Art
Why Irving Penn’s Portraits Are His Most Compelling Photographs
Irving Penn’s retrospective exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art traces his career in fashion and portrait photography from 1943 to 2008.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art
A World Unto Himself: The Mysterious Landscapes of Hercules Segers
Even in Segers’ early work, there is a sense of perversity, not with the Modernist goal to épater la bourgeoisie, but in a kind of damn-it-all, Mr. Toad behind-the-wheel sort of way, boop-booping and careering down the road for the sheer pleasure of it.
In Brief
Russian Artist Arrives Nude in Glass Box at Met Gala, Gets Arrested
The stunt was the latest in a series of guerrilla performances that Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich began in 2015.
In Brief
Metropolitan Museum May Start Charging Admission to Out-of-Towners
The museum is in talks with municipal officials about potentially charging tourists a mandatory admission fee.
Books
Marsden Hartley's Maine: His Own Private Germany
Besides examining in-depth both the early and late Maine periods, Marsden Hartley’s Maine includes a fine essay on materials and techniques, based on careful examination of a dozen works, which shows a surprising continuity in composition and methods across Hartley’s career.
Art
From the Feminine to the Infinite: Marisa Merz at Met Breuer
Married to a key member of the Arte Povera movement in Italy, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz’s recognition as an artist in her own right is long overdue, at least in the United States.
Art
Treasures from the Met Ascend to Its Roof in a Scramble of Art History
Adrián Villar Rojas has transformed the open-air space into a dystopian banquet hall where culture is the main meal, long-ago consumed.
In Brief
Fascinating Figures from the Metropolitan Museum’s Collection Data
An insightful report by FiveThirtyEight crunches the numbers on the Met's permanent collection holdings.
News
For the First Time, Metropolitan Museum Will Display Indigenous Art in Its American Wing
With a major promised gift of 91 works of Native American art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will now include indigenous art in its galleries on American art.
In Brief
The Mess at the Metropolitan Museum Gets Messier
The latest report on dysfunction at the Met reveals "an inappropriate relationship" between outgoing director Thomas P. Campbell and a staff member in the institution's digital department.
Art
Channeling Lygia Pape’s Radical Relationship to Space
To accompany its retrospective on Lygia Pape, the Met Breuer organized a reenactment of the artist's performance "Divisor," where up to 225 people parade the streets under a giant sheet.
Art
Paintings of New York at the Dawn of the Modern Age, Festering Sewers and All
In the 1870s, New York tinsmith William Chappel painted nearly 30 views of the city of his childhood, when peddlers hawked their wares, whale oil illuminated the night, and fresh water was a scarcity.