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In the late 1930s, Rudy Burckhardt—then a recent émigré to America from Switzerland—photographed his adopted hometown of New York City, and immediately made some of the most lyrical, witty, and poetic images of the city ever created. New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, 1937–1940, opening September 23 at the Metropolitan Museum, will present in its entirety Burckhardt's unique, handmade album of 67 classic images of sidewalks, outdoor advertising, and pedestrians, selected and sequenced by Burckhardt in 1940 and acquired by the Museum in 1972.
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Thirteen works by seven contemporary African-American artists – Chakaia Booker, Willie Cole, Glenn Ligon, Whitfield Lovell, Alison Saar, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker – are featured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Provocative Visions: Race and Identity – Selections from the Permanent Collection. The installation, which opened August 19, examines the ways these artists challenge accepted perceptions and assumptions about race, gender, and identity. Cultural heritage and personal history provide a context for these images. All of the sculptures, prints, and drawings were acquired during the past 13 years, within a year or two of their creation – supported in large part by gifts from the Peter Norton Family Foundation and the Hortense and William A. Mohr Sculpture Purchase Fund. Most works are on display at the Metropolitan Museum for the first time.
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The porcelain factories of Berlin, Sèvres, and Vienna achieved a remarkable level of artistic and technical skill in the first half of the 19th century, and the quality of painted decoration practiced at these three factories at this time has never been surpassed. Approximately 75 extraordinary examples from these three European porcelain manufactories will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning September 16, 2008, in the exhibition Royal Porcelain from the Twinight Collection, 1800-1850. The exhibition will illustrate the exchange of ideas and styles among the factories that resulted in some of the most splendid porcelain ever produced.
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The paintings of Wang Hui, the most celebrated artist of late 17th-century China, will be featured in an exhibition opening on September 9 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717) will trace Wang's artistic development – from his early years as a brilliant reinterpreter of classic landscape styles to the pinnacle of his career, when he was chosen to illustrate the Kangxi Emperor's epic 1689 inspection tour of China's cultural heartland – through 27 paintings drawn from the Taipei and Beijing Palace Museums, Shanghai Museum, and several North American collections. The presentation of Wang Hui's career will incorporate 11 works that have never before been exhibited in the West, including two enormous panoramic landscape handscrolls. Wang's paintings will be complemented by a selection of earlier landscapes, drawn largely from the Metropolitan Museum's holdings, that will highlight the sources of Wang Hui's inspiration.
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An installation of 30 palm-leaf folios from Indian illuminated manuscripts will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on July 29, 2008. Featuring some of the earliest surviving Indian manuscripts, dating from the 10th to the 13th century, Early Buddhist Manuscript Painting: The Palm-leaf Tradition will center on one remarkable Mahayanist Buddhist text, the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra ('Perfection of Wisdom'), illustrated through the Museum's rare holdings of eastern Indian and Nepalese illuminated palm-leaf manuscripts, book-covers, initiation cards, thankas, and sculptures.
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The Italian term pietre dure – literally meaning "hard stones" – refers to the artistic cutting of semiprecious stones, such as agate, lapis lazuli, and other colorful hardstones, to fashion extravagant luxury objects, from architectural ornament and furniture to ornate display items and personal jewelry. Opening July 1 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the landmark exhibition Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe will feature more than 170 masterpieces in carved stone, many of them embellished with gold and silver mounts or decorated with exotic woods and other coveted materials. From the Renaissance to the early 19th century, the affluent societies of Europe were mesmerized by works in pietre dure, both as diplomatic gifts and as objects of desire. The presentation at the Metropolitan will offer the most comprehensive overview ever dedicated to this magnificent medium.
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The first major retrospective of the work of celebrated British artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) to be presented in the United States in more than 40 years will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art beginning July 1, 2008. The exhibition J. M. W. Turner will represent the artist's extensive iconographic range, from seascapes and topographical views to historical subjects and scenes from his imagination. More than half of the approximately 140 paintings and watercolors on view will be on loan from Tate Britain, which houses the Turner Bequest, the most comprehensive collection of the artist's work in the world. These will be complemented by works from other collections in Europe and North America.
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A new installation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Krishna: Mythology and Worship – celebrates the Hindu god Krishna, perhaps the most popular of all the appearances (avatars) of the Indian Hindu deity Vishnu. The installation of 23 painting, textiles, and sculptures from the Museum's collection will be on view in the Museum's Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries for the Arts of South and Southeast Asia through July 28, 2008. Most of the paintings on display are manuscript pages produced in Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills, illustrating popular events from Krishna's life. The textiles were employed to enhance shrines devoted to Krishna.
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Landscape painting in America reached its high point in the mid-19th century, peaking around the time of the Civil War. Nine important American landscape paintings, ranging in date from 1836 to about 1897, will be on view beginning May 20, 2008, in the Museum's Robert Lehman Wing, while The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Paintings and Sculpture Galleries undergo renovation. The paintings will return to view in the American Wing when its galleries reopen in winter 2010-11.
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AsAs superheroes enjoy a surge in mass popularity, The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the symbolic and metaphorical associations between these fictional characters and fashion in Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, an exhibition at the Museum from May 7 through September 1, 2008. The exhibition features approximately 60 ensembles including movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear to reveal how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body.