Discover how curators acquire and display art, and organize exhibitions
(New York, February 27, 2007) Beginning March 14, the work of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's stellar curatorial staff will be highlighted in a special, two-year series of lectures that will be offered to the public in the Museum's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The first four programs – devoted to Egyptian art, European sculpture and decorative arts, arms and armor, and Asian art – will take place this spring.
"What we display at the Museum is the result of diligent, careful, and informed selection and the exercise of rigorous scholarship and connoisseurship on the part of our curators, who comprise the largest art-history faculty in the New World," stated Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan. "This season we are pleased to launch An Inside Look: Treasures of the Metropolitan Museum, a two-year project that will introduce and explain each of the Metropolitan's 18 curatorial departments. Curators will present the most outstanding works in the collection and discuss how and when each of the Museum's curatorial departments came into being, how special exhibitions are organized, and what long-range plans are contemplated."
The inaugural spring 2007 programs in the series are:
Egyptian Art, presented by Dorothea Arnold, Lila Acheson Wallace Chairman; Marsha Hill and Catharine Roehrig, Curators; Adela Oppenheim and Diana Craig Patch, Assistant Curators; and Ann Heywood, Conservator, Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation. Established in 1906, the department has been enriched by objects from controlled archaeological contexts as well as from private collections, and its holdings rank today among the foremost in the world.
(Wednesday, March 14, at 6 p.m., $22)
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, presented by Ian Wardropper, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Chairman; Thomas Campbell and Daniëlle O. Kisluk-Grosheide, Curators; and Jeffrey Munger, Associate Curator. Established in 1907, this department has grown to become one of the most important of its kind in the world, displaying highlights of its 60,000 objects in 60 galleries.
(Wednesday, March 21, at 6 p.m., $22)
Arms and Armor, with Stuart W. Pyhrr, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Curator in Charge, and Donald J. LaRocca, Curator. A favorite among generations of children since its establishment in 1912, the department is unique among American art museums. Its encyclopedic collection encompasses more than 14,000 European, Asian, Islamic, and North American objects.
This lecture is supported by The Giorgio S. Sacerdote Fund.
(Wednesday, March 28, at 6 p.m., $22)
Asian Art, with James Watt, Brooke Russell Astor Chairman; Denise Patry Leidy, Curator; and Kurt Behrendt, Assistant Curator. A brief introduction to the department from its inception in 1915 to the completion in 1998 of its permanent galleries, which now house a comprehensive display of the arts of every part of Asia. The narratives will touch upon some of the masterworks of Asian art at the Metropolitan as well as celebrate the contributions of the curators and collectors who built the collection.
(Wednesday, April 11, at 6 p.m., $22)
For current listings, visit Concerts & Lectures on the Metropolitan Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org). For a spring brochure, or to place an order, call (212) 570-3949, Sun., noon-4:30 p.m., and Mon.-Sat., 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; or send a fax to (212) 650-2253 at any time.
Tickets are also available at the ticket kiosk in the Museum's Great Hall, which is open Tues.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m., and Sunday noon-4:30 p.m.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: For interviews or for additional information for coverage, please contact Naomi Takafuchi (212-650-2130, naomi.takafuchi@metmuseum.org) or Ann Matson (212-650-2131, ann.matson@metmuseum.org).
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February 27, 2007
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