An Evening at the MET (Metroplitan Museum of Art that is)

First off, thank you for the overwhelming support and supportive comments all of you made to help me get past the "Incident" mentioned in the previous blog. It really meant a lot to me. I am fine, safe and sound in a new place. So lets begin.....

Art is a form of expression. It is a way for people (and gorillas-- I heard that a gorilla in London paints, and his work goes for a pretty high price too!) to express ideas, emotions, and thoughts. You as the viewer of art, should see things, feel things, and question things. Art should move you in some way. You do not have to have a degree in art to appreciate it, nor do you need to be some cultural attaché. I love art. It excites me. Around major works, I turn into a little kid. I probably don’t view art in the same way the average person does. But there is no right or wrong way to view art. I once had a friend who created a piece for an exhibition. It was of babies amongst pieces of trash. She meant to make a statement about the younger generation trashing our world. Everyone who saw the exhibit called it the abortion piece. It was so interesting how different the interpretation was from the way my friend intended it to be. Yet it didn’t bother her because it got people thinking and talking, and she loved that. Living in NYC I have the privilege of being surrounded by many famous art museums, and famous artists.





One such artist is my friend Ed who happens to be a very well published children’s book author and illustrator.

This past weekend Ed invited Herbelicious and me to join him and his friends John and Jaine for an evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had been to the Met several times before. It is not a place you can see in one visit.

On the first visit I was in awe of the Greek and Roman Sculptures (Hot naked muscular men! YES!). The second time I went I was enthralled by the Egyptian exhibit though I am convinced that either the ancient Egyptians had black Sharpies and Magic Markers, or that someone at the Met is not competent enough to know that Black Sharpie used to re-create and restore Egyptian artwork is unacceptable. On both visits, I did not have enough time too see the oil paintings. This is what I asked my friends to focus on during this visit. We would only have 2 hours to view the masterpieces since the museum closes at 9PM. It would be exactly like Ferris Bueller and his friends when they took the day off from school and only had a couple of hours to visit the museum. Like them in the movie, we found ourselves staring at pictures that really moved us.




Before climbing to the gallery on the second floor, we decided to stop in and see the famous Christmas tree at the Met. It is a beautiful tree covered with angels. Around its base are tiny statues that tell the story of how the people saw the Christmas star in the sky, and headed to Bethlehem. The pieces are all dressed in 18th Century clothing. Can anyone remember if a Monkey with cymbals appeared in the Christmas story? Wait, that was part of the story line from Phantom of the Opera. What about moonshiners, I'm sure they were there, but was their story ever told, how they brought 3 jugs of moonshine to Baby Jesus? I think not, yet if you looked carefully, these characters could all be found around the base of the tree!


The tree is located in the Cathedral section of the Met that also houses religious art. As we looked at some of the other pieces Herbelicous commented to me that this is the kind of art that scared him as a child in church. Statues of Nuns with scary eyes that follow you when you walk across the room.


I took notice in a piece of a bishop who had a man under his robes!! I guess the Catholic church has been dealing with that issue for centuries!


Then it was up the grand staircase to the gallery where all the beautiful oil paintings were kept. And just like in the museum scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, we were enthralled with the way light danced in the paintings. We just stared.



Stared at how epic the stories were.



Stared at how the cloth looked like it could be touched and how it could inspire new fashion like it did on the TV show Project Runway.





Noticed how intertwined the lovers were.

Or how beautiful the flowers looked, and how real the glass pitcher on the table next to the vase was. I wonder who the woman in the portrait was talking to. Ed commented that it was interesting how the flowers were the center of this piece, and not so much the lady.



Is this man wearing Nike’s? Is this painting what inspired Nike Shoes? Is this painting even 18th Century?

I didn't realize how much Herberlicous loved horses, or was it that they just reminded him of men that were hung like horses?




Look at how romantic this scene is, and how cute John and Jaine looked standing there admiring it.

I was enthralled with how inspired George Seurat was when he painted “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, and how it inspired Stephen Sondheim to write “Sunday in the Park with George”—the Broadway show.

What made Vincent Van Gogh so ill and depressed that he decided to cut off his Left Ear Lobe? Was it too much absinthe? or did Kevin Federline threaten him with taking custody of the children too?



Isn’t it interesting that Claude Monet saw the Lilies as being little dots and that since he had a lens removed from his eyes due to cataracts, he saw in the ultra violet range--see how the water looks almost violet? Up close it was ugly, but from afar it was so beautiful (just like some of the boys Herbelicous and I see on the train.—cute from afar, but up close they are Monets.)



What did all this splattering mean? What was going through the mind of the artist at the time he was inspired to create this? Is it organized or is it Chaos?

I came across a painting from Polynesia. Tahiti to be exact. On the bottom were the words Ia Orana Maria. Ia Orana means hello in Tahitian. I was so excited. It was like seeing something from home!

The Met is so huge, and because some things interested us more than others; we kept getting separated from each other. During one of these separations, Herbelicious and I found a room of modern art. In it was a real shark suspended in some sort of liquid (No Pictures Allowed!) and there was also a huge disk made of metal facets (next to the shark exhibit). If you whispered into the center of the disk, it would amplify your voice! How fun. Not to mention that looking into the disk you could see yourself a thousand times as if you were viewing the world through the eyes of a fly.

What do you see here? Herbelicious said he saw birds. I see High heeled shoes!

These ARE high heeled shoes! Ladies, don't throw away your old shoes, look at what you can create with them! ART!

This Piece is so simple, you could re-create it at home! yet it is so beautiful! I told Ed that for Christmas I was going to re-create a piece from the Met for his home. (I think this will be the piece).

Herbelicious and I work in advertising. I know we advertise on TV and in magazines, but when did we place a L'Oreal ad in the Met?

All in all, it was a fun evening. We will definitely go back to the Met. There was just way too much to see and do there. The next time we go I want Ed to look at the Egyptian art and tell me if it really is black Sharpie or not. I think what made the trip to the Met special, was going with a group of good friends, who you could share your opinions and feelings with about the art. That way, not only did the art move you, but it would help create a memory of you with your friends.

Learn Spanish! las bellas pinturas y esculturas me hacen sentir muy emocianado

Bella- Beautiful; Pinturas-Paintings; Esculturas-sculptures; Sentir-feel; emocianado- emotions