The Arts in NYC Fall 2012

On Tuesday September 25th I visited, for the umpteenth time, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My goal in going to the Met was to visit the new Andy Warhol exhibit but I ended up getting lost. By the time it occurred to me that I could ask someone for directions, I had already gone through two exhibits and was too tired to go to anymore so here’s the story of my day at the museum and the failed visit to see Mr. Warhol’s artwork.

I woke up Tuesday way to early for my liking and decided to go to the Whitney Museum. I was really excited until I went online and found out that it was closedddd!! on Tuesdays. I had myself a little fit then, but a few foot stomps and pillow punches later I got over myself and decided to be an adult and look up a different place to go. Luckily, the Met was not closed on Tuesdays and just opened a new exhibit that also just so happened to be of Andy Warhol’s work. What better replacement could I get right? Thus I set off for the Met.

When I arrived, there were already swarms of people inside the museum although it was only 11 AM. I quickly rushed to the line to get my little ticket tag thingy in order to escape the swarms of people there and within 10 minutes (record time) I was standing in the Egyptian art section. When I was walking through the exhibit I realized that I never really  noticed the things there before. Although I have been to this exhibit countless times, each and every object was still new to me. When I realized this I tried to really take in the things I was seeing. I really enjoyed seeing all the different crafts made by people long gone. The level of detail made me jealous of the hands that made them and also jealous of the people that owned the items. There were boxes, chairs, jewelry and models of boats and figurines that people had in their tombs. I especially enjoyed looking at the figurines in that section of the exhibit because more so than a picture or painting, It captures motion and I am able to view the art from several different angles. A model of an ancient Egyptian home was my favorite because it reminded me of toys that I used to play with. The people were portrayed and restored very well and it was nice.

After looking at the figurines I walked into the Sackler Wing aka the Temple of Dendur room. It’s always really cool to walk into this room in particular because there’s a different mood created by the window and though it isn’t a very healthy smell, the smell of the water and I’m guessing mold makes the room smell like something old and something in the past.

The room with the Temple of Dendur lead directly to the American Wing which is my favorite section in the Met. I love going through the period rooms and imagining the style of living people had in the past. I know that most or all of the things on display were owned by the rich but I can’t help but let the inner romantic in me dream that all people lived like that. I went through all the period rooms and found a new section next to the Frank Lloyd Wright room. This new exhibit showed the works of Louis Tiffany, one of the sons of the Tiffany & Co. Jewelers. He designed the famous Tiffany lamps and also many different kinds of furniture and interior decoration. Tiffany’s work mainly used semi-precious stone as opposed to his family company who used precious stone to make jewelry. He was inspired by nature and when designing accessories preferred to incorporate wildflowers as opposed to more mainstream and expensive flowers. He also made different wall panels and fountains for the buildings of different large corporations that were very intricate and also made with semi-precious stone.

Also part of the new section in the American Wing were pieces exhibited in the World fair held in New York in the 1800s. Of the pieces the most Magnificent and over the top piece was a square grand piano who’s keys were made of mother of pearl and Tortoise shells and who’s woodwork was extremely detailed. I was really attracted to this piano because it was pretty and also because the sheer amount of expensive materials used to make the piano could really let me picture how much the maker wanted to show it off. It was funny to think of how hard the maker tried to show off his wealth. I definitely would have loved to be able to hear how it sounded but unfortunately museum objects are not for the public to touch. T.T

After finishing the American Wing, I had already spent three hours in the Museum. I was getting tired and wanted to go looking for the Andy Warhol Exhibit but I got lost in the musical instruments section and ended up walking through the European art section somehow and just completely missing the exhibit I wanted to see.

I was dissapointed but after about an hour of wandering through the museum I gave up and made do with seeing the Cloud city Exhibit on the roof. It was a lot different than what I had expected. I didn’t realize that the exhibit was made of mirrors and metal and as opposed to a light and airy feel the project itself was very imposing. It was funny to see though, a sign that recognized Mayor Bloomberg’s contribution to the  art and it was even funnier to see that his name was blown up and bolded. When I saw that I felt a little embarrassed for him because it was so, for want of a better word, flashy.

All in all, the museum was fun although I am dissapointed with myself for not searching harder for that Andy Warhol exhibit. The things I saw made me realize how much people like to show off and although, I’m guessing, people might have thought these patrons of the arts a little annoying back in the day, I’m thankful because without their efforts I wouldn’t have seen such wonderful things in my time.

~Jackie L.