Visiting the Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a jaw-droppingly massive museum. It goes through thousands of years of art history from all over the world!

Initially upon entering the museum, I thought it would be a breeze. It didn’t look as big on the outside… I recommend dedicating two days to visiting this museum if you want to explore everything. The museum is packed full of stuff – it feels like a never ending labyrinth of pottery, paintings, tools and trinkets and oh so much stuff!

The MET has two main floors. From the map alone, it doesn’t seem too big but every room is jam-packed full of information. Individuals enter through The Great Hall, where tickets to enter the museum can be purchased, information and pamphlets are displayed, and one of the MET gift stores is located. On either side of The Great Hall lie the Greek and Roman art and the Egyptian art section. Both of these sections are so freakin’ cool. Just look at these pictures:

There’s also the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing which shows art from Oceania, Africa, and the Ancient Americas.

Funny story about Rockefeller (not really funny, this is the only thing I know about him) – Michael went on an expedition to the Asmat region of Dutch New Guinea. He was absolutely fascinated with their artwork and wanted to learn more through expeditions and adventure. During their expedition, their dugout canoe was overturned and they were stuck while two local guides went to go get help. Michael decided to head towards shore but… he never came back.

This led to a massive investigation. Initially it was speculated that he drowned but soon theories of cannibalism and murder came out. It’s an insane story and the family only claims that he drowned despite some curious information from the people of that area. Basically, he was definitely killed by them and probably eaten too.

Anyway back to the MET, there’s a Modern and Contemporary art section I admittedly did not get a chance to visit. There’s also a massive section on Medieval art that explores a lot of religious artworks and another section on European sculptures and decorative arts. There’s a huge American Wing which is expansive and gorgeous. Like there is just way too much stuff to look at. Finally on the first floor, there’s the Robert Lehman Wing plus another gallery and theatre. It doesn’t sound so bad when typed out but oh my goodness it is OVERWHELMINGLY big. Each section has so much stuff it becomes nauseating. Which is good actually!

The second floor has an extension of the American artworks plus the best part of the museum, European paintings!!! I love how expansive this area is. There are so so so many different eras of painting from so many artists. Their different techniques and subject matter are so awe inspiring.

There are a couple smaller sections and galleries scattered throughout the second floor but the other main attractions is the extension of the Modern and Contemporary art section, 19th and 20th century European paintings and sculpture, arts from the Arab lands (Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia) art from ancient West Asia and ancient Cyprus, musical instruments, and a massive section on Asian art.

I unfortunately did not get to explore much besides some of the Asian art section, the extension of the American wing, and some of the European paintings before the MET closed for the day.

Despite that, what I did see was spectacular! Which is why I recommended giving yourself two days to thoroughly explore everything inside this place.

One thing that was absolutely lovely about the MET was being able to see some of the artworks I learned about in class here at Marywood.

My favorite part of every museum are the statues. Specifically the Roman and Greek ones. They are so jaw-droppingly smooth and they almost glow in the light. Their movement is so elegant and poise. I would love to learn sculpture in the future as it is so endearing and impressive.

Seeing artwork in person is SO much better to study, analyze, and appreciate. Marywood’s art department has two field trips per school year to different museums n’ stuff, including the MET! I recommend keeping an eye out as the cost is significantly reduced for students.