Another trip to the MET

I am so in love with this museum! This is our third visit to the MET since moving to New York. Each of our visits to the museum have been so different, so much so that it is almost as if we've visited three separate museums. The size and scope of the MET really is incredible. 

This time we toured the American wing first. 

We walked through the doorway into this huge, bright room. One wall and the ceiling are made completely of windows that let in the natural light. It was so open and bright. Brian and I discussed how much more aware and appreciative we are of open spaces. The space in New York, height and width, is so crammed with buildings, roads, people, etc that when you find an open space, the absence of stuff is very striking. 

Around one side and back of the room they had items on display. This is a huge mantelpiece from one of the old Vanderbilt Mansions in New York. It was made in the early 1880's. I can only imagine what the rest of the room looked like if this was the mantelpiece for the fireplace!

This is a tomb effigy of a lady named Elizabeth Boott Duveneck. Her husband designed or made it after she passed away. The palm frond laying over her is to symbolize the Christian victory over death.

They had a whole display of Tiffany glasswork in the room. They were so beautiful and I enjoyed this part the most out of our visit. This first picture is of a fountain with a tile mosaic background made by Louis C. Tiffany. The tiles are colored glass with a metallic backing that gave it a shimmery effect. This picture doesn't do it justice. 

I loved the colors in this window depicting an Autumn Landscape. It is so amazing what they were able to create.

This grapevine window panel was our favorite out of all the Tiffany pieces. It is actually one of two, and is so beautiful. These windows were made in 1902. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice.

Here is a side view of the same window. You can see how the grapes on the vines were raised above the surface of the rest of the glass. They looked like little purple marbles set into a background of glass. It was so cool.  We found a small metal depiction of this window in the gift shop for our MET Christmas Ornament.

Another beautiful Tiffany window. I loved this one as well

Pretty columns and light fixtures in the room.

At the opposite end of the room from the Tiffany windows, there was a facade of an house on the wall.

The front door in the facade led into the next section of the American galleries and contained home furnishings.

Inside and to the right of the front door.

They had all sorts of different rooms set up to displaying the furniture, fixtures, etc.

I really liked this dining room. I noticed that the chandelier had purple stones in it.

Each room was so rich and ornate.

This pianoforte was really pretty...

The white keys were made from mother of pearl and the dark keys are tortoiseshell. I wanted to run my hands over the keys, but unfortunately they were behind a glass case. Probably for the best.

We found more stained glass. This window is named "Peonies Blown in the Wind" and was made by John La Farge in 1880.

We looked at a room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was so cozy and looked so modern and I couldn't believe that it was made in the early 1900's. I realized as I was uploading pictures that I didn't take any of it. I'm sad, because it was so cool.

After the American Wing, we walked through a portion of the European Painting section. There were so many paintings, of all sizes and shapes. The frames were as beautiful as the paintings. It was overwhelming how much art was in that section.

I'm such a girl. I was drawn to the paintings of women in dresses, flowers and fruit.

Brian liked the portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

Here is a painting of Maria Teresa the Queen of France as a young girl. It was painted by Velazquez. The frame is gorgeous and she has some awesome hair. The description said that she was wearing a wig decorated with butterfly ribbons.

Brian and I both liked this picture. The detail of the painting is crazy. It looked so realistic.

We walked through the special exhibit Chinese Art in an Age of Revolution. Our camera died and I took a few pictures with my cell phone so they are not the best quality. The painting were done by Fu Baoshi. The paintings were done during a period that extended before and after the Maoist Revolution.

Mostly the paintings were done in black and white, but a few had color.

I really enjoyed the painted fans. I recently read a book called "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See. It was set in 19th century China and followed the story of a young girl as she grew up, had her feet bound and was married out. In the book, she is matched with another girl in a contracted friendship so to speak and they communicate by writing messages on a fan that they pass back and forth. It was a really good book and I thought of it when I was looking at these fans.

This painting was Brian's favorite. You can't tell here, but it is quite large, probably 4 1/2-5 feet long.

This painting was my favorite. I didn't get a great picture of it but that is okay. It was so calming as I looked at it, and my eye was constantly moving around the painting drawn by the straight and flowing lines.

We wanted to go through the Storytelling in Japanese Art exhibit, but we needed to head home. So I see another visit on the horizon.