Exploring the Met

While I did visit a couple of museums while I was in New York, the one that I found most interesting was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, aka the Met. It was particularly fascinating to me due to the wide range of pieces within it. 

On one hand, the Egyptian exhibit was uncomfortable, especially due to the modern-day understanding that many of the pieces on display likely were looted or stolen away from the rightful owners. Walking through that section and seeing mummies on display with the understanding that they are corpses that were taken from their final places of rest feels very wrong to me, and that discomfort of knowing that the artifacts were very likely not ethically obtained made the section more uncomfortable. That said, in researching this situation with the Met, I found an article by the New York Times that specifically addressed the situation that the museum was dealing with when it comes to stolen and looted art, referring to an announcement sent out by the museum only a day after we arrived in NYC that they are looking into those concerns and appointing an individual to a position to investigate these concerns. 

From the Egyptian exhibit, I made my way to the rooftop terrace, where I was able to get a beautiful view of the city and collect my bearings to see where I wanted to go next. From there, I made my way downstairs and through the modern art exhibit, allowing myself to wander around and see what pieces were on display and considering how the way we see art has changed over time. I made my way into a display by Egyptian artist Maha Maamoun that contained 2 videos and 4 photos, tucked out of the form of a lot of other modern art in the collection. The film “2026” was the only one that I was able to watch before I felt that I should move along, but it was nice to be able to sit in the dark away from everything else for a moment. 

After my excursion into the modern art section, I made my way through the European Sculptures and Decorative Arts wing, where I was able to see many types of furniture and intricate decorative items from across centuries. I then made my way to the American wing, making a beeline first to the Native American section. Though the section was significantly smaller than the rest, I took time to enjoy the beadwork on display, then made my way through the American Wing. There, I saw more furniture and decorative items before eventually seeing a beautiful painting by Childe Hassam: “The Water Garden.”

A
“The Water Garden” Childe Hassam (1909)

In line with other impressionist and post-impressionist paintings of the time, this piece makes use of color and unique painting techniques with short brush strokes. Reminiscent of Van Gogh and Monet, Hassam’s work was the one that I felt most drawn to and was one of the last works I saw before I went downstairs to get some food. I ate at the Eatery, then traveled back through the Egypt exhibit to go to the gift store and head back to the hostel for the day.