Metropolitan Museum - New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York , NY 10028-0198

(212) 879-5500

Website

Overall impression : The Metropolitan Museum, more accurately a collection of museums, was a must for art lovers in the New York area. With two million artifacts spanning 5,000 years of art history, the sheer size of the Metropolitan Museum was daunting. It was the kind of place best enjoyed in multiple viewings and visits.  There are only a small number of museums in the world with such large and diverse collections. Of those, few allow visitors as much room to admire and enjoy their extraordinary collections. When we visited The Metropolitan Museum, there were tours, audio guides, several eateries and souvenir shops to enhance the experience.

Visited by more than five million people a year, the Metropolitan Museum was a bustling art reservoir. In spite of large crowds, the afternoon we were by there was plenty of space to enjoy the fine art; we were even able to approach individual sculptures and paintings to observe a detail or identify a signature. This was noteworthy because getting within a couple of feet of major artworks at other comparable museums can be a tricky.

Getting around was a challenge initially. The maps available at the information desk were helpful though at times directions were necessary. Several hour-long familiarization tours were available. Obtaining accurate, up-to-date information or any kind of personalized welcome was difficult. Once or twice we encountered helpful staff members. Most of the staff attitudes we observed ranged from indifferent, to arrogant to offensive.

Owned :  The City of New York and the trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a nonprofit organization, formed a partnership to bring the Museum's services to the public.  The complex of buildings in Central Park is the property of the City, which provides for the Museum's heat, light, and power.  The City also pays for about half the cost of maintenance and security for the facility and its collections.  The trustees are responsible for all conservation and education expenses.

Managed :  Director Philippe de Montebello and a board of trustees

Established: 1870

Size: Two million square foot building

Handicapped access : Yes

Tours : A one-hour familiarization tour was included in the price of admission. Museum brochures mention tours in ten languages.

Audio tours : A random access recorded guide to selections from the permanent collection and special exhibitions was available. 

Average duration of visit : Requires multiple visits

Exhibit: Permanent collections included: American wings; Arms and Armor; Arts of Africa Oceania and the Americas; Costume Institute; Egyptian Art; European Sculpture and Decorative Arts; Greek and Roman Art; Robert Lehman Collection; Medieval Art; Modern Art; Roof Garden; Ancient Near Eastern Art; Chinese Art; Cypriot Art; Drawings and Prints; European Paintings; Islamic Art; Japanese Art; Korean Art; Modern Art; Musical Instruments; Nineteenth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture; Photographs; South and Southeast Asian Art.

Salient areas included: The American Wing, which housed the world's most comprehensive collection of American paintings, sc ulpture, and decorative arts. It included 24 period rooms.  The Museum's approximately 2,500 European paintings formed one of the greatest such collections in the world – Rembrandts and Vermeers alone were among the choicest. It was also home to many noteworthy Impressionist and Post-Impressionist canvases.  It boasted 36,000 objects constituting the greatest collection of Egyptian art outside Cairo . 

Souvenir shop: Several shops off the Great Hall. Other areas were for members and by-invitation. In addition to the many books, audio recordings, statues, scarves, and other common museum souvenirs, the gift shops sold a broad range of jewelry inspired by items from the Museum’s collection.

An example of that was the Mughal jewelry collection, produced in connection with the exhibition “Treasury of the World”: Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals. The Museum collaborated with The Gem Palace in Jaipur, jewelry suppliers to India’s royal families for generations, to produce a line of jewelry. Based primarily on historical objects and traditional Indian motifs in the Museum’s collection, the one-of-a-kind pieces, worth between $750 and $35,000, reflected the artistic achievements of the Mughal period.   

Other: When we visited the Museum, cellular phones were prohibited in the building including the galleries, dining areas, library and auditoriums.

The Museum had 17 curatorial departments and approximately 1,800 full-time employees and 900 volunteers. In recent years, its educational programs have been attended by 350,000 people per year. These programs included tours, lectures, symposia, film showings, teacher-training workshops, visitor information, reference library services, and apprenticeship and fellowship programs.

Most recent visit : March 2004

Would you visit this museum again:  Yes