if The Metropolitan Museum of Art news release For release Communications Department 1000 Fifth Avenue Immediate New York, NY 10028-0198 tel 212-570-3951 Contact fax 212-472-2764 Elyse Topalian email [email protected] SCHEDULE OF EXHIBITIONS JANUARY-APRIL 2003 EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Information provided below is subject to change. To confirm scheduling and dates, call the Communications Department at (212) 570-3951. CONTACT NUMBER FOR USE IN TEXT IS (212)535-7710. New Exhibitions page 1 Upcoming Exhibitions PaSe 5 Continuing Exhibitions page 11 New and Recently Opened Installations page 18 Traveling Exhibitions page 20 Visitor Information page 22 OF SPECIAL NOTE • Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman, opening January 22, unites some 120 drawings by one of the great geniuses of all time, presenting a balanced view of Leonardo as an artist, scientist, theorist, and teacher (see p. 2). • Thomas Struth is a sweeping retrospective of the work of this contemporary German photographer, on view in three locations within the Museum starting February 4 (see p. 3). • Opening March 4, Manet/Veldrquer.: The French Taste for Spanish Paintinp presents 150 works by masters of Spain's Golden Age as well as masterpieces by the 19th-century French artists who were influenced by them (see p. 4). • Goddess, a Costume Institute exhibition opening to the public on May 1, explores the many ways that Greco-Roman dress has impacted art and design (see p. 4). NEW EXHIBITIONS African-American Artists, 1929-1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art January 15-May 4, 2003 More than 80 works by African-American artists—drawn exclusively from the collection of the Metropolitan—include prints by Robert Blackburn, Elizabeth Catlett, William H. Johnson, Raymond Steth, and Dox Thrash, among others, as well as paintings and watercolors by Jacob Lawrence, Joseph Delaney, Lois Mailou Jones, Horace Pippin, Romare Bearden, Samuel Joseph Brown, Palmer Hayden, and Bill Traylor. Focusing NEW EXHIBITIONS PAGE 2 on the years 1929-45, the selection reflects aspects of daily life for African Americans during the latter part of the Harlem Renaissance, the Depression and New Deal era, and World War II. The Metropolitan Museum is collaborating on related educational programs with The Studio Museum in Harlem, which is simultaneously mounting an exhibition titled Challenge of the Modern: African-American Artists 1925-1945, on view from January 23 to March 30. The exhibition is made possible by The Fletcher Foundation and Fletcher Asset Management, Inc. Additional support has been provided by Jane and Robert Carroll. Accompanied by a catalogue. Press preview: Monday, January 13, 10:00 a.m.-noon Chinese Export Porcelain at The Metropolitan Museum of Art January 14-July 13, 2003 On display in The Erving and Joyce Wolf Gallery in The American Wing are 80 works from the Museum's important collection of Chinese porcelain made for export to both Europe and America. The selection of objects, dating from the early 16th century to the last quarter of the 19th century, includes bowls and vases, services and tureens, reverse glass paintings, and works in ivory. The exhibition and its accompanying publication are made possible by Mary and Marvin Davidson. Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman January 22-March 30, 2003 The first comprehensive survey of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings ever presented in America, this international loan exhibition brings together nearly 120 works of extraordinary beauty by one of the great masters of all time. Even in an era of boundless scientific discovery and technological invention, and of sublime artistic and humanistic achievement, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) stands as a supreme icon in Western consciousness—the very embodiment of the universal Renaissance genius. The exhibition surveys Leonardo's staggering contribution as an artist, scientist, theorist, and teacher. Gathered from private and public collections in Europe and North America, the selection of drawings includes rarely exhibited works and illustrates a great variety of drawing types. The exhibition also integrates a small group of drawings by artists critical to Leonardo's formation in Florence and to his multifaceted activity in Milan, in an attempt to offer a unified view of the great master's legacy. The exhibition is made possible by Morgan Stanley. Additional support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Drue E. Heinz Fund. Press preview: Tuesday, January 21, 10:00 a.m.-noon (more) NEW EXHIBITIONS PAGE 3 Thomas Struth February 4-May 18, 2003 This major retrospective features 70 stunning photographs by one of today's leading contemporary artists, whose body of work is of truly global reach and ambition. Ranging from early black-and-white views of city stteets in the United States and Europe to recent, large-scale views of primeval jungles and forests in Asia and South America, Struth's photographs show the actual condition of our world's cultures and traditions on the cusp of a new millennium. The exhibition highlights his celebrated "Museum" series— monumental pictures of people visiting museums, churches, and other cultural destinations around the world that reconcile the timeless and the ephemeral, the real and the spiritual ideal. Also included are his mesmerizing individual and family portraits, landscapes, and rapturous flower studies. Accompanying the exhibition is a spectacular projection of Struth's one-hour video portraits in the Museum's Great Hall, constituting the first time the work of a living artist has been shown in the monumental space. Complementing this exhibition is a related display of works (in The Howard Gilman Gallery) entitled Thomas Struth: Streets that presents an expanded view of his classic black-and-white streetscapes. Included is the artist's seminal "Streets of New York" portfolio, not seen in its entirety since 1978, as well as photographs from the 1980s made in the great cities of Europe, America, and Asia—distinctive portraits of place that capture the irreducible character and visible history of our urban environments. The Thomas Struth exhibition is made possible in part by Philip Morris Companies Inc. Additional support has been provided by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund. The exhibition was organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. Accompanied by a catalogue. Press preview: Monday, February 3, 10:00 a.m.-noon Klee the Voyager February 4-May 4, 2003 A selection of works recording the artist's forays into regions exotic, domestic, and imagined. The 25 images, mainly watercolors and some paintings spanning the years 1914 to 1937, are all from The Berggruen Klee Collection at the Museum. Recent Acquisitions: Works on Paper February 4-May 4, 2003 An exhibition of drawings acquired over the past 15 years, with a focus on abstraction. Chosen from the Department of Modern Art's collection, the selection presents drawings by artists of several nationalities, with distinctive personal styles. These works are shown together at the Museum for the first time. (more) NEW EXHIBITIONS PAGE 4 Manet/Velazquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting March 4-June 8, 2003 This exhibition examines the impact of Spanish painting on French artists, presenting some 150 paintings by masters of Spain's Golden Age—Velazquez, Murillo, Ribera, El Greco, and Zurbaran—as well as masterpieces by the 19th-century French artists they influenced, among them Delacroix, Courbet, Millet, Degas, and, most notably, Manet. The exhibition also includes works by American artists such as Sargent, Chase, Eakins, Whistler, and Cassatt, who studied in France but learned to paint like Spaniards. An exhibition on this subject has never before been attempted at this scale and depth, and it promises to be revelatory. Napoleon's Spanish campaigns (1808-14) marked a turning point in the French perception of Spanish painting, which, up to that time, had been virtually ignored and poorly represented in the French royal collections. Yet, only two decades later, in 1838, King Louis Philippe inaugurated the Galerie Espagnole at the Louvre, placing on view his extraordinary collection of hundreds of Spanish paintings. Although this collection was sold in 1853, these paintings left an indelible impression in France and by the 1860s, the French taste for Spanish painting was perceptible at each Paris Salon. At the core of the exhibition are 30 paintings by Manet, including many of his so-called "Spanish" works of the 1860s. A special feature devoted to the exhibition will be available on the Metropolitan Museum's Web site. Accenture is the proud sponsor of the exhibition. The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Musee d'Orsay. Accompanied by a catalogue. Press preview: Monday, February 24, 10:00 a.m.-noon Goddess May 1-August 3, 2003 From the clothing of ancient Greece to such modern evocations as Madame Gres's emblematic draped creations and Versace's Neoclassical loincloths, classical dress has profoundly inspired and influenced art and design over the millennia. Drawing on paintings, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts from classical times to the present, cinema and theater costumes, and clothing from the 18th century onward, the exhibition reveals the many ways in which classical dress has become a truly ageless style. Included, for example, is clothing from the Empire and Directoire periods, presented alongside art from the Museum's collection by Nattier, David, and Ingres. Moving into the 20th century, the fashion designs of Vionnet, Yves Saint Laurent, Fortuny, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Gucci, Halston, and Issey Miyake are juxtaposed with costumes created for Isadora Duncan's dance performances and for films such as Medea and One Touch of Venus. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue are made possible by GUCCI.