Permanent Installations
New American Wing, Part 2 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
By STAN PARCHIN
July 7, 2010
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| The Charles Englehard Court (2009). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| William Wetmore Story (American, 1819-1895). Cleopatra (1858; this carving, 1859). Marble. H. 141 cm; W. 84.5 cm; D. 130.8 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| Daniel Chester French (American, 1850-1931). Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial (1906-8; this carving, 1912-15). Marble. H. 306.1 cm; W. 145.4 cm; D. 73 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| Tiffany Studios (American, 1902-1932). Design attributed to Agnes Northrup (American, 1857-1953). Autumn Landscape (1923). Leaded Favrile glass. H. 335.3 cm; W. 259.1 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| New York Dutch Room (1751). Daniel Peter Winne House on Van Rensselaer Manor, Albany County, New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
The second phase of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's New American Wing premiered on May 19, 2009 after a two-year renovation. The Charles Engelhard Court, its windows revealing a beautiful Central Park vista, was transformed by a fresh display of some 60 large-scale marble and bronze sculptures, mosaics, stained glass and architectural elements. Its balcony's collection of ceramics, glassware, silver and pewter was reorganized chronologically, by medium and by theme. Fine jewelry was introduced. A mezzanine gallery, recently constructed, became the home of more than 250 examples of American art pottery (1876-1956) previously unseen by the public, the promised gift of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.
Behind the Neoclassical Façade of the Branch Bank of the United States (1822-24) from Wall Street, a dozen of the museum's 20 outstanding period rooms that date from 1680 to 1810 were reordered and upgraded with fiber-optic lighting. Touch-screen computers were installed to provide visitors with easy access to information about each domestic interior's history, architectural design and contents, including relevant paintings.
Charles Englehard Court
Diana (1893-94), a stunning weathervane by Augustus Saint Gaudens (1848-1907), serves as the renewed Charles Englehard Court's majestic focal point. Surrounding it are 33 sculptures with familiar works since regrouped. The figurative statuary is bordered by the bank façade of Martin E. Thompson (1786-1877) and the exotic Loggia (ca. 1905) designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) for the main entrance of Laurelton Hall, his estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island.
Relocated from the American Wing's balcony to the first floor is Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial (1912-15) by Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). The extraordinary Beaux-Arts marble monument commemorates the lives of three Union army brothers who died during the American Civil War (1861-65). Other prominent artists featured in the airy space include Hiram Powers (1805-1873), William Wetmore Story (1819-1895), John La Farge (1835-1910), Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980) and Paul Manship (1885-1966).
Balcony Galleries
The court's balcony galleries exhibit the museum's unsurpassed collection of American silver, pewter and glass from early colonial times to the 20th Century. Two vitrines (display cases) are dedicated to jewelry. Every major designer of stained glass, including Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), is represented in The Met's installation, the most comprehensive of its kind in the United States. On the mezzanine level, ceramic objects from the aforementioned Ellison Gift remain on view.
Period Rooms
Nineteen of the museum's incomparable 20 historic interiors trace the evolution of American domestic architecture and interior design on three floors. Beginning with the Hart Room (1680), the art-historical narrative concludes with the Frank Lloyd Wright Room (1912-14). Recently acquired, the Rockefeller Dressing Room (1881) opens next year.
Added to the sequence is the New York Dutch Room (1751) from Albany County's Daniel Peter Winne House. Its construction, portraits, silverware, painted glass, ceramics and furniture reflect colonial New York's enduring ties to Netherlandish culture. The museum's groote kaner recreates a New Amsterdam home's main chamber, a communal space used for food preparation, socializing, displaying one's possessions, storage and sleeping.
Morrison H. Heckscher, the Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing, stated: "The renovation's goal is to present the museum's superb collections in the clearest and most logical manner possible. Toward that end, we have called upon the building itself, in the use of clear glass for walls and parapets, to provide visual access to all of its facets.” Completion of the facility's upgrade, including eight new galleries for painting and sculpture, is scheduled for 2011.
Sources
Hibbard, Howard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Harrison House, 1980, 458-495.
Howard, Kathleen (ed.), et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, 16-43.