Here is the long overdue Part 2 to my trip around The Metropolitan Museum of Art (you can see Part 1 here). In this part, I have included my highlights from the rest of my seven hours spent in The Met. These images were taken from the South East Asia, Paintings, Native American and Americana galleries.
Where ever possible, I have transcribed the information that was presented alongside the artwork, so you can understand the origin and go on to research more around the works you find inspiring.
I so enjoyed going back through these images and rediscovering that inspired feeling (its reignited my desire to try beading!). For those of you who aren't able to travel to see The Met, I hope this helps you travel virtually.
Embroidered Panel, Morocco, ca. 1800 Linen, silk, plain weave, embroidered
Dish with Peacock Design. Turkey, Iznik, Ottoman period (ca. 1299-1923), early 17th century Stonepaste; polychrome painted under transparent glazeBuff Ware Fragment with Animal Decoration. Iran, Nishapur, excavated at Sabz Pushan, 9th century Earthenware; polychrome decoration under transparent glaze (buff ware)
Bowl Depicting a Man Holding a Cup and a Flowering Branch. Iraq, Abbasid period (750-1258), 10th century. Earthenware; luster painted on opaque white glaze. Luster ceramics from Samarra often include stylized human figures. In this example, the lively caricatural quality of the seated man holding a cup and a flowering branch is enhanced by the two birds that hold fish in their beaks but look like they are kissing. The foot bears an Arabic inscription that reads baraka (blessing) in kufic script.
The Siesta, ca. 1892-94. Paul Gauguin (French, Paris 1848-1903), Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands. Oil on canvas.
L'Arlésienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux (Marie Julien, 1848–1911), 1888-89. Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853-1890). Oil on canvas. While in Arles, Van Gogh painted two very similar portraits of Marie Ginoux, the proprietress of the Café de la Gare, wearing the regional costume of the legendary dark-haired beauties of Arles. The first version, which he described in a letter of November 1888 as "an Arlésienne knocked off in one hour," must be the more thinly and summarily executed portrait in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris. In it a parasol and gloves lie on the table instead of books. This portrait belonged to the sitter until she sold it in 1895.Odalisque with Gray Trousers, 1927. Henri Matisse (French, Le C Cateau-Cambreses 1869-1954). Oil on canvas
Garden, ca. 1935. Pierre Bonnard (French, Fontenay-aux-Roses 1867-1947). Le Cannet. Oil on canvas.La Orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891. Paul Gauguin (French, Paris 1948-1903). Atuona, Hiva, Marquesas Islands. Oil on canvas.
William Zorach. American (born Lithuania), 1889-1966. Spring in Central Park, 1914 Oil on canvas. Most well-known for his later work as a sculptor, Zorach spent two years studying painting in Paris, returning to New York in 1912. He wrote that his depictions of Central Park were "painted at home from imagination, in all wild colors, peopled with exotic nudes," but the bold hues and undulating outlines recall the work of the Fauves, notably Henri Matisse and André Derain, whose canvases he had seen in Paris.Pablo Picasso. Spanish, 1881-1973. Reading at a Table, 1934. Oil on canvas.Pablo Picasso. Spanish, 1881-1973. The Dreamer, 1932. Oil on canvas. Marie-Thérèse Walter, the subject of this sensuous painting, met the artist in 1927, when she was seventeen and he was forty-five. She became his lover and muse soon after. While the female form was not a new subject for Picasso, the flowing, curvilinear style and bright, saturated tones used to depicted Marie-Thérèse are departures from his earlier portrayals of women. By simplifying her voluptuous form into primary shapes, Picasso presents her figure as something resembling an ancient fertility object.
Two Pharmacy Jars. Tin-glazed earthenware Italian, Tuscany, Florence. Made 1400s
Aquamanile in the form of a Lion. Copper alloy with glass inlay. North German, made 1100-1200
The lion, because of its exceptional strength, was associated in the Middle Ages with Christ and was the animal most frequently employed for aquamanilia. The vessel was filled through the opening at the top of the head, and water was poured from the spout in the mouth.
Eagle-Headed Hilt. Copper alloy. Byzantine. Made 300-400.
Limestone Capital with Samson and an Attendant Fighting a Lion. North Spanish, Palencia. Carved about 1175-1200. This capital and the one to the left depict, in a simple, almost abstract manner, a man and an animal engaged in combat. The capitals must have supported a principal arch, perhaps the entrance to the choir of a church. Here Samson, with long hair, struggles with the lion, assisted by two men, one with a mace, another with a knife.Limestone Capital with a Centaur Battling a Man with Bow and Arrow. North Spanish, Palencia. Carved about 1175-1200. Like the capital to the right, this one depicts a man and animal engaged in conduct and in a similar almost abstract manner. Here the centaur engagis a man with bow and arrow
Collection of Nine Medallions from an Icon Frame. Gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné Byzantine, from the Djumati Monastery, Georgia (now Republic of Georgia). Made about 1100 in Constantinople. Inscribed in Greek.
Bowl with Fish. Terracotta decorated in sgraffito Byzantine. Made 1000-1300. A fish wearing a playful smile swims among reeds. Fishing was an important trade in the Byzantine Empire. Large fish were often centerpieces of banquets and were given as valuable gifts.
Beading details taken from Woman's Hood, stitched by James Bay Cree artists. Quebec, ca. 1865. Wool, cloth, glass beads and silk thread.
Seminole artist. Shirt. South Florida, mid 19th century. Cotton and satin. Since the early nineteenth century, Seminole women have been highly regarded for their distinctive patchwork compositions and textile innovations. These intricately styled designs that add flair to clothing were created by sewing cloth strips into complex, abstracted motifs. Widely used patterns reference natural and contemporary elements of Seminole life such as fire, animals, and English letters. These visual and material expressions affirm ongoing connections to land, water, and local environments.
Yup'ik artist. Mask. Alaska, ca. 1900. Wood, pigment, vegetal fiber, iron nails, and feathers.
Within the bentwood border of this mask, a hunter's kayak searches for quarry. Near the center of the boat, the face of a humanoid seal spirit emerges, with an unidentified visage above. The tiny bird head at the bow may portray the hunter as seen through the eyes of his prey. Fish and flippers surround the vessel, likely representing the animals that slip through the symbolic hands and into the physical world to be hunted.Lakota artist. Cradleboard. North or South Dakota, ca. 1890 Wood, rawhide, tanned leather, glass beads, muslin, and brass tacks. A mother's relatives made this cradle to welcome and honor the new life. Women tanned, sewed, and adorned the warm, secure coverings with beaded animal designs, including turtles, horses, and thunderbirds, signaling blessing. Men constructed the wood supports to protect the baby. The cradle encapsulates intercultural Plains artistry and styles, including the colors and composition of Kiowa and Lakota beadwork. American flags date it to the early reservation period, when the U.S. government outlawed the Lakota Sundance.Nellie Two Bear Gates, Mahpiya Bogawin, Gathering of Clouds Woman (Standing Rock Reservation, 1854-1935). Valise. North or South Dakota, 1903 Tanned leather, glass beads, and metal. Gates made this case for her daughter Josephine after her graduation from a government-run boarding school. On one side, Gates shows her father, Two Bear, in a battle against the United States, and on the reverse, she depicts the last major buffalo hunt. As a child, Gates had been forcibly sent to boarding school in Missouri. Upon returning home, she relearned the Dakota language and engaged in artistic expression, becoming one of the most accomplished bead workers of her time. Gates created many other cases as gifts and to honor her community's history.
James Bard (1815-1897). The Thomas Hunt and the America. 1852. Oil on canvas. A self-taught artist, Bard devoted his career to painting "portraits" of the steamboats and sailing ships that traversed the Hudson River and the waters surrounding Manhattan. He often received commissions from boat builders and operators. This rare double portrait represents his finest known work, featuring the steamboat Thomas Hunt and the yacht America-the latter having returned to New York from England after its celebrated victory in August 1851 in the first America's Cup race. Bard captured the competition between sail and steam, celebrating the advances made in the design and engineering of these vessels.
These images were taken in the pottery gallery and there was no accompanying information alongside the pieces.
This is an example of a tinsel painting. It is created through a combination of glass painting and then affixing foiled papers. There was no accompanying information alongside about the maker or the date.
This painting was on one side of a large painted trunk. There was no information alongside this about the maker or the date of the piece.Mary Austin (born 1773). Sampler, 1784. Salem, Massachusetts. Silk embroidery on linen.
