September has arrived, the tourists have flown home, and New Yorkers are ready to get back to what they do best: everything. Let the Met revive and inspire you this season as you prepare to dive back into post-vacation life. This month, the Museum presents six new special exhibitions, including a comprehensive survey of the Italian master painter Giorgio Morandi, as well as the invigorating "Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939". Be sure to see "Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe" and "J. M. W. Turner" before they close on September 21. Finally, join us as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage with several special events planned throughout September and into October.
See the calendar to find out what's happening at the Museum on a particular day.
Above: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, active by 1551, died 1569). The Harvesters, 1565. Oil on wood; Overall, including added strips at top, bottom, and right, 46 7/8 x 63 3/4 in. (119 x 162 cm); original painted surface 45 7/8 x 62 7/8 in. (116.5 x 159.5 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.164). See the Collection Database to learn more about this work of art.
Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960
Through October 19, 2008
This installation of works from the permanent collection—the second in the Museum’s new gallery for contemporary photographs—surveys the ways in which artists have directed the camera toward photography itself, taking aim at its claims of transparency and objectivity, its ubiquity in modern life, and its inextricable ties to advertising and consumer culture. Learn more about this exhibition.
Jeff Koons on the Roof
Through October 26, 2008 (weather permitting)
This installation of sculptures by Jeff Koons (American, b. 1955) features several of the artist’s meticulously crafted works set in the most dramatic outdoor space for sculpture in New York City: The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. Learn more about this exhibition.
Provocative Visions: Race and Identity
Through March 8, 2009
This installation features acquisitions made during the past sixteen years (1992–2007), many on view at the Museum for the first time. Learn more about this exhibition.
Early Buddhist Manuscript Painting: The Palm-Leaf Tradition
Through March 22, 2009
Thirty palm-leaf folios from the Museum's rare holdings of eastern Indian and Nepalese illuminated palm-leaf manuscripts, book-covers, initiation cards, thankas, and sculptures are currently on view, including some of the earliest surviving Indian illuminated manuscripts dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Learn more about this exhibition.
Special exhibitions are free with admission. See all current exhibitions.
Do you know the difference between a weed and a plant? Are you curious about the cotton thistle? Would you like to weigh in on medieval uses of plants and herbs? Visit The Medieval Garden Enclosed, the new blog hosted by the horticulturists and medievalists at The Cloisters to learn more about this treasure in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park. See what's in bloom today!
Image: Datura stramonium, The Cloisters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Each week, the Museum offers hundreds of events and programs that are free with Museum admission—including lectures, films, tours, family activities, and more. The following featured events are just a few of the free programs scheduled for September. See the calendar to plan your next visit.
Guided Tour
The Art of Dress/Costume Institute
Tuesday, September 9, 1:45 p.m.
Meet in the Great Hall
"The Art of Dress" is a cross-cultural guided tour that focuses on the way artists have used clothing to express identity and influence from the sixth century B.C. through the twentieth century.
Guided Tour
Modern Art
Tuesday, September 9, 3:00 p.m.
Meet in the Great Hall
This tour introduces visitors to the Museum's exceptional collection of modern art—including painting and sculpture—via works that represent the major stylistic movements of the twentieth century.
See the calendar to see more events listed by date.
Above: Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933). [Gallery Talk, Metropolitan Museum of Art], 1968. Gelatin silver print. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of the Hundredth Anniversary Committee, 1974 (1974.513.38). © Bruce Davidson, Magnum Photos. See the Collection Database to learn more about this artwork.
In addition to the regularly scheduled events and programs offered each month, the Met is pleased to announce the following free events that have been planned to celebrate Hispanic Heritage. Search the calendar for a complete list of all scheduled Hispanic Heritage events.
Films
Calatrava: God Does Not Throw Dice
Tuesday, September 16, and Thursday, September 18, 2:00 p.m.
Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education
Directed by Catherine Adda, this 1999 documentary explores the creative process of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (48 min.). Presented in Spanish with English subtitles.
Songs of the Homeland: History of Tejano Music
Tuesday, October 7, and Thursday, October 9, 2:00 p.m.
Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education
This 1996 documentary by director Hector Galán traces the evolution of Tejano music within the context of the history of Mexican Americans who settled in Texas (57 min.).
Gallery Talks
The Vélez Blanco Patio
Tuesday, September 16, 11:00 a.m.
Meet in the Great Hall
Inés Powell leads this discussion of the richly carved patio from the castle of Vélez Blanco, near Almería in Spain. This remarkable example of early sixteenth-century Spanish Renaissance architecture includes a balcony display of a small but stellar collection of Spanish sculpture and decorative arts.
Pre-Hispanic America: Art before Contact
Tuesday, September 23, 11:00 a.m.
Meet in the Great Hall
In this talk, Amy Silva explores the diversity of cultures in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans and discusses how the ancient American cultures of Mexico, Peru, and the Caribbean had their own distinctive ideas of art.
Above: Fernando Botero (Colombian, born 1932). Dancing in Colombia, 1980. Oil on canvas; 74 x 91 in. (188 x 231.1 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Anonymous Gift, 1983 (1983.251). See the Collection Database to learn more about this artwork.
See the calendar to see more events listed by date.
J. M. W. Turner
Through September 21, 2008
The first retrospective of the work of J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) presented in the United States in more than forty years, this international exhibition highlights approximately 140 paintings and watercolors—more than half of them from Tate Britain's Turner Bequest—along with works from other collections in Europe and North America. Learn more about this exhibition.
Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe
Through September 21, 2008
This is the most comprehensive exhibition to date on the tradition of hardstone carving (pietre dure) that developed in Italy in the sixteenth century and subsequently spread through Europe. Learn more about this exhibition.
Special exhibitions are free with admission. See all current exhibitions.
Open Late Fridays and Saturdays
Did you know that the main building of the Museum is open until 8:45 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings? Stop by for an after-work visit to the galleries, meet friends in the Balcony Bar for live classical music and a light snack, or venture out to The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden (weather permitting), where you can enjoy a refreshment while viewing the special exhibition "Jeff Koons on the Roof".
See Plan Your Visit for more information about Museum hours and admission.
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Image: Joseph H. Davis (1811–1865). Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Otis and Child (detail), 1834. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1972 (1972.263.6). See the Collection Database to learn more about this work of art.