The Metropolitan Museum of Art 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10028 (212)879-5500 Schedule of Exhibitions - December 1982 NEW EXHIBITIONS Dec. 3 Opening of the Living Room from the Francis Little House (Permanent Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright installation) Installation of the living room from the house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Francis Little in Wayzata, Minn., acquir­ ed by the Metropolitan when the house was torn down in 19 72. Room will be installed with much of its original furniture designed by Wright. The installation is made possible through the generosity of Saul P. Steinberg and Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. (In The American Wing) Dec. 3 (Through Feb. 27) Frank Lloyd Wright at the Metropolitan Museum An exhibition of about 100 objects from the Museum's collec­ tion of Frank Lloyd Wright material: architectural drawings, furniture, antique photographs, ceramics, engravings, fragments and graphics. Exhibition is made possible through the generos­ ity of Saul P. Steinberg and Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. (In The American Wing; galleries adjacent to Francis Little Eoom installation) Dec. 3 Installation of the Museum's Annual Christmas Tree and Baroque (Through Jan. 9) Creche Display Nineteenth consecutive annual display of the Museum's famous Christmas tree and collection of 200 18th-century Baroque Neapolitan creche figures presented to the Museum by Loretta Hines Howard in 1964. The installation is made possible by Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. (In the Medieval Sculpture Court, main floor) Dec. 7 Annual Christmas Display at The Cloisters (Through Jan. 9) At Christmas each year the whole of The Cloisters becomes suffused with holiday fragrances, flowers, candlelight and music. Dried herbs and flowers hang from the main hall archways, the 12th-century Italian marble ciborium in the Langon Chapel is wrapped with pine garlands, fresh fruit and nuts, the Saint- Guilhem Cloister is planted with a medieval winter garden, and in the Chapter House from Pontaut, a 12th-century Italian paint­ ed creche — figures of Mary, Joseph, the Christ Child and ox and ass, made in the Florentine workshop of Antonio Rossellino - - are displayed in a garden of pine, ferns and white cyclamen. Recorded medieval and Renaissance Christmas music is played daily at -12:30 and 2:30. (At The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park) (more) Schedule of Exhibitions - December 1982 Page 2 NEW EXHIBITIONS (CONT'D) Dec. 7 Albrecht Purer and the Holy Family (Through Feb. 6) Exhibition, part of an ongoing program to show the treasures of the Metropolitan Museum's print collection, includes 70 prints (woodcuts and engravings) by Albrecht Durer on one of his favorite themes, the Holy Family. Exhibition is made possible by Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. (In the Galleries for Drawings, Prints and Photographs, second floor) Dec. 21 La Belle Epoque (Through Sept. 4, 1983) The eleventh consecutive exhibition organized by Diana Vreeland for The Costume Institute, La Belle Epoque will evoke the spirit of Proust and the era he chronicled so brilliantly — the joyous years of pleasure, change and achievement that preceded the First World War. There will be approximately 150 costumes of men and women in the exhibition as well as a complete range of accessor­ ies. Among the colorful personalities of the period who will be represented are Sarah Bernhardt, Queen Alexandra, Eleonora Duse, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Queen Margherita of Italy, the Countess Greffulhe, Lina Cavalieri and Cleo de Merode. There will also be paintings and decorative objects, including the famous por­ trait of Sarah Bernhardt by Georges Clairin from the Petit Palais which will be on exhibition outside France for the first time. Much of the exhibition will be drawn from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum with loans from public and private collections in the United States, France, England, Italy and Japan. The ex­ hibition is made possible by a grant from the Pierre Cardin Management Corporation. (In The Costume Institute, ground floor) CURRENT EXHIBITIONS Through Jan. 2 Watercolors by William T. Richards (Opened Nov. 4) 110 miniature watercolors by the 19th-century Philadelphia landscape and marine painter, Willian T. Richards (1833-1905) from the collection of Richard and Gloria Manney. (In the Erving and Joyce Wolf Gallery for Special Exhibitions, The American Wing) Through Jan. 2 The Search for Alexander (Opened Oct. 27) A major loan exhibition of about 180 works of Greek art dating from the 4th-2nd centuries B.C. which comes to the Metropolitan as the final location on its tour of major American museums. The objects, many of which are in this country for the first time, are presented differently from the installations in the other museums on its tour, and have been supplemented by mate­ rial from the Museum's own collections. The exhibition focuses on the art of northern Greece and on the superb craftsmanship and artistry achieved at the time of Alexander the Great and under his successors. It displays the richness of Hellenistic art and of Alexander's legacy to other periods and cultures. The exhibition has been made possible by The National Bank of Greece, Time Incorporated, Mobil, and with the cooperation of The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sciences. (In the Sackler Exhibition galleries, second floor) (more) Schedule of Exhibitions - December 1982 Page 3 CURRENT EXHIBITIONS (CONT'D) Through Jan.23 Recent Acquisitions in Indian and Southeast Asian Art (opened Oct. 5) Exhibition of 41 of the most important paintings and sculpture acquired in the past five years in an area that includes the 2000-year-old artistic legacy of India, Pakis­ tan, Nepal, Tibet, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia as well as other Southeast Asian countries. Among the other fine pieces on view are the 15 superb sculptures recently acquired from the collection of the late Christian Humann (South Indian bronzes, early Nepalese bronzes and sculpture from Thailand, Cambodia and Java). With the acquisition of these objects, together with other important acquisitions, the Metropolitan Museum's collection of Indian and Southeast Asian art now ranks among the best in the United States. Made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Charitable Trust. (In the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Recent Acquisitions Gallery, second floor) Through Feb. 27 The Celestial Pen: Islamic Calligraphy in the Metropolitan (Opened Sept. 28) Museum of Art The first exhibition in a new special area for changing Islamic exhibitions, an area which has been made possible by a gift from the Hagop Kevorkian Fund. The 45 objects on view illustrate the beauty, artistic quality and importance of calligraphy in the Islamic culture. Objects range from the late 8th and early 9th centuries to the 18th-19th centuries and include single leaves from Korans, various literary texts, textiles, and objects in stone, metal work, ceramic, jade and wood. (In the Hagop Kevorkian.Fund.Special Exhibitions Gallery, second floor,south wing) Through Mar. 6 Rodin's Gates of Hell (Opened June 4) This monumental bronze portal, measuring 21' high by 13' wide and weighing almost 9 tons, was intended for a building to house the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, which was never built. The portal was never cast in bronze during Rodin's lifetime. It is a sculptural ensemble of writhing figures portraying Rodin's conception of the eternal punish­ ment for human perversity and sin. The installation at the Metropolitan Museum has been made possible by a grant from Cantor Fitzgerald Group, Ltd. (In the Charles Englehard Court of The American Wing) Indefinite Close Works of Art in Glass from the Museum's Collections (Opened June 8) A number of small exhibitions of works of art in glass drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection, held in conjunction with the annual meeting the first week in June of the International Association of the History of Glass. Some highlights are installations of Flemish 16th-century stained-glass panels; 16th-century Venetian glass from the Robert Lehman collection; a special selection of American glass from study/storage materials; medieval stained glass; a group of newly acquired glass from the 20th-century deco­ rative arts collection. Glass from the Greek and Roman, (more) Schedule of Exhibitions - December 1982 Page 4 CURRENT EXHIBITIONS (CONT'D) the Islamic and the Egyptian collections will also be on display. (In various locations throughout the Museum) Permanent Installation (Opened Feb. 3) The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing A new wing unites the collection of the former Museum of Primitive Art, founded by Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1954 and donated by him to the Metropolitan Museum in 1978-79, with objects acquired by the Metropolitan Museum. The new wing, a 42,000-square-foot exhibition space devoted to the arts of Africa, the Pacific Islands, Precolumbian and Native America, is named in memory of Nelson Rockefeller's son Michael, a student of the art and culture of New Guinea, who died in 1961 while on expedition in New Guinea. It is located at the south end of the Metropolitan Museum and contains some 2,000 objects. (On the first floor, south end of the Museum) (Opened April 22) New Installation in the Douglas Dillon Galleries for Chinese Paintings and Fresh Plantings in the Astor Garden Court A re-installation of 90 of the Museum's permanent collection of Chinese paintings includes 60 paintings not previously shown. Also on view is a new group of Ch'ing dynasty (1664- 1911) robes and textiles. To celebrate the fall season, there are fresh plantings and a display of flowers in the ad­ joining Astor Garden Court. The Dillon Galleries and Astor Court were conceived as an entity and are the first phase in the new installation of the Museum's Far Eastern Art collec­ tion.