Day 28 – 7/12/15: European Decorative Arts (end)

Sunday, after again spending time in Central Park’s Ramble, I visited two more special exhibits: Van Gough’s Irises and Roses and Maurice Prendergast’s Boston Public Garden Watercolors. I returned to the Decorative Arts area and found the Linsky Galleries open. This was another instance of galleries arranged by donor rather than subject, which I often don’t like, but this eclectic collection was rather pleasant. In fact, if someone wants to spend only a short time in the Decorative Arts area, this would be a good way to do it. The seven rooms include Renaissance and Old Master paintings, unusual German porcelain sculptures (photos above), and a hodgepodge of small sculptures and household objects from many different countries.

Detail from Mirrored Double Doors, Italian, 1743-44

The remainder of the Decorative Arts galleries (rooms 550-556) – beyond the Petrie Sculpture Court – covered a potpourri of objects and eras, starting with Baroque and Rococo, Neoclassical, various revival styles, and finally Art Nouveau at the dawn of 20th Century.  The Arts Noveau I found rather refreshing after so many room of old styles. 

I can understand my initial aversion to the Decorative Arts area, since it is overwhelming in size and not consistently organized -- sometimes by country, sometime by period, sometimes by medium, and sometimes by donor. However, among the chaos are many gems waiting to be discovered.

With some time left, I wandered to the adjacent part of the museum, Modern and Contemporary, where the first floor galleries had been redesigned a year ago under the theme, "Reimagining Modernism: 1900–1950." As I entered, I noticed an impressive new installation: a 10-panel mural by Thomas Hart Benton entitled America Today. This mural had been created for the New School in 1931, was donated to the Met in 2012, and was just installed (within the last month or so) in a new room that replicates the original site. It was particularly striking, since just a week earlier I had seen the Benton exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum, which featured another mural, American Epic History. In both murals, it’s clear that Benton loves America but is not afraid to show unflattering aspects – in the historical mural, the exploitation of Native Americans or African Americans, and in America Today, the impact of the Great Depression and the seedy sides of New York.

"City Activities with Dance Hall" and "City Building" from Benton's America Today