Long before I booked my trip that included New York City, I had read about the Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art that was going to coincide with my travel dates.
Since my favorite art period is Impressionism I gladly purchased my ticket.
Imagine my surprise when a controversy began after my visit that the Met is FREE!
They just word the ticket website very tricky so people think they must pay $25.
I don't mind supporting the arts but, I had thought it strange the ticket price had read ' suggested ticket price'...
I even received an explanation about my purchase from the Met after the controversy broke.
Enough complaining about $$.
The Metropolitan Museum is HUGE! I tried to ignore all the other amazing exhibits and go straight to the Impressionism and Fashion exhibit but, I confess I had to ask directions more than once :)
The Impressionism and Fashion exhibit was 8 galleries of paintings and actual garments from the same period that the artists were painting.
This is Gallery 1- Refashioning Figure Painting. The artists full length figure painting was a departure from the normal portrait paintings. The role of fashion in the works of Impressionists and their contemporaries was " for painters of modern life, fashion mattered ".
This exhibited French Day Dress from 1865-67 is made of gray silk faille.
The dress is exactly like the dress in the exhibit painting by Claude Monet in 1868
Gallery 3-The White Dress. The simplicity of the white dress was reflected in the artists renderings of large diaphanous gowns. The bold brush strokes went well with the bold absence of details in the gowns.
Gallery 2- En Plein Air. This gallery was impressive because two panels of Claude Monet's 20 foot wide "Luncheon on the Grass " was shown together for the first time in the USA.
En Plein Air is French for literally in the open air. And that is what the Impressionist artists were trying to capture; the light, the shadow, the spontaneity.
This is an exhibited American Day dress from 1862-64.
It is made of white cotton pique with black soutache.
Gallery 5- The Dictates of Style. The large painting is " In The Conservatory " by Albert Bartholome 1881. It shows the fashion changing from the bustle to a more streamlined style. Artists also were again interested in the details on the fabrics and how light and shadow played off the textiles.
No photos were allowed in the exhibit and I have loaded all the images off the Metropolitan website.
More information and images are available at www.metmuseum.org
And if you have the good fortune to go to the exhibit, remember it's free!
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