Press release

Schedule of Exhibitions Through July 2016

UPCOMING
Major Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Installations
Continuing Exhibitions and Installations
Asian Art 100
New Galleries
Chronological List of Exhibitions


SPECIAL NOTE: All exhibitions take place in the Met's Fifth Avenue building unless otherwise noted.


UPCOMING MAJOR EXHIBITIONS

Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible
March 18–September 4, 2016
Location: The Met Breuer

This innovative scholarly exhibition examines a subject critical to artistic practice: the question of when a work of art is finished. Beginning with the Renaissance masters, it examines the term “unfinished” in the broadest possible way, looking not only at works left incomplete by their makers, a decision that often provides insight into the process of their creation, but also at those that partake of a non finito—intentionally unfinished—aesthetic that embraces the unresolved and open-ended. Some of history’s greatest artists explored such an aesthetic; among them were Titian, Rembrandt, Turner, and Cézanne. The unfinished has been taken in entirely new directions by modern and contemporary artists—among them, Janine Antoni, Lygia Clark, Jackson Pollock, and Robert Rauschenberg—who alternately blurred the distinction between making and un-making, thereby extending the boundaries of art into both space and time and recruiting viewers to complete the objects they had begun. With 190 works dating from the Renaissance to the present—about one-third of the works are drawn from the Museum’s own collection, and the remaining are major national and international loans—this exhibition demonstrates the Met’s unique ability to mine its rich collection and scholarly resources to present modern and contemporary art within a deep historical context. The accompanying catalogue will expand the subject to include the “unfinished” in literature and film, as well as the role of the conservator in elucidating a deeper understanding of artistic thought on the subject of the unfinished.
The exhibition is made possible by Leonard A. Lauder and The Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation. 
Additional support is provided by The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation, the Jane and Robert Carroll Fund, Howard I. Hoffen & Sandra Hoffen, Kenneth and Rosalind Landis, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and Northern Trust. 
It is supported by an Indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc. and the Roswell L. Gilpatric Publications Fund.
Press Preview: Monday, March 1, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#MetBreuer
#MetUnfinished


Nasreen Mohamedi
March 18–June 5, 2016
Location: The Met Breuer

Nasreen MohamediA singular artist to emerge in post-independence India, Nasreen Mohamedi (1937–1990) created a body of work vital to the evolution of international modernism and abstraction. The Met Breuer exhibition marks the largest presentation of Mohamedi's work to date, and explores the conceptual complexity and visual subtlety that made her practice unique in its time. Mohamedi drew upon a range of inspirations in her work, from Paul Klee and Agnes Martin, to Mughal architecture and Indian classical music. She experimented with organic lines, delicate grids, and hard-edged forms in her oeuvre, and this aesthetic informed and infused the photographs she took throughout her life. With more than 130 paintings, drawings, and photographs, Nasreen Mohamedi surveys the different stages of the artist’s career and the development of her aesthetic approach, which made her one the most significant artists of her generation. It will be accompanied by a substantial catalogue with essays by international scholars, published by the Museo Reina Sofía.
The exhibition is made possible by Nita and Mukesh Ambani and the Reliance Foundation. 
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía with the collaboration of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.
Press Preview: Monday, March 1, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#MetBreuer
#NasreenMohamedi


Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World
April 18–July 17, 2016

Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient WorldIn the three centuries following the conquests of Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 B.C.), Hellenistic kings ruled large kingdoms with cosmopolitan cities that fostered an unparalleled growth in the arts. The Hellenistic Age witnessed the beginning of art history, when the first art collections and museums as well as great libraries were formed within elaborate palaces. This landmark exhibition represents an historic collaboration between The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, whose celebrated sculptures will comprise approximately one-third of some 265 artworks on display. The focus is on the rich diversity of art forms that arose through the patronage of the royal courts of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, with special emphasis placed on Pergamon, capital of the Attalid dynasty, which ruled over large parts of Asia Minor. Carefully selected masterpieces in all media highlight the innovations and technical mastery achieved by Hellenistic artists, whose enduring legacy profoundly influenced Roman art.
The exhibition is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Betsy and Edward Cohen / Areté Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, Renée Belfer, Diane Carol Brandt, Gilbert and Ildiko Butler, Mary and Michael Jaharis, and The Vlachos Family Fund.
It is supported by an Indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, James and Mary Hyde Ottaway, Mary and Michael Jaharis, and the Jenny Boondas Fund.
Press Preview: Monday, April 11, 2016, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#MetPergamon


Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs
April 27–July 24, 2016

One of the most productive periods in the history of Iranian and Anatolian art corresponds to the rule of the Seljuqs and their immediate successors. Under the Seljuqs, Iran’s prosperous middle class spurred arts patronage, technological advancements, and a market for luxury goods. In contrast, in Anatolia, northern Iraq, and Syria, which were controlled by the Seljuq successor dynasties, art was produced under royal patronage, and Islamic iconography was introduced to a predominantly Christian area; furthermore, many of the artists had fled to the region from Iran after the Mongol conquest in 1220. Because patrons, consumers, and artists came from diverse cultural, religious, and artistic backgrounds, distinctive arts were produced and flourished in the western parts of the Seljuq realm. Approximately 270 objects in diverse media from American, European, and Middle Eastern public and private collections will be shown, including a selection of representative objects from Turkmenistan.
The exhibition is made possible by the NoRuz at the Met Fund.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Doris Duke Fund for Publications, and the Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Foundation.
Press Preview: Monday, April 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#CourtandCosmos


Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
May 5–August 14, 2016

manus x machinaThe Costume Institute’s spring 2016 exhibition, presented in the Museum’s Robert Lehman Wing and Anna Wintour Costume Center, will explore the impact of new technology on fashion and how designers are reconciling the handmade and the machine-made in the creation of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear. The exhibition will propose a new view in which the hand (manus) and the machine (machina), often presented as oppositional, are shown to be equal protagonists. More than 100 ensembles, dating from a Worth gown from the 1880s to a 2015 Chanel suit, will be on view.
The exhibition is made possible by Apple.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.
Press Preview: Monday, May 2, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
#ManusxMachina


The Roof Garden Commission: Cornelia Parker
April 19–October 30, 2016

This spring British artist Cornelia Parker will create a site-specific installation atop the Met’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. The installation will be the fourth in a series of commissions created specifically for the outdoor space.
The exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Additional support is provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by the Blanche and A.L. Levine Fund and the Mary and Louis S. Myers Foundation Endowment Fund.
Press Preview: Monday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#MetRoof


diane arbus: in the beginning
July 12–November 27, 2016

Location: The Met Breuer
Featuring the rarely seen early work of Diane Arbus (1923–1971), this exhibition explores the genesis of one of the most influential and controversial artists of the 20th century. The show focuses on Arbus's first seven years working with the camera on the streets of New York City (1956–1962), a dramatic era in American history and the period when the artist developed her idiosyncratic style and subject matter, which were soon recognized, praised, criticized, and copied all over the world. The majority of the photographs will be drawn from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's vast Diane Arbus Archive, acquired in 2007 by gift and promised gift from the artist's estate. More than half of the photographs have not been exhibited or published, offering general visitors and scholars alike an unparalleled opportunity to see the work of this evocative and haunting artist.
Press Preview: Monday, July 11, 10 a.m.–noon
#DianeArbus
#MetBreuer

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Crime Stories: Photography and Foul Play
March 7–July 31, 2016

Since the earliest days of the medium, photographic images have been used for criminal investigation and evidence gathering, to record crime scenes, to identify suspects and abet their capture, and to disseminate crime-related images to the public. This exhibition explores the multifaceted intersections between photography and crime, from 19th-century “rogues’ galleries” to work by contemporary artists inspired by criminal transgression. Drawn entirely from the Met collection, the installation will feature approximately 40 works, ranging from the 1850s to the present.

Turner’s Whaling Pictures
May 10–August 7, 2016

This small exhibition will be the first to explore connections between the late seascapes of J. M. W. Turner and Herman Melville’s epic 1851 novel Moby Dick. Turner’s four canvases devoted to the subject of whaling, now in the Metropolitan Museum and Tate Britain, will be shown together for the first time, with several watercolors and books. The installation will offer an opportunity to engage with the work of two great 19th-century artists, and to assess whether Turner’s pictures inspired one of the crowning achievements of American literature.
Accompanied by a Bulletin.
The publication is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The Metropolitan’s quarterly Bulletin program is supported in part by the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, established by the cofounder of Reader’s Digest.
Press Preview: Monday, May 9, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#MetTurner

UPCOMING INSTALLATIONS

The Secret Life of Textiles: Plant Fibers
February 29–July 24, 2016
Fibers are the most important components of a textile. Everything related to the production of a textile—yarns, dyes, weaving, and patterns—begins with and is determined by the type and quality of the fibers. At the Met, the Museum’s comprehensive textile collection, the conservators’ expertise, and state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation come together to make possible a detailed examination of fiber characteristics and technology through a series of four installations that will be focused on plant fibers, animal fibers, silk, and synthetic fibers. This first installation in the series will reveal the technological transformation and beauty of the most important plant fibers—linen, hemp, ramie, and cotton—used by various cultures around the world in North Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, from the Dynastic period of Egypt to the present day.

Global by Design: Chinese Ceramics from the R. Albuquerque Collection
April 25–August 7, 2016

This exhibition, which focuses on the late 16th to the 18th century—the period when Chinese porcelain became a global luxury—will feature 60 exquisite and unusual pieces in a presentation that challenges the traditional, and overly rigid, cataloguing of Chinese ceramics as domestic or trade items. In addition to exploring the trade in Chinese ceramics within Asia, the exhibition will focus on the development of shapes and designs that reflect longstanding exchanges between China and the Islamic world as well as on the subsequent introduction and incorporation of works reflecting both these traditions into Europe and the Americas in the late 16th century. It will also explore the ways in which 18th-century artists, when faced with the global idioms that had developed at that time, made artistic choices that allowed them to create an endless range of spectacular and visually imaginative works.
#GlobalbyDesign


CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS

Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France
February 15–May 15, 2016

Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary FranceElisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) is one of the finest 18th-century French painters and among the most important of all women artists. An autodidact with exceptional skills as a portraitist, she achieved success in France and Europe during one of the most eventful, turbulent periods in European history. In 1776 she married the leading art dealer in Paris; his profession at first kept her from being accepted into the prestigious Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Nevertheless, through the intervention of Marie Antoinette, she was admitted at the age of 28 in 1783, becoming one of only four women members. Obliged to flee France in 1789 because of her association with the queen, she traveled to Italy where in 1790 she was elected to membership in the Accademia di San Luca, Rome. Independently, she worked in Florence, Naples, Vienna, St. Petersburg, and Berlin before returning to France, taking sittings from, among others, members of the royal families of Naples, Russia, and Prussia. While in exile she exhibited at the Paris Salons. She was remarkable not only for her technical gifts but for her understanding of and sympathy with her sitters. This will be the first retrospective and only the second exhibition devoted to Vigée Le Brun in modern times. The 80 works on view will be paintings and a few pastels from European and American public and private collections.
The exhibition is made possible by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund.
Corporate support is provided by Bank of America.
Additional support is provided by gifts made in memory of Parker Gilbert.
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais, and the National Gallery of Canada, with the exceptional participation of the Château de Versailles.
Accompanied by a catalogue. 
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
#VigeeLeBrun

Transformed: Medieval Syrian and Iranian Art in the Early 20th Century
February 10–July 17, 2016

In the early 20th century, the arts of medieval Iran and Syria attracted unprecedented interest from the West. These objects were loosely termed “Seljuq,” after the primary rulers of Iran and Iraq and their successors in the 11th to the 13th century. Demand by museums, collectors, and dealers—especially for figural and highly decorated Seljuq works—led to the custom of repairing, filling in, and enhancing fragmentary and deteriorated examples. The exhibition will consider the legacy of such practices 100 years later, as it compares archaeological artifacts with those that were refurbished or forged.
The exhibition is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.

The Power of Prints: The Legacy of William M. Ivins and A. Hyatt Mayor
January 26–May 22, 2016

To commemorate the centennial of the Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints in 2016, this exhibition will celebrate two transformational figures: William Ivins, the inaugural curator of the department, and his protégé, A. Hyatt Mayor. These social historians and “amateur print specialists,” as they referred to themselves, transformed how Americans understand and collect prints. The Power of Prints will demonstrate how the Met’s print collection was constructed to contain the most beautiful, rare, and exceptional prints alongside the equally important popular and ephemeral works that were collected in the first 50 years of the department’s history. The exhibition will show how the print collection was meant to be like a library—conceived from the beginning as a corpus of works that described, in the most comprehensive way, man’s spiritual aspirations. On view will be works by Andrea Mantegna, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Jacques Callot, Goya, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as works by lesser-known artists.
The exhibition is made possible by The Schiff Foundation.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by the Drue E. Heinz Fund.
Press Preview: Monday, January 25, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#PowerofPrints

#MetonPaper

A New Look at a Van Eyck Masterpiece
January 25–April 24, 2016

One of the most intriguing observations about a newly discovered mid-15th-century Crucifixion drawing from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam is its relationship to the Metropolitan Museum’s Crucifixion and Last Judgment paintings, which today are known as two halves of a diptych, by Jan van Eyck and his Workshop. Exactly what this relationship is, however, is a matter of discussion that impacts many other issues, such as the attribution, date, and function of the drawing, as well as the date and original form and function of the paintings. Recently, the Met’s paintings, along with their frames, underwent technical investigations in the Museum’s Department of Paintings Conservation in an effort to solve long-standing mysteries about them. This exhibition will feature the Rotterdam drawing and the Met’s Crucifixion and Last Judgmentpaintings in a presentation that focuses on the new discoveries that have been made. Additional objects, drawn mostly from the Met collection, including paintings, prints, drawings, a rosary bead, manuscript illumination, enamelwork, and portrait medals, will provide a context for the Crucifixion and Last Judgment themes.
#MetvanEyck

The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430–1540
January 20–April 17, 2016
Location: The Cloisters

Only three decks of European hand-painted playing cards are known to have survived from the late Middle Ages. These include The Cloisters Playing Cards, which will form the core of this small exhibition highlighting several intriguing works of secular art from the Cloisters collection. Examples of cards from the earliest hand-painted woodblock deck, 15th-century German engraved cards, and north Italian tarot cards of the same period will complete the display. Collectively, the figures and scenes depicted on these cards reflect changing worldviews during a period of tumultuous social, economic, and religious change, charting the transition from late medieval to early modern Europe.
Accompanied by a publication.
The exhibition and catalogue are made possible by the Michel David-Weill Fund.
#MetLuxuryCards

Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay
January 8–April 11, 2016

This exhibition will present approximately 22 drawings by the 18th-century German artist Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739), who was born without hands or feet. Despite his disabilities, he was celebrated in his own time as a draftsman and calligrapher as well as a magician and musician. He was said to have performed for German emperors, European princes, and for King George I of England. He was also a frequent guest at noble houses in England and Ireland, and performed at local fairs and inns from Amsterdam and Stockholm to Leipzig and Paris. The Met’s two drawings by Buchinger will be displayed alongside some 20 works from the collection of Ricky Jay, the celebrated illusionist, actor, and author. Framing Buchinger’s stupendous works, which were composed largely through micrography (employing minuscule script to create abstract shapes or figurative designs) and calligraphy, will be works from the Met collection—from late Medieval manuscripts and Renaissance typographical prints, to 17th-century writing books and contemporary works on paper—all of which demonstrate words in play.
#MatthiasBuchinger

Monkey Business: Celebrating the Year of the Monkey
January 8–July 24, 2016

The installation features depictions of monkeys in various media, including painting, ceramics, metalwork, and jade carving. Of particular interest are a 12th-century painting of three monkeys raiding an egret’s nest and a blue-and-white porcelain plate of monkeys and deer under a tree, both of which, as visual puns, express the wish for academic and political successes.
#YearoftheMonkey
#AsianArt100

Encountering Vishnu: The Lion Avatar in Indian Temple Drama
December 19, 2015–June 5, 2016
Dramas presented during religious festivals in southern India are an important aspect of popular Hindu celebration. This exhibition will highlight five rare wooden sculptural masks that represent a largely unrecorded category of late medieval Indian devotional art. The masks depict the characters in the story of the deadly battle between Vishnu in his man-lion avatar, Narasimha, and an evil king whose destruction was essential for the restoration of order in the universe.
The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation Fund.
#AsianArt100
#VishnuAvatars


Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age
In three parts, all opening December 15, 2015
Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room (permanent installation): December 15, 2015
George A. Schastey (special exhibition): December 15, 2015–May 1, 2016
Herter Brothers and the William H. Vanderbilt House (gallery installation): December 15, 2015–January 31, 2017
The centerpiece of this three-part exhibition is a sumptuous Aesthetic-style dressing room (1881–82) that was part of a larger commission for Arabella Worsham. She then sold her West 54th Street house and its furnishings to John D. Rockefeller, who made few changes. The Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room has found new life at the Metropolitan, where it provides fresh insight into the luxurious and artistic interiors found in New York’s wealthiest households in the late 19th century. The exhibition’s second part will focus on the dressing room’s designer, George A. Schastey (1839–1894), who, although little-known today, operated one of the largest and most successful decorating firms of the time. Some 15 to 20 works by or attributed to Schastey will be shown near five examples by rival firms such as Herter Brothers, Pottier & Stymus, and Herts to demonstrate the quality of his work. The unique atmosphere created by New York’s esteemed Gilded Age decorating firms will be demonstrated in a new gallery installation on Herter Brothers’ most important commission, the William H. Vanderbilt House, highlighting several new discoveries. Completed in 1882, the Vanderbilt commission dates to precisely the same moment as the Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room.
Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age: George A. Schastey is made possible by the Enterprise Holdings Endowment and The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Karen H. Bechtel.
Accompanied by a Bulletin.
The publication is made possible by the William Cullen Bryant Fellows.
The Metropolitan’s quarterly Bulletin program is supported in part by the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, established by the cofounder of Reader’s Digest.
Press Preview: Monday, December 14, 10:00 a.m.–noon
#GildedAgeFurniture

Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style
November 19, 2015–February 21, 2016

The Costume Institute’s fall 2015 exhibition will focus on the internationally renowned style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, whose originality and elegance established her as one of the most celebrated fashion personas of the 20th century. The thematic show will feature about 60 ensembles of haute couture and ready-to-wear primarily from de Ribes’s personal archive, dating from 1959 to the present. Also included will be her creations for fancy dress balls, which she often made by cutting up and cannibalizing her haute couture gowns to create nuanced expressions of her aesthetic. These, along with photographs and ephemera, will tell the story of how her interest in fashion developed over decades, from childhood “dress-up” to the epitome of international style.
#JacquelinedeRibes


The Luxury of Time: European Clocks and Watches
November 16, 2015–March 27, 2016
Drawing upon the Museum’s extensive collection of French, English, Dutch, German, and Swiss horological instruments from the 16th through the 19th century, this exhibition focuses on the objects’ decorative qualities. The objects on view range from a fascinating automaton clock from 17th-century Nuremberg to an over-the-top Gothic revival piece whose case was designed by French jeweler Lucien Falize (1839–1936).
Accompanied by a publication. 
The publication is made possible by Marica and Jan Vilcek.
#LuxuryofTime

Design for Eternity: Architectural Models from the Ancient Americas
October 26, 2015–September 18, 2016

From the first millennium B.C. until the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, artists from the ancient Americas created small-scale sculptures representing buildings to be placed in the tombs of important individuals. These works in stone, ceramic, wood, and metal range from highly abstracted representations of temples and houses to elaborate architectural complexes populated with figures conveying a rich sense of ancient ritual and daily life. Often called models, these miniature structures were critical components in funerary practice and beliefs about an afterlife. This exhibition, the first of its kind in the United States, provides new insights into ancient American architectural design and sheds light on the role of models in mediating relationships between the living, the dead, and the divine.
The exhibition is made possible by Jill and Alan Rappaport in honor of Joanne Pearson.
Additional support provided by the Friends of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
The catalogue is made possible by the Mary C. and James W. Fosburgh Publications Fund and The MCS Endowment Fund.
#DesignforEternity

New Discoveries: Early Liturgical Textiles from Egypt, 200–400
September 23, 2015–September 5, 2016

Iconographic analysis and scientific testing have revealed new information about the meaning and use of two textiles in the Museum’s collection. The first—woven in a loop pile meant to suggest a mosaic—has recently been recognized as a wall hanging for Christian liturgical use. The second—five recently acquired elements from a depiction of the Crossing of the Red Sea as described in the book of Exodus—can be understood as being from a wall hanging for Christian or possibly Jewish use.
#LiturgicalTextiles

Reconstructions: Recent Photographs and Videos from the Met Collection
September 21, 2015–March 13, 2016

This installation presents a selection of contemporary photographs and video works acquired by the Department of Photographs over the past seven years. Perhaps more than any other medium, photography both imbibes and exudes the spirit of its particular moment. While the exhibition is not about the digital aspects of photography per se, it does reflect the vagaries of our bifurcated experience, with one foot in the digital realm and the other on the rapidly shifting terrain of the old order. On view are 18 works by 15 artists.
#MetReconstructions

The Aftermath of Conflict: Jo Ractliffe’s Photographs of Angola and South Africa
August 24, 2015–March 6, 2016

This exhibition presents 23 works produced since 2007 by South African artist Jo Ractliffe that show landscapes of Angola and South Africa as sites of conflict and contention. Focusing on the aftermath of the Angolan Civil War and the intertwined conflict known in South Africa as the "Border War," Ractliffe’s photographs reveal the complex traces of the past in the present and address themes of dispossession, history, memory, and erasure. The installation is organized to coincide with the special exhibition Kongo: Power and Majesty that opened on September 18. There is a resonance between the two exhibitions that is expressed through their shared focus on colonial histories in Central and Southern Africa, and in their attention to the significance of absence, whether in the landscape or in the archives of art history.
#JoRactliffe

Reimagining Modernism: 1900–1950
Opened September 2014

This reinstallation of the first-floor galleries of the Lila and Acheson Wallace Wing for modern and contemporary art is a comprehensive and unprecedented reinterpretation of the Met’s collections of European and American modern painting, sculpture, photography, and design. These first-floor galleries have been divided into seven themes that relate to art and life in the first half of the 20th century: Avant-Garde (Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Gallery and The Esther Annenberg Simon Gallery), Direct Expression (Gallery 911), Abstraction (The Marietta Lutze Sackler Gallery and The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Gallery), Bodies (also in The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Gallery), Work and Industry (Gallery 903), The Metropolis (Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Gallery), and Retreat (The Sharp Gallery and 901).

Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawing #370
June 30, 2014–January 1, 2017

Sol LeWitt’s 1982 wall drawing—The Wall Drawing #370: Ten Geometric Figures (including right triangle, cross, X, diamond) with three-inch parallel bands of lines in two directions—was installed at the Museum over a period of four weeks. The drawing of 10 geometric figures set within squares went on view in its complete state beginning June 30, 2014 and will remain on view through January 1, 2017, when it will be painted over.
The loan of Wall Drawing #370 is courtesy of The Estate of Sol LeWitt.
The installation is made possible by The Modern Circle.

Fabergé from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection
November 22, 2011–November 27, 2016

When Matilda Geddings Gray acquired her first piece of Fabergé for her niece, in 1933, she was already a wealthy and sophisticated collector, and the name of the Russian artist-jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920) was almost unknown in the United States. Since then, Fabergé’s art has become widely known and his exquisite objects are now internationally sought after. On long-term loan to the Museum, this selection from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation collection, one of the finest in the world, includes objects created for the Russian Imperial family, such as the Lilies-of-the-Valley Basket—the most important Fabergé creation in the United States—and three Imperial Easter Eggs.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS
(For the two upcoming Asian Art 100 exhibitions see here and here)

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Collection
October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016

During the last 40 years, the Metropolitan’s collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy has grown to be one of the greatest in the world. With masterpieces dating from the Tang dynasty (608–917) to the Qing (1644–1911), the collection encompasses the vast historical sweep of the brush arts of China, from meticulous court painting to fiercely brushed dragons to lyrical paintings by scholars. The exhibition is part of a yearlong celebration marking the centennial of the Department of Asian Art. This exhibition, presented in two rotations, highlights the gems of the permanent collection in a chronological display, with an emphasis on works from the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
#AsianArt100
#ChinesePainting


Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection
October 20, 2015–January 22, 2017

Over the course of five decades, Mary Griggs Burke (1916–2012), a New York-based collector of Asian art, built one of the finest and most comprehensive private collections of Japanese art outside Japan. Over 300 masterworks, including over 225 paintings in various formats, as well as Buddhist sculptures and an array of ceramics and lacquerware, outstanding examples of every type of Japanese art represented, were bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum. This exhibition, which serves as a tribute to a great collector, reveals the distinctive features of Japanese art as viewed through the lens of 50 years of collecting: the sublime spirituality of Buddhist and Shinto art; the boldness of Zen ink painting; the imaginary world conjured up by the Tale of Genji and classical Japanese literature; the sumptuous colors of bird-and-flower painting; the subtlety of poetry, calligraphy, and literati themes; the aestheticized accoutrements of the tea ceremony; and the charming portraiture of courtesans from the "floating world" (ukiyo-e).
The exhibition is made possible by the Mary Griggs Burke Fund, Gift of the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, 2015.
#AsianArt100
#ArtsofJapan


Asian Art at 100: A History in Photographs
September 19, 2015–May 22, 2016

A selection of archival photographs of galleries and installations dating from 1907 to 1945 documents the changing face of Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum. Complementing the display is a wall-mounted timeline with images of the building, floor plans, and small versions of these historic photos to place them in the context of the larger Museum.
#AsianArt100

Chinese Textiles: Ten Centuries of Masterpieces from the Met Collection
August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016

Showcasing some of the most important and unusual textiles in the Museum's collection, this installation explores the cultural importance of silk in China. Works on view include three rare pieces dating from the Tang dynasty (618–906), 11th- and 12th-century tapestries from Central Asia, spectacular embroideries, and a monumental panel from the late 17th or early 18th century depicting phoenixes in a garden.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
#AsianArt100
#ChineseTextiles


Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th-18th Century
August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016

Featuring many of the most important examples of Chinese lacquer in the Museum's collection, this installation explores the intricate techniques used to embellish lacquer objects with scenes derived from history and literature, images of popular gods, representations of real and mythical animals, landscapes, flowers, and birds.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
#AsianArt100
#ChineseLacquer


A Passion for Jade: The Heber Bishop Collection
March 14, 2015–June 19, 2016

Heber R. Bishop's collection of carved jades was formed in the last quarter of the 19th century and bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum in 1902. Consisting of over 1,000 pieces—primarily Chinese jades of the 18th and 19th centuries, and jades from Mughal India—it was the first major collection of its kind in the country. This exhibition features a selection of the finest examples from this renowned collection.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
#BishopJades
#AsianArt100


Korea: 100 Years of Collecting at the Met
February 7, 2015–March 27, 2016

In celebration of the Asian Art Department's centennial, the installation traces how the Korean art collection at the Met was formed, and how the Western perception and appreciation of Korea has evolved over the past century as it has transformed from the "Hermit Kingdom" of the late 19th century to the trend-setting contemporary culture of "K-pop."
The exhibition is made possible by Samsung.
#MetKoreanArt
#AsianArt100

NEW GALLERIES

The Arts of Nepal and Tibet
Reopened March 13, 2015

These newly reinstalled galleries for Nepalese and Tibetan arts display some 100 sculptures, paintings, and textiles from the 9th to the 19th century, showcasing the 14 masterpieces acquired recently from the Zimmerman Family Collection.
The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation Fund.
#NepalTibetArts
#AsianArt100


New Venetian Sculpture Gallery
Opened November 11, 2014

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s marble sculpture Adam by Tullio Lombardo (ca. 1455–1532) returned to public view late last fall following a 12-year conservation project, presented in a special exhibition in the Museum’s new Venetian Sculpture Gallery. Adam is now the focal point of this permanent gallery in a niche inspired by its original location in a monumental tomb in Venice. The creation of this new space has encouraged the curatorial reassessment of the Met’s sculpture collection from this period. Tullio’s statue is joined by an exquisitely carved Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Cristoforo Solari (ca. 1460–1524), specially acquired for this gallery, and a newly conserved masterpiece by Tullio’s father Pietro Lombardo, a Madonna and Child, whose attribution to Pietro was sometimes questioned in the past and that, as a consequence, has spent several decades in storage. The new Venetian Sculpture Gallery, a perfect cube, was designed with Renaissance ideals of geometry and proportion in mind. It is a meditative environment that encourages sustained encounters with these important works.
The installation of this gallery was made possible by Assunta Sommella Peluso, Ignazio Peluso, Ada Peluso and Romano I. Peluso.

Chinese Treasury
Opened May 19, 2014

This gallery, which recreates the type of collecting and display found in 18th-century treasure cabinets (duobaoge), features some of the Museum's most precious works of Chinese art including sculptures and vessels of ivory, rhinoceros horn, glass, porcelain, and jade. Touchpads allow viewers to read introductory texts for all of the objects as well as to explore further by grouping the works of art digitally by material and by theme.

The Costume Institute’s Anna Wintour Costume Center
Opened May 8, 2014

The Costume Institute galleries reopened on May 8 as the Anna Wintour Costume Center after a two-year renovation, reconfiguration, and updating. The 4,200-square-foot main Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery features a flexible design that lends itself to frequent transformation, as well as a zonal sound system and innovative projection technology. The redesigned space also includes: the Carl and Iris Barrel Apfel Gallery, which orients visitors to The Costume Institute’s exhibitions and holdings; a state-of-the-art costume conservation laboratory; an expanded study/storage facility that houses the combined holdings of the Met and the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection (which was transferred to the Met in 2009); and The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library, one of the world’s foremost fashion libraries. The Costume Institute was last refurbished in 1992.

New European Paintings Galleries, 1250–1800
Opened May 23, 2013

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s galleries for its world-renowned collection of European Old Master paintings from the 13th through the early 19th century reopened in May 2013 after an extensive renovation and reinstallation. This was the first major renovation of the galleries since 1951 and the first major reinstallation of the collection since 1972. Gallery space has increased by almost one-third, making it possible to display more than 700 paintings from the collection and giving the entire floor of galleries a grandeur not seen in half a century. The reinstallation also captures historical crosscurrents between countries and contacts between artists by placing them in adjoining rooms. The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of early Netherlandish, Italian, and French paintings is wide-ranging and includes landmark pictures, while its collection of Dutch school paintings must be counted among the finest in the world. As for individual artists, the representation of Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Velázquez, Goya, and David is the strongest in the western hemisphere, and there are individual masterpieces known to every student of art history, such as Bruegel’s The Harvesters and David’s The Death of Socrates. Key works have been cleaned, conserved, or reframed, and important new loans complement the collection.

###
February 15, 2016


CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF UPCOMING AND CURRENT
EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS:

The Secret Life of Textiles: Plant Fibers
February 29–July 24, 2016


Crime Stories: Photography and Foul Play
March 7–July 31, 2016

Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible
March 18–September 4, 2016

Nasreen Mohamedi
March 18–June 5, 2016

Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World
April 18–July 17, 2016

The Roof Garden Commission: Cornelia Parker
April 19–October 30, 2016

Global by Design: Chinese Ceramics from the R. Albuquerque Collection
April 25–August 7, 2016

Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs
April 27–July 24, 2016

Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
May 5–August 14, 2016

Turner’s Whaling Pictures
May 10–August 7, 2016

diane arbus: in the beginning
July 12–November 27, 2016

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS

Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France
February 15–May 15, 2016

Transformed: Medieval Syrian and Iranian Art in the Early 20th Century
February 10–July 17, 2016

The Power of Prints: The Legacy of William M. Ivins and A. Hyatt Mayor
January 26–May 22, 2016

A New Look at a Van Eyck Masterpiece 
January 25–April 24, 2016

The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430-1540
January 20–April 17, 2016

Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay
January 8–April 11, 2016

Monkey Business: Celebrating the Year of the Monkey
January 8–July 24, 2016

Encountering Vishnu: The Lion Avatar in Indian Temple Drama
December 19, 2015–June 5, 2016

Artistic Furniture of The Gilded Age
In three parts, all opening December 15, 2015
• Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room (permanent installation): December 15, 2015
• George A. Schastey (special exhibition): December 15, 2015–May 1, 2016
• Herter Brothers and the William H. Vanderbilt House (gallery installation): December 15, 2015–January 31, 2017

Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style
November 19, 2015–February 21, 2016


The Luxury of Time: European Clocks and Watches
November 16, 2015–March 27, 2016 

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Collection
October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016

Design for Eternity: Architectural Models from the Ancient Americas
October 26, 2015–September 18, 2016 

Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection
October 20, 2015–January 22, 2017

Alex Katz at the Met
October 9, 2015–June 26, 2016

Reconstructions: Recent Photos and Videos from the Met Collection
September 21, 2015–March 13, 2016

New Discoveries: Early Liturgical Textiles from Egypt, 200–400
September 23, 2015–September 5, 2016 

Asian Art at 100: A History in Photographs
September 19, 2015–May 22, 2016  

The Aftermath of Conflict: Jo Ractliffe’s Photographs of Angola and South Africa
August 24, 2015–March 6, 2016 

Chinese Textiles: Ten Centuries of Masterpieces from the Met Collection
August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016 

Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th-18th Century
August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016 

A Passion for Jade: The Heber Bishop Collection
March 14, 2015–June 19, 2016

Korea: 100 Years of Collecting at the Met
February 7, 2015–March 27, 2016

Reimagining Modernism: 1900–1950 
Opened September 2014

Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawing #370
June 30, 2014–January 1, 2017

Fabergé from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection
November 22, 2011–November 27, 2016 

Image Captions: 

Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible: Alice Neel. James Hunter Black Draftee, 1965. Oil on canvas. COMMA Foundation, Belgium, © The Estate of Alice Neel, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London

Nasreen Mohamedi: Nasreen Mohamedi (Indian, 1937-1990). Untitled, ca. 1975. Ink and graphite on paper, 20 × 28 in. (50.8 × 71.1 cm). Sikander and Hydari Collection

Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World: Fragmentary Colossal Head of a Youth, Greek, Hellenistic Period, 2nd century B.C. Marble, H. 22 7/8 in. (58 cm). Berlin, Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (AvP VII 283)

Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology: Dress, Silicon feather structure and molding of bird heads on cotton base, Iris van Herpen (Dutch, born 1984), fall/winter 2013–14. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino

Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris). Self-portrait, 1790. Oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Corridoio Vasariano, Florence (1905)

Press resources