I spent a Saturday at the Metropolitan Museum a few weeks ago. It was a student trip, and I hitched a ride too, along with some of my Intro to Studio students.
It is always a refuge to enter those soaring galleries. Such an affirmation. Art speaks over the centuries. Art is valued and honored.

I was eye to eye with old friends like Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh and Matisse. I must say, the view from a wheel chair is very different.

Cezanne!

I was able to be up close and personal with  the paintings in a way that I had not experienced before. And it seemed easier to examine technique from that angle, especially because the pace is so much slower.

This Cezanne was particularly fascinating. It almost seemed unfinished because of the way his rough, dry brushstrokes were revealed.

Because I’m teaching an art history survey this semester I was eager to spend time with the medieval works. The jewel like color and exquisite realism are truly amazing.

Paradise
Giovanni di Paolo 1398–1482 Siena

And of course wandering through the more modern works was a great pleasure as well. I never get tired of Brancusi. And it was very cool to find works by two clay artists who I  actually knew: Ruth Duckworth and Rudy Autio. They’re both gone now, but their work is powerful and timeless. I invited Ruth to critique my thesis show at MICA years ago. And Rudy was close friends with the clay department there. And a great swing dancer!
I don’t know that I would ever want to visit the Met in a wheel chair again.

A visit with Constantine the Great.

But I certainly would rather visit that way, than not visit at all. I had a blissful six hours there.

On the way out I looked for the Bust of Constantine. It seemed oddly smaller than I remembered it from years ago, but  was still an amazing feat of carving.

Have you been to the Met lately? If not, head on down as soon as you can.
ps. I’m down to one crutch now, and should be able to fling that into the wind in a few weeks. Fingers crossed!