Day 2 – 11/28/10: Modern (start), Near Eastern

When Bev's family decides to see a museum, they tend to sleep late, have a leisurely breakfast, spend an hour or two rounding up everyone -- by which time some people are ready for lunch -- and arrive some time in mid-afternoon. When I go, I like to be there when the museum opens. So I lined up on the stairs of the Met for its 9:30 opening, then headed to the far corner of the second floor. Even though this is the country’s most-visited art museum, it’s so spread out that few people had yet made it to that area, so I was virtually alone as I contemplated the paintings.  

We normally gravitate to our favorite sections, such as Impressionists, so I decided to start my organized tour with the Modern and Contemporary wing. This section includes a wide mixture of styles, including the whole range of abstract expressionism that we’ve never really appreciated.

Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)

Jackson Pollock is probably the best-known abstract impressionist, and there were two large Pollock "drip" paintings. I stood there for some time in the quiet gallery. My conclusion was that each painting was not necessarily a single composition, but could be viewed as independent layers of three or more different colors, perhaps painted (or rather dripped) at different times. Should the painting be decomposed into its components, or viewed as a whole -- or both of the above? Continuing, I found equally intriguing paintings by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky.

Assyrian monuments from 9th Century BCE

Bev arrived at noon, and we saw the large special exhibit of Jan Gossart, the Flemish Renaissance painter, and then toured the relatively small (seven rooms), but impressive, section of Ancient Near Eastern Art. As someone interested in biblical history, it was amazing to see artifacts that old in such pristine condition, and they brought to life that period of history. Assyrian  monuments, for example, document battles similar to those that conquered the Kingdom of Israel and dispersed the "10 lost tribes."