Pride Month begins now! #DidYouKnow The Met is an LGBTQ historic site?
On April 13, 1970, the first public “zap” by the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was held in front of the museum during its 100th anniversary celebration, launching a series of zaps over the next year protesting Mayor John V. Lindsay’s refusal to take a public stance on gay rights issues.
As a place of protest and as the steward of works by LGBTQ artists, The Met is rich with LGBTQ history. This month, @metmuseum is partnering with the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project (@nyclgbtsites) to explore connections between works in the galleries and historic sites across New York City that celebrate the lives and legacies of history-making artists.
Join us live on Instagram throughout June for dynamic conversations on the life and work of:
Keith Haring—Wednesday, June 1, 11 am ET
Peter Hujar and David Wojnarowicz—Friday, June 10, 12:30 pm ET
Berenice Abbott—Wednesday, June 15, 10 am ET
Martin Wong—Wednesday, June 22, 12 pm ET
Richmond Barthé—Wednesday, June 29, 12 pm ET
Learn more about The Met and other LGBTQ historic sites in New York at nyclgbtsites.org. #PrideMonth
📸 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, spring 1970.
📸 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, spring 2022.
When you start to pay attention to everyday materials, what can they reveal about the world around us?
Introducing Immaterial—a new podcast from The Met that gets up close and personal with artists’ materials to see what they can tell us about art, history, and humanity, hosted by poet @camilledungy.
First up: paper 📃
It’s thin, it’s light, we may even think of it as fragile, but if it’s kept in the right conditions, it’s strong enough to last for millennia—even if it was never meant to.
Tune in as a writer, a conservator, a historian, and a Met curator reflect on #ephemera and what drives us to hold onto paper, from valentines to comic books to baseball cards.
🎧 Tap the link in bio to listen and subscribe on @applepodcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. #MetImmaterial
Happy unofficial start to summer ☀️ Hope yours was a day at the beach (literally or figuratively), perhaps akin to this 1860s James Hamilton painting.
The painter was among several American landscape artists who garnered the honorific “American Turner” after the visionary British artist #JMWTurner, whose influence is apparent in this otherworldly scene based probably on the Jersey shore at Atlantic City, which Hamilton began visiting in the 1860s.
🎨 James Hamilton (American, born Ireland, 1819–1878). Beach Scene, ca. 1865. Watercolor and gouache on off-white wove paper. @metamericanwing#MemorialDay
Spending the weekend out and about? Fabulous.
Staying inside lounging as you and your cat go in and out of nap mode? Purr-fect.
If you're going for the latter, allow us to suggest an addition to your browsing—our Meow Mix Google Chrome extension serves up a different cat in The Met collection each time you open a new window on your desktop. (Yes! Real. Link in bio.)
However you're spending your time, we wish you a nice and cozy #Caturday. 🐱
🎨 Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japanese, 1839–1892). Teasing the Cat, 1888. Meiji period (1868–1912). Woodblock print; ink and color on paper.
On the eve of #MemorialDay weekend, we’re taking a look inside the James Van Der Zee Archive at some of the photographs the New York artist made of service members in uniform.
For some 70 years, generations of sailors, soldiers, and airmen found their way to the photographer’s studio in Harlem to proudly pose for their likenesses on their way to and from their posts abroad and across the U.S.
This past winter, The Met and the Studio Museum announced the James Van Der Zee Archive—a landmark collaborative initiative to research, conserve, and provide public access to the work of world-renowned photographer James Van Der Zee.
For the last several months, we’ve been exploring some of the people, places, and things Van Der Zee captured on film. Scroll through @metmuseum and @studiomuseum to see more photos.
Do you have photos of friends or family (or yourself) who served? Add yours in our Stories. #VanDerZeeArchive
📸 Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army Air Force, 1944
📸 Seaman First Class, U.S. Navy, 1950s
📸 Armed Services Member, Smoking, 1944
📸 Private, 45th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, 1951–54
📸 Armed Services Member, Standing, 1940s–50s
📸 Private, U.S. Army Air Force, 1948
📸 Corporal, U.S. Army, Standing, 1953
📸 Soldier in U.S. Army Sweater and Cap, 1946
📸 Armed Services Member in Leather Jacket, 1946
📸 Corporal, U.S. Army, Standing, 1933
Depicting an adult male figure perching precariously but gracefully atop a simple box, #CharlesRay’s towering “Archangel” was conceived for an exhibition in Paris.
Shocked by terrorist attacks like the one that occurred in the offices of Charlie Hebdo in 2015, Ray envisioned the archangel Gabriel—a guardian figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—alighting onto unstable ground. This initial inspiration was subsequently filtered through what the artist has called a “tangled heap” of personal and cultural references, including “illustrations from primary-school catechism textbooks.”
The sculpture was carved from Japanese cypress (hinoki) in Osaka by expert woodworker Yuboku Mukoyoshi and his apprentices using a block of laminated timbers. Like much of Ray’s work, “Archangel” crisscrosses the historical and art historical timeline.
While the figure’s exposed torso and outstretched arms evoke a Christian crucifixion scene, his rolled-up pants, flip-flops, and man bun identify him with the contemporary moment.
See “Archangel” and more works by Ray in “Charles Ray: Figure Ground" before it closes June 5. Tap the link in bio to learn more. #MetCharlesRay
🎨 Charles Ray (American, born 1953). Archangel, 2021. Cypress. Collection of the artist, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. @metmodern
And in this corner....Chuk! *crowd goes wild aaaaaa*
#Pehlwani, a form of wrestling popular in South Asia, was developed during the Mughal Empire by combining centuries-old grappling traditions with Persian wrestling practice.
This is Chuk—identified via nasta'liq script in the lower left. Chuk the Wrestler wears a loin cloth (langota) in the manner typical of Indian wrestlers.
Although some of the lines in the lower part of the drawing appear to have been strengthened by a later hand (notice they appear a bit bolder?), a fine brush is particularly visible on the wrestler’s aquiline nose, stubble, and tuft of hair at the crown of his head.
🎨 Unknown artist. Portrait of Chuk the Wrestler, ca. 1660–1675. India. Ink, translucent watercolor, and gold on paper. #WorldWrestlingDay@metislamicart
"I have touched with a sense of art some people—they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?"
— Mary Cassatt
Happy birthday to the convention-breaking American painter and printmaker #MaryCassatt, born May 22, 1844. (That's her in the first image—her self-portrait painted in 1878.)
Tap the link in bio to see more works by Cassatt in The Met collection. Which one speaks most to you?
🎨 Portrait of the Artist, 1878. Watercolor, gouache on wove paper laid down to buff-colored wood-pulp paper.
🎨 Denise at Her Dressing Table, ca. 1908–9. Oil on canvas. On view in Gallery 774.
🎨 Spring: Margot Standing in a Garden (Fillette dans un jardin), 1900. Oil on canvas. On view in Gallery 774.
✍️ Woman Bathing (La Toilette), 1890–91. Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fourth state of four (Mathews & Shapiro).
🎨 Young Mother Sewing, 1900. Oil on canvas. On view in Gallery 768.
✍️ The Parrot, 1891. Drypoint; fourth state of seven.
🎨 Mother and Child with a Rose Scarf, ca. 1908. Oil on canvas.
✍️ The Letter, 1890–91. Medium: Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fourth state of four.
🎨 Lilacs in a Window (Vase de Lilas a la Fenetre), ca. 1880–83. Oil on canvas. On view in Gallery 774.
All works by Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926)
@metamericanwing
@metdrawingsandprints
#WinslowHomer chronicled some of the most turbulent and transformative decades of American history.
What can we learn when we explore his work through the lens of conflict—and in the broader context of the Atlantic world?
Journey through "Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents" virtually with Met curators Stephanie Herdrich and Sylvia Yount as your guides—or visit in-person through July 31. #MetWinslowHomer@metamericanwing
They came, they saw, they took over The Met! 💥💥💥 #TeensTakeTheMet
A huge thank you to all who joined us tonight—from the nearly 40 cultural and community partners to the hundreds of teens who filled the Museum with their energy, creativity, and curiosity on a rainy spring evening.
Special thanks to NYC Cultural Affairs Commissioner—and former Met high school intern!—@cmlauriecumbo for stopping by.
If you’re a teen who dropped in, don’t be a stranger! Stay connected with programs, internships, events, and more all year long. 🎯 Follow @metteens for more.
TEENS! TONIGHT! TEENS! TONIGHT!
Doors open at 5 pm for #TeensTakeTheMet 💥 Grab your friends and head on down for free teen-only activities across the Museum including art making, performances, music, and more with nearly 40 NYC cultural and community organizations.
Follow @metteens for more. See you there! 🎯🎯🎯