Met Returns Stolen Artifacts Amid Rising Global Thefts That Often End Up in Major Museums
Trafficking in stolen art is a growing international problem....
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Met’s ‘Heavenly Bodies’ Fashion Exhibit Heads for Final Weekend After Record Run
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Heavenly Bodies” is heading for its final weekend....
Met Unveils Glory of Mexican Art From Flourishing, 18th Century Era (Photos!)
Mexico is too often stereotyped as a dusty backwater, but it had a flourishing culture....
Met Stands Fast Against Creeping Fascism Over Balthus Painting (Photo)
The Metropolitan Museum of Arts is standing fast against a coterie of critics, including neo-Fascists, who are demanding the removal of a Balthus painting....
Art Museums Create Plan to Safe Harbor Art Objects Threatened by War
Art museums under the auspices of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) have created a plan to safeguard rare art and antiquities that are threatened with destruction in war zones. The move was prompted by attacks on ancient, historic sites in the Middle East. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City joined arts organizations around the world in February to universally condemn the destruction of priceless antiquities by Islamic extremists in the Iraq city of Mosul....
Met Museum ‘Strongly Condemns’ Mosul Antiquities Destruction
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City joined arts organizations around the world today (Feb. 26) to universally condemn the destruction of priceless antiquities by Islamic extremists in the Iraq city of Mosul. The extremists from the Islamic State (IS) used sledge hammers, drills and other power tools to smash ancient statues and sculptures....
Jeff Koons Whitney Exhibit Graffiti Vandal Caught on Video (watch!)
The Jeff Koons exhibit at the Whitney Museum in Manhattan was hit by a graffiti vandal last night, who was caught on video spray-painting a wall in front of dozens of startled patrons. Christopher Johnson, 33, of Manhattan, was arrested at the museum after he was accosted by security guards and turned over to police, according to reports. Fortunately, the focus of the exhibit, Koons’ “Hanging Heart” sculpture, and other works were not harmed,...
George Clooney’s Monuments Men in Real Life Featured at The Met
James J. Rorimer, one of art experts portrayed in George Clooney’s film “The Monuments Men,” will be featured in a new Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit, highlighting his historic role saving priceless artworks during World War II. Rorimer became director of the Museum after the war. The film, starring Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman, is about museum directors, curators and art historians who go to war in search of plundered Nazi loot. ...
C.F. Martin, Father of ‘American’ Guitar, Featured at Met Museum
C. F. Martin, an 18th Century German immigrant has as much to do with rock and roll as Chuck Berry and The Beatles. He invented the guitar as it’s known today and his works, tracing the instrument’s development over more than 200 years, make up a new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ...
Persia’s Cyrus the Great May Not Have Been So Hot After All
A rare artifact from the reign of Cyrus the Great in 539 BC will go on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this week, reopening a debate whether it represents the “first declaration of human rights,” or merely convenient political propaganda....
Met Museum Hosts First Ever Exhibition of Music Masterpieces
Sau-Wing Lam’s collection of rare Italian string instruments will go on display for the first time in the United States at the Metropolitan Museum of Art later this month. The collection includes rare violins by Antonio Stradivari. Sau-Wing worked as president of the Dah Chong Hong Trading Corp., Inc. in New York City, an import-export business. An amateur violinist and violist, Lam bought his first important violin in the 1960s and over the 25 years assembled his impressive collection of stringed instruments and bows....
George Bellows Is Subject of Career Retrospective at the Met
American painter George Bellows is the subject of an expansive career retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Despite his premature death at age 42 (from a ruptured appendix), Bellows is widely considered one of the greatest American artists of all time....
Defaced Rothko at London’s Tate Raises Security Questions Anew
A Mark Rothko painting defaced at London’s Tate Modern museum over the weekend once again raises questions about how to balance security against the desire to give the public the best experience possible while viewing priceless works of art. A man at the Tate was able to walk up to the Rothko’s untitled 1958 painting best known as “Black on Maroon” and mark a slogan on it in black paint. He was gone in a matter of minutes. The slogan “Vladimir Umanets ’12, a potential piece of yellowism,” doesn't seem to have a direct connection to Rothko or the work....
Abraham Roentgen’s Royal Furniture at Met Museum (photos)
Abraham Roentgen was known throughout Europe for fine cabinetmaking starting in the mid-1700s, when he established his shop in Germany. Today, Roentgen’s works are hailed as masterpieces, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art has gathered nearly 60 exquisite pieces, many of which have never been seen outside of Europe, for a special exhibition in New York....
Dürer, Holy Roman Masters Star in New Met Exhibit
Albrecht Dürer is German's dominant artist from a period spanning almost 300 years in Central European development. But a new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcases the works of other who shaped German, Swiss, Austrian, and early Bohemian drawings. The exhibition of artists were active before 1700 in the Holy Roman Empire runs from Apr. 3 through Sept. 3, 2012....