The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Asian Art Wing)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses one of the most extensive art collections in the world. At the Met, one can find anything from Ancient Egyptian art to European art to Modern American art. There are nineteen separate departments in the museum that include: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Greek and Roman Art, The Robert Lehman Collection, etc. Having such a widespread collection, the Met draws in quite a big crowd on any given day.
Some of the more popular collections at the museum are the Egyptian arts, Temple of Dendur, Greek and Roman Art, and Modern Art. Sometimes, the hordes of people at certain areas can be overwhelming. If you want to enjoy the art at a more subdued, quiet place, head up to the second floor Asian art wing. Specifically, the Astor Court is a calm space that transports you to another world. The court is modeled on an actual Ming dynasty scholar’s courtyard in Suzhou. The courtyard’s openings, skylights, and traditional, flaring rooftops expand the space and provide a lot of light to create a peaceful environment. The limestone rock formations, bamboos, and pond add to the atmosphere.
The court leads to a reconstructed Ming room that contains the museums’ collection of traditional Chinese hardwood furniture. There are sandalwood armchairs, wood chests, wardrobe, couch tables, instruments, and roof beams. Have a seat beside the windows and you can see the garden through the wood screens. You will truly feel like you are in another dimension; you are no longer in the hustle and bustle of New York City.
The Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries of Chinese Decorative Arts is also away from the bustle. The arts in this gallery and the environment (low lighting, soothing music, etc) itself ask for a more leisurely, contemplative viewing. Wall scrolls of natural scenery of rivers and mountains were a huge part of the collection. Looking at these scrolls, some with calligraphies of poems, makes you think of the stories behind them. If you cannot read or understand the calligraphy, you only have your own imagination to come up with what the painting is about. In doing so, you enter the worlds of your stories.
There were other more colorful items that can also induce you to come up with more tales. Tales that include all sorts of characters; characters who each wore elaborate costumes; scholars and generals in their gold robe who must be really mean to the ones in blue since they are more powerful; the queen with all her ornaments and feathers on her elaborate headdress; the princesses with their lavish silk tops adorned with stitched dragons and phoenixes; the peasants with their minimally decorated tops.
The Metropolitan Museum’s Asian Art wing is almost a museum in and of itself. Furthermore, while you are enjoying the art, you seem to be transfer to a whole another reality altogether. All the elements of peace, authenticity, and storytelling coming together to provide you with a truly unique experience.