Artist Laura McPhee reflects on Pieter Bruegel the Elder's _The Harvesters_ in this episode of The Artist Project.

Curator Constance C. McPhee explores a collection of lithographs John Singer Sargent produced in 1895.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, Curator Constance C. McPhee takes a look at several works now on display in the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery that reflect on the Bard and his writing.

"He believed he saw angels and his art was supposed to convey some of that experience."

From Leonardo's drawings of grotesque heads to contemporary prints lampooning American politicians, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a vast but largely known collection of caricatures and other satirical works. This handsome book offers 165 examples, dating from about 1500 to the present, that reflect the age-old tradition of using exaggeration and humor to convey personal, social, or political meaning. The selection of images is notably broad, ranging from the elevated to the rudely humorous: renowned writers and decidedly unhygienic cooks; elegantly dressed noblemen and victims of outrageous fashion fads; Napoleon as a tidy Lilliputian and Boss Tweed as a bloated Roman Emperor. Stressing the continuity of certain artistic approaches,Infinite Jesttraces the development of the genre across centuries and cultures. The essential visual components of caricature are discussed and illustrated, as are recurring motifs, including exaggerated faces and bodies, people depicted as animals or objects, and processions of bizarre figures. One section is devoted to social satire (eating and drinking, gambling, fashion, several of the Seven Deadly Sins), another to various aspects of political life (British, French, Mexican, and American). Artists as diverse as Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, William Hogarth, Francisco de Goya, Thomas Rowlandson, Eugène Delacroix, Honoré Daumier, and Al Hirschfeld contribute their distinctive talents to this fascinating, informative, and very amusing volume.

“At first glance, this Irving Penn photo looks like it could be its own tarot card.”

Humor and museums are not often linked. We can be informative, inspiring, even entertaining. But funny? Perhaps not as often as we should be.

Museum Librarian for Preservation Mindell Dubansky recounts a recent symposium on American publishers' bindings hosted by The Met.

Nancy Mandel, manager for library administration, discusses a Watson Library book currently on display in the exhibition The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy: British Art and Design.

2013

 

"He believed he saw angels and his art was supposed to convey some of that experience."

 

82nd & Fifth invites 100 curators from across the Museum to talk about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world.