(New York, January 10, 2007) – The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be open to the public on two upcoming holiday Mondays – January 15 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and February 19 (Presidents' Day) – as the latest in its popular "Holiday Monday" programs. The Museum will also open the doors of its main building on May 28 (Memorial Day), July 2 (Independence Day Holiday), September 3 (Labor Day), and October 8 (Columbus Day).
"More than 200,000 people have visited the Museum on a Met Holiday Monday in the three years since the program was inaugurated, and we have been gratified by their positive and enthusiastic response," commented Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum. "Met Holiday Mondays add seven extra viewing days to the year and, in turn, these represent seven additional opportunities to visit the Met and enjoy our outstanding permanent collection as well as our roster of superb special exhibitions. We look forward to another year of welcoming the public to experience great art."
Among the exhibitions on view during the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend are: Among the exhibitions on view during the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend are: Americans in Paris, 1860-1900, a display of some 100 paintings by 37 American painters who either studied in Paris or showed their work there in the late 19th century – including paintings both of and by the noted African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (closing January 28); Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s, some 100 portraits of people from all segments of society in the glittering yet doomed Weimar Republic (on view until February 19); Sean Scully: Wall of Light, a presentation of recent paintings, watercolors, pastels, and aquatints inspired by the play of light and shadow on ancient stone walls in Mexico (final day); Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture, works in stone, metal, and wood that show the compelling power and diversity of the human face (on view until February 19); Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall—An Artist's Country Estate, a landmark presentation of plans, paintings, furnishings, furniture, and architectural fragments from the designer's lavish home in Oyster Bay, New York, which tragically burned to the ground in the 1957 (on view until May 20); and Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf, an exhibition of sculpture from New Guinea and photographs that show these works in context (on view until September 3).
The Metropolitan's public cafeteria, Petrie Court Café, and American Wing Café will also be open, in addition to several of the Museum's gift shops in the main building.
Family greeters will be present in the Museum's Great Hall to direct visitors to areas of particular interest. A schedule of family activities planned for each Holiday Monday is available on the Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org).
A different selection of galleries and exhibitions will be open each Holiday Monday.
Information about the Metropolitan Museum and the exhibitions on view is available at www.metmuseum.org. Audio podcasts for selected exhibitions are available at www.metmuseum.org/podcast, including a new podcast in conjunction with Americans in Paris – recollections of studying and working in Paris around the turn of the century by the first African-American artist to achieve international acclaim, Henry Ossawa Tanner (read by actor Charles Turner).
Met Holiday Mondays are sponsored by Bloomberg.
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