The Met
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The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.Auction Previews & News
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ExhibitionsGerman Museums, the Met, and Others Move to Return Benin Bronzes
In 1897, British soldiers looted thousands of cultural, religious, and artistic artifacts from the Kingdom of Benin. These works disappeared into the private market and found their way into museums across Europe and North America. Today, calls for the repatriation of the Benin Bronzes have increased in volume. Some institutions are finally taking action. After exploring the link between Benin Bronzes and the auction world in April, Auction Daily checks on the progress toward repatriation. Brass leopard-shaped aquamanile from Benin. Image courtesy of Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Germany Commits to Repatriation As repatriation drew more media attention and public support in early 2021, museums and cultural institutions faced increasing pressure to return their looted Benin Bronzes. Germany was among the first European countries to take a tangible step forward. Approximately 1,130 items from Benin are currently held by institutions across Germany. Repatriation talks between the German government, museum officials, and Nigerian partners began in March. Cultural ministers and officials from 25 institutions met to develop a coordinated plan for repatriation. In late June, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation’s board agreed to the repatriation plans. The board authorized director Hermann Parzinger to negotiate the return “regardless of the circumstances in which they were acquired” by Berlin museums. This move will affect Berlin’s Ethnological Museum, which contains around 530 objects from Benin. Only the British Museum holds more looted items in a single collection. The Foundation stated that the repatriation process will begin in early 2022. “We see Germany as a leader in the efforts to take practical steps to repatriate our stolen artefacts, and we hope Germany will sustain that lead,” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, stated in a planning meeting with German officials. Mohammed also emphasized the need for the complete and unconditional return of the Benin Bronzes, including those housed outside of Berlin. Left: “Warrior Chief,” 16th-century brass plaque. Right: “Junior Court Official,” 16th-century brass plaque. Images courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met Returns Two Bronzes Berlin museums will join New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art…
Art IndustryMinted and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Launch Design Collaboration Supporting the Arts and Independent Artists
Classic Works of Art Are Reimagined as Contemporary Holiday Card and Greeting Card Designs by Minted’s Global Community of Independent Artists SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Minted, the design marketplace that brings unique design from the best independent artists to consumers everywhere, today announced a collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eleven of Minted’s independent artists created holiday card and greeting card designs inspired by iconic works of art from The Met collection. A portion of every purchase will support The Met, which recently reopened its doors to the public, as well as the independent artists from Minted’s community who created the designs. The Minted x The Met collection consists of 12 holiday cards and eight greeting cards by 11 artists from Minted’s community: Brandy Brown, Karly Depew, Amy Ehmann, Tina Furjanic, Petra Kern, Angela Marzuki, Susan Moyal, Rachel Nanfelt, Angel Walker, Lori Wemple, and Jennifer Wick. The Minted artists have drawn inspiration from works in The Met’s collection, ranging in medium from tapestry to stained glass, and reimagined them as contemporary designs. Each holiday card and greeting card includes a message about the Museum’s mission, the work of art that served as inspiration, and the independent artist who designed it. Customers may personalize the holiday cards with their own text and photos. “As a modern marketplace dedicated to delivering great independent design to people everywhere, Minted is honored to collaborate with The Met, one of the world’s preeminent art museums,” said Minted Founder and CEO Mariam Naficy. “With our Minted x The Met holiday card collection, we are banding together to support both the museum and independent artists in a very challenging year for the arts. Museum goers and art lovers can feel good knowing that they're contributing to the arts while also sending holiday cheer, which is needed in abundance this season.” “We are thrilled to partner with Minted, the leading online platform for emerging and independent artists and designers,” said Stephen Mannello, Head of Retail at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “It is more important than ever to bring The Met’s mission and artwork to the public online in innovative ways. We’re…
Art IndustryThe Met Acquires Ancient Egyptian Gilded Coffin
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that it has acquired an ancient Egyptian gilded cartonnage coffin from the first century B.C. The highly ornamented lid of the coffin is displayed prominently in the Museum's Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries for Egyptian Art (gallery 138), where it will be seen and enjoyed by millions of visitors. Gilded Coffin Lid for the Priest Nedjemankh (detail).Late Ptolemaic Period (150-50 B.C.). Cartonnage, gold, silver, resin, glass, wood. Purchase, 2017 Benefit Fund; Lila Acheson Wallace Gift; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; Leona Sobel Education and The Camille M. Lownds Funds; and 2016 Benefit Fund, 2017 (2017.255b). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York "This beautiful and unusual coffin is extremely rare, and we are honored to welcome it to the Museum's collection," said Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO of The Met. "It is an extraordinary work of art that will give our visitors the opportunity to appreciate a fascinating period of Egyptian history." The mummiform coffin was inscribed for Nedjemankh, a high-ranking priest of the ram-headed god Heryshef of Herakleopolis. The elaborately decorated surface includes scenes and texts in thick gesso relief that were intended to protect and guide Nedjemankh on his journey from death to eternal life as a transfigured spirit. The coffin's exterior is sheathed in gold, which ----- because of its permanent nature ----- was associated in ancient Egypt with the gods and the divinized dead. According to ancient texts, the use of gold in the coffin would have assisted the deceased being reborn in the next life. Unique to this coffin are the thin sheets of silver foil on the interior of the lid, intended to protect Nedjemankh's face. To the ancient Egyptians, the precious metals gold and silver symbolized several things. On a general level, they could represent the flesh and bones of the gods, or the sun and the moon; on a more specific level, they were identified with the eyes of the cosmic deity Heryshef, whom Nedjemankh served. Even more remarkably, the long inscription on the front of the coffin's lid explicitly connects…
