What Art Means to Me

For those of you who have been following my More Than A City Girl blog and Instagram account from the beginning this will come as no surprise, I am a big fan of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Having grown up in New York City going to the MET was a staple in my life. This included numerous fieldtrips, art class homework assignments, and weekend visits for pure enjoyment! I remember I actually asked my mom once in Middle School if I could skip school that day and just do something fun. And that fun thing I wanted to do? It was go to the MET to see the Temple of Dendur. 

I love art and I love history, these two combined can transport you to another world, open to your own interpretations. Finding that one painting or piece of art that speaks to you is so special in the fact that you can go back time and time again to re visit that piece or art at different times in your life and be transported back to a single moment in time, not unlike listening to music.

Two of my absolute favorite paintings in the MET are by the same French painter, Pierre-Auguste Cot.  The Storm, 1880 and Springtime, 1873 are the two paintings that I always seek out to visit. Maybe it’s their magical quality or aspects of fantastical realism and detail that draw me in. Or let’s be real, maybe it's just the fairy aspect. Either way these two will always hold a special place in my heart.

You know that feeling you get when you walk into an empty room at a museum, when it’s just you and the art? I can’t end this post without at least mentioning that feeling because even if the galleries are full of people I find the museum finds a way to keep that feeling, that kind of personalization to it.

 

Another way to make visiting a museum personal is to make a game out of looking at the art! One of my favorite games it trying to recreate the images or facial expressions of portraits or sculptures. I promise, it’s fun! And even funner with friends!

What’s you favorite museum or part of going to a museum?

Let me know, I’d love to hear your comments!

~Monique~

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: China: Through the Looking Glass Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has always been one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon…or a whole day (especially if it’s raining)! The grandiose architecture of the building itself is enough, along with the treasures that it holds. Ever since I was little I’ve loved history. Everything from historical architecture to old European paintings to novels about the American Revolution to even begging my parents in elementary school to spend our vacation re-tracing the Oregon Trail in full prairie style clothing (something which they never actually agreed to do!). I’ve also always had a passion for travel and seeing other cultures, seeing the world from different perspectives. Museums allow me to do this, to go back in history and travel the world, all while standing in one place.

As a great movie once asked “where does today meet yesterday?” (…If you must know the movie was a Sesame Street special called “Don’t Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”…yes I consider that a great movie). The question itself is a thinker, and can have multiple different answers, one of them being a museum.  

Now on to the current show at the MET! Last week I went with my mom to see The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s special exhibition of China: Through the Looking Glass. The exhibition is a perfect example of where the East meets the West, through fashion, film, and porcelain design. Curated by the Costume Institute and the Department of Asian Art the exhibition spans three floors. The dresses were what stood out to me with their intricate beading and stitching work. The designs must have taken months or maybe even years to complete. My favorite ones were the blue and white dresses, as well as a magnificent gold dress that took my breath away and was in a room all to itself.

Not only are dresses otherworldly but so are the rooms they are displayed in. Two of the rooms in particular were transformed into what looked like a Chinese garden and palace corridor, such that when you enter you feel as though you’ve just walked back in time. It is definitely something that you have to go and experience yourself!

Do you have a favorite museum?

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~ Monique ~