Metropolitan Museum of Art

I visited NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the way from the metro to the Met, I got caught in a torrential downpour, it was beautiful and I decided to stay out in it, and ran to the museum from the 77th St/Lexington metro stop. That's about 10 blocks. By the time I got inside the museum, I was soaked. I had to go into the ladies room and literally wring out my clothes. I always love thunder and lightning though and don't mind getting rain on me. My favorite work in the museum is the Paul Klee painting shown above, 'May Picture,' 1925, oil on cardboard.

My second favorite painting, after the Klee, is this bright work by Jean Dubuffet, 1944, oil/canvas, "A View of Paris with Furtive Pedestrians" (it's kind of a funny title but I love the bold colors and the playfulness):
There were so many wonderful works of art at the museum, but I'll put just a few that I liked here for you to see. The Met's website has a great online database of all the works of art at the museum, with MUCH better resolution than these here.

Detail of Henri Edmund Cross, Landscape with Pine Trees, 1896 (aren't the colors wonderful!): Picasso's 1901 "Girl in Profile," oil on cardboard mounted on masonite (I particularly like the soft colors and the blending, this work is very different from his later stuff):

Picasso's 1901 "Harlequin" - I like the geometric and floral fabrics depicted:
"Figures on the Beach" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
Paul Signac, (detail) "View of Collioure," 1887 ( I love the play of light and shadow in the architecture):
Niles Spencer, "Erie Underpass," 1949, oil on canvas (Precisionism):
Cezanne's "Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert," 1866:

Paul Gauguin's "A Farm in Brittany," 1894:
Edward Hopper, 1929, The Lighthouse at 2 Lights, oil on canvas ( I love Hopper's play of light, simplicity of arrangement, and the color of the sky and wispiness of the clouds in this work):
Maurice de Vlaminck, "The Seine at Chatou," 1906, oil on canvas - I love the colors and the organization of the various elements in the composition (ie about 2/3 of the composition is water, and 1/3 is the sky) - also, I like the simple little houses and simple trees on the opposite shore at the skyline:

Edgar Degas, "View of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme," 1896-98:
Andre Derain, "House of Parliament at Night," 1905-6:
Andre Derain, "Fishing Boats Collioure," 1905:
Andre Derain, "Lucien Gilbert," 1905:

The museum had an exhibit of works by local public schools, the exhibit titled "P.S. Art 2008." I enjoyed many of the works, including this by Chelsea D., age 12, "The Gentle Touch," linoleum-cut print, PS 859, teacher Laurie Marcus:

A random window I saw while walking through the streets in the downpour (I like the shapes, it reminds me a little of some of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's stuff):

I saw this chair I really liked in a store window across from the Manhattan Home Depot (yes, there IS a Home Depot downtown - don't know if people haul their lumber on the subway):

Here is some more art from the Met. This is Gustave Caillebotte, "Le Pont de Argenteuil":
Paul Cezanne's 1892-94 "The House with the Cracked Walls" (I love most all of Cezanne's work but I particularly like this one. Do you think he named the painting himself, or did someone later find the work and title it:
Cezanne, "The Card Players," 1890:
Josef Alvers, "Pillars,", 1928, glass, fiberboard (I'm thinking: inspiration for a quilt):

Thomas Hart Benton, (detail) "July Hay,", 1943, egg tempera/methylcellulose/oil on Masonite:
Umberto Boccioni, "The Street Pavers," 1914:
And last, but definitely not least (in fact, well into my top five favorite works at the Met), this art by Victor Brauner, "Prelude to a Civilization," 1954, encaustic, pen and ink on masonite - each little animal/character inside the cow/large animal has a lot of detail and pattern that could inspire a different quilt or artwork (three detail shots follow after the main piece) - click on the artist/title link for more detail about the painting: