Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the good things about using Bank of America is that you can get admission to a number of museums around the country for FREE the first weekend of every month. I have been trying to take advantage of this for months....finally we made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art last Sunday!




First stop was the 19th and 20th century European art.

Cypress Trees in a Wheat Field, Van Gogh

Jordan has studied Vincent Van Gogh in her art class, so she really appreciates his pieces. I love that she already has an appreciation for fine art.....and she is truly a wonderful artist herself.

Roses, Van Gogh

Self-portrait with a Straw Hat

Irises

Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers have always been some of my favorites....this one most especially.

Water Lilies, Claude Monet.....another favorite artist

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat......anyone know the technique he used for this most famous of his paintings?

I can't speak for anyone else in my family, but for me the piece de resistance of our visit was this wonderful sculpture of a ballerina by Edgar Degas, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years.

Look closely to the detail of her dress....the neckline, the buttons........

and the skirt........

Now look carefully at this photo of the Phantom ballerinas...click on the image to enlarge it if necessary. Do you see similarities? You should....these Phantom costumes were inspired by the very numerous and famous ballet paintings by Degas.

The Dance Class

Dancers in Blue
Rehearsal on Stage......this one might be a little hard to see, the lighting in the room wasn't very good. But I wanted to take this picture to show the kids that Ian Falconer used it in his story, Olivia.

Jaron was dying to see the Egyptian art, so before we left we walked through real quick. Remember, he LOVES the sarcophagus at the Princeton University Art Museum.....is this sarcophagus not just huge?
And he loved the bottom of it with the hieroglyphics.

We walked through a very cramped tomb :/

And saw several more sarcophagi.....is that plural for sarcophagus?


Just look at these hieroglyphics.....can you believe someone alive in Ancient Egypt actually carved these into stone?!


Last stop was the gift store, but we only went to the basement for the clearance stuff!! We found a set of magnets to add to our collection and I discovered this canvas bag with a Degas painting for only $11....it was meant to be!!!

My next "cultural enrichment" activity will be a trip to the Museum of Modern Art. They have free admission on Fridays from 4-8pm. So very soon we will make that short trip and see Van Gogh's Starry Night....Jordan's favorite.

In the cab ride on the way to the museum Jordan said, "Maybe one day I will have a painting in the Museum of Modern Art."

What a goal.........and I wouldn't be surprised if she does ;)