The MET | New York City

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, better known as THE MET, is located in New York City and is one of the largest art museum in the United States. It is also among the most visited art museums in the world. The collections consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. I knew I had to visit this place and check out all the amazing paintings of my favorite artists. Here are a few of them.

The MET|Picasso

The Met is full of Picasso paintings. These are some of my favorites. I love his work because it’s it seems kind of distorted in a way. The shapes seem like they form their own stories. It has this mystery behind it.

Picasso’s La Coiffure (1906), on the left, caught my eye for one particular reason.  It lacked the erotism that the rest of his work has. He turned this one into a variation of the Holy family which echoes Leonardo’s Virgin and Saint Anne. I took a look at the little museum label and it said Picasso painted this composition on a used canvas three times. So he finished 3 paintings on this canvas and then painted this final one on top. This got me by surprise because just by looking at the painting, one would have no idea that this was the case.

Monet

The Met has a collections of the greatest paintings. Monet is easily recognizable by his calm and relaxing almost dream like paintings. Whenever I see one of his works I just feel relaxed and at ease. One of my favorite ones is called Water Lilies (1919)

Artistic Nudes

Some people might criticize artistic nudes but I think the body is a work of art itself so I like to see how different artist portray it. Each artist has a different interpretation of the body. While nudes might be considered sexual, some show deep emotions such as sadness, passion or depression.

This one below is by Gustave Courbet called Woman with a Parrot (1866). Courbet received lots of criticism for this one. Critics said it “lacked taste” and didn’t like the woman’s “ungainly” pose and “disheveled hair”. Yet the provocative picture was appreciated by a younger generation of artist who favored Courbet’s disregard for academic standards. What a little rebel Courbet was. lol This was my favorite painting so I totally agree with the artist. I am still trying to figure out what is the meaning behind the parrot. This painting was later mimicked and used as inspiration by Cezanne and Manet.

Paul Delvaux, The Great Sirens (1947)

This one here really caught my attention. As you all know I love the beach and anything that involves it. I couldn’t stop starring at this painting because I was curious to know what’s going on. Why are they naked just sitting there? The painting is ambiguous in meaning but it evokes enduring themes of love and errotic fantasy.

Pierre Auguste Cot, Springtime (1873)

One look at this painting and all I thought was “LOVE” I love the childlike playfulness of the two people.

I hope you enjoyed my “The Met” recap. Here is their site www.metmuseum.org. If you love Modern Art take a look at my blogpost: The Crazy Minds of the Artists.