Ancient art featuring gods of the Maya showcased at the Met

Whistle with the Maize God emerging from a flower. Mexico, Late Classic period (600–900). Ceramic, pigment, H. 8 1/8in. (20.7cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Michael C. Rockefeller memorial collection, bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979. (1979.206.728)
Whistle with the Maize God emerging from a flower. Mexico, Late Classic period (600–900). Ceramic, pigment, H. 8 1/8in. (20.7cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Michael C. Rockefeller memorial collection, bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979. (1979.206.728)
Whistle with the Maize God emerging from a flower. Mexico, Late Classic period (600–900). Ceramic, pigment, H. 8 1/8in. (20.7cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Michael C. Rockefeller memorial collection, bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979. (1979.206.728)

NEW YORK — In Maya art — one of the greatest artistic traditions of the ancient Americas — the gods are depicted in all stages of life: as infants, as adults at the peak of their maturity and influence, and finally, as they age. The gods could perish, and some were born anew, providing a model of regeneration and resilience. Opening November 21 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and continuing through April 2, 2023, the exhibition Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art will bring together nearly 100 rarely seen masterpieces and recent discoveries in diverse media — from the monumental to the miniature — that depict episodes in the life cycle of the gods, from the moment of their birth to resplendent transformations as blossoming flowers or fearsome creatures of the night.

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Met drops Sackler name amid opioid ire

April 2017 panoramic image of the space in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses the Temple of Dendur. The Met and the Sacklers announced on December 10, 2021 that the family name would be removed from the museum building. Image by Paulo JC Nogueira, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
April 2017 panoramic image of the space in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses the Temple of Dendur. The Met and the Sacklers announced on December 10, 2021 that the family name would be removed from the museum building. Image by Paulo JC Nogueira, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
April 2017 panoramic image of the space in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses the Temple of Dendur. The Met and the Sacklers announced on December 10, 2021 that the family name would be removed from the museum building. Image by Paulo JC Nogueira, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

NEW YORK (AP) – The Metropolitan Museum of Art is dropping the Sackler name from seven exhibition spaces amid growing outrage over the role the family may have played in the opioid crisis.

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Met receives $1M grant from Stavros Niarchos Foundation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today an endowment in support of its Department of Live Arts, made possible by a generous grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). With this gift of $1 million, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Live Arts Endowment will provide funds for the Museum’s MetLiveArts program in perpetuity, enabling it to continue presenting high-impact productions of opera, music and dance inspired by the Museum’s collection, while also engaging with both emerging and acclaimed artists from diverse backgrounds.

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Alex Da Corte adds whimsy to Met Roof Garden

Installation view, the Roof Garden commission, Alex Da Corte, ‘As Long as the Sun Lasts,’ 2021.
Installation view, the Roof Garden commission, Alex Da Corte, ‘As Long as the Sun Lasts,’ 2021.
Installation view, the Roof Garden commission, Alex Da Corte, ‘As Long as the Sun Lasts,’ 2021.

NEW YORK – For The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2021 Roof Garden commission, Philadelphia-based artist Alex Da Corte has created a 26-foot-tall kinetic sculpture featuring the beloved Sesame Street character Big Bird and the modern aesthetic of Alexander Calder’s standing mobiles. The Roof Garden commission: Alex Da Corte, As Long as the Sun Lasts will be on view April 16 through October 31.

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Met exhibition features Karl Bodmer’s Native North American portraits

Karl Bodmer, Hotokáneheh, Piegan Blackfoot Man, 1833. Watercolor and graphite on paper, 11 15/16 x 17 1/16 in, 1986.49.288, Joslyn Art Museum, Gift of the Enron Art Foundation, 1986

NEW YORK – Karl Bodmer: North American Portraits, an exhibition on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 5 through July 25, 2021, will present a compelling visual response to Native North America through watercolors created in the 1830s by the Swiss draftsman Karl Bodmer (1809–1893). Bodmer was one of the most accomplished and prolific European artists to travel the Missouri River, and one of the first to document both the landscapes of the American interior and its Indigenous peoples. Continue reading