An Eclectic Mix at the Met; Review 2
As a student in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is far from being an unfamiliar place. The iconic institution is an A-Class favorite for students, teachers, and art fans from around the world. However, as strong as the desire to survey the entire museum may be, it is unlikely that even the most devoted art connoisseur could manage the Met’s gigantic and highly impressive collection. Which are why, after a trek and a picnic in the neighboring Central Park, the two attractions that I wandered upon stood out to me as almost opposites in the Met collection spectrum. On one hand, the Met holds classics like the pieces found in the Robert Lehman Collection, a popular gallery with gallery talks led by eccentric old ladies nearly three times a day, and on the other hand, there are more contemporary gems like Depth of Field gallery featuring a much smaller, but equally as significant, collection of modern photography. This eclectic clash is really what makes the Met a unique place and while I can say I have my votes for what I consider art, both collections offered me a new insight to the subject.
Right off the bat, I will say that I am a great admirer of modern art versus the seemingly more rigid forms of traditional art and as a friend dragged me along for a tour of what I knew to be “boring” Renaissance and Impressionist art, I will be entirely honest saying that I was far from excited. Obviously, I was proved wrong. Not only was the tour itself a relatively new and enjoyable experience, but the art as well had its own characteristics that seemed to capture even the most uninterested viewer. Gallery talks in the Met are given by volunteers and our guide for the day was an excited elderly woman named Phyllis who led us through the almost 800 piece collection of the Robert Lehman Collection. Unfortunately the upper levels of the gallery were closed until 2008 for renovation and we were unable to enjoy the pieces in the splendor the donator intended them to be – set against the backdrop of his country home. Nevertheless, the experience was altogether eye opening as the group perused several centuries worth of art in under an hour. My personal favorite, as well as the favorite of many others in the group, judging by their gasps of exclamation, was a large painting entitled the Princesse of Broglie by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. I may have a favor for art with a more simplistic feel, but nothing can deny the absolute stunning effect of this painting. The intricate detail paid to both the portrait and the still life, the usage of light so that the subject glows and stand illuminated and the skill that the artist must have possessed to create something that from far away seemed like a photograph.
Coincidentally, the gallery that I was most excited to view even before the Lehman tour, was entitled Depth of Field: Modern Photography at the Metropolitan. The irony was astounding. I was completely blown away by “traditional” art that I had never taken a liking too and was still feeling the effects of the aftershock as I walked into the much smaller collection of modern photographs. I’m pleased to say that both galleries were absolutely fantastic. Perhaps it is because I’ve always had an interest in photography and with my love for modern simplicity, the poignant nature of most of the photographs provided me one of the moments in movies between a viewer and a piece of art. While the talent and physical skill of the art in the Lehman collection blew me away, I was just as taken aback by the innovative thinking that was put into each of the photographs. My favorite piece was the large blown up photograph entitled, Untitled by Sharon Lockhart. While there were many more that came in a close second (and many more I simply wanted to take home), this one piece in particular reached out to me. For me, this piece represented the age-old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Although the subject in the photograph is a model and placed where the photographer asked, I can’t help but feel as if the photograph is a capture from a movie and both the subject’s expression and his environment seem to want to tell more and say more than what can be expressed. Added to this effect, the photograph itself is almost wall sized, overwhelming the viewer and immersing one inside the photograph itself. Truly, an amazing piece.
While I never intended it to be, my casual trip to the Met’s galleries ended up as juxtapositions and compliments to each other. The traditional paintings of classical art contain so much talent and skill that when compared modern art, completely overshadows it. Then again, actual photographs manage to hold their stand over paintings that simply look like photographs. Both, on seemingly opposite sides of the spectrum that is “visual art,” inspires in its own way and while I tended to favor one over the other at the beginning, both had an amazingly profound effect on me.
