic collection.

From March 2015 to June 2016, we invited 120 artists—local, national, and global—to choose individual works of art or galleries that sparked their imaginations. In this online series, artists reflect on what art is, what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art, and in so doing, they reveal the power of a museum and The Met. Their unique and passionate ways of seeing and experiencing art encourage all museum visitors to look in a personal way.

Over the course of six seasons, The Artist Project shares the perspectives of one hundred and twenty artists with the public, telling us what they see when they look at The Met.

View previous seasons
Andrea Bowers on Howardena Pindell
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Artist Andrea Bowers reflects on Howardena Pindell in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Barry X Ball on an Egyptian fragment of a queen’s face
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Artist Barry X Ball reflects on an Egyptian fragment of a queen’s face in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Carolee Schneemann on Cycladic female figures
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Artist Carolee Schneemann reflects on Cycladic female figures in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Catherine Opie on the Louis XIV bedroom
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Artist Catherine Opie reflects on the Louis XIV bedroom in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Cecily Brown on medieval sculptures of the Madonna and Child
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Artist Cecily Brown reflects on medieval sculptures of the Madonna and Child in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Eric Fischal on Max Beckmann's "Beginning"
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Artist Eric Fischl reflects on Max Beckmann's Beginning in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Fred Tomaselli on "Guru Dragpo"
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Artist Fred Tomaselli reflects on Guru Dragpo in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Jacob El Hanani on the "Mishneh Torah," by Master of the Barbo Missal
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Artist Jacob El Hanani reflects on the Mishneh Torah by Master of the Barbo Missal in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Jeff Koons on Roman sculpture
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Artist Jeff Koons reflects on Roman sculpture in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Joan Snyder on Florine Stettheimer's "Cathedrals" paintings
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Artist Joan Snyder reflects on Florine Stettheimer's Cathedrals paintings in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Krishna Reddy on Henry Moore
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Artist Krishna Reddy reflects on Henry Moore in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Lin Tianmiao on Alex Katz's "Black and Brown Blouse"
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Artist Lin Tianmiao reflects on Alex Katz's Black and Brown Blouse in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Mary Weatherford on Goya's "Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga"
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Artist Mary Weatherford reflects on Goya's Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Nan Goldin on Julia Margaret Cameron
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Artist Nan Goldin reflects on Julia Margaret Cameron in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Petah Coyne on a Japanese outer robe with Mount Hōrai
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Artist Petah Coyne reflects on a Japanese outer robe with Mount Hōrai in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Rashid Rana on Umberto Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space"
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Artist Rashid Rana reflects on Umberto Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Suzan Frecon on Duccio di Buoninsegna's "Madonna and Child"
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Artist Suzan Frecon reflects on Duccio di Buoninsegna's Madonna and Child in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
William Wegman on Walker Evans's postcard collection
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Artist William Wegman reflects on Walker Evans's postcard collection in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016
Zhang Xiaogang on El Greco's "The Vision of Saint John"
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Artist Zhang Xiaogang reflects on El Greco's The Vision of Saint John in this episode of The Artist Project.
June 6, 2016

About Season 6

Twenty artists share their perspectives on works of art at The Met


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5,000 years of art, one material at a time