My Friday at the Met

Friday night I decided to skip any plans of working out for a night at the Met.  I had heard great things about the Matisse exhibit which ended yesterday and was also super interested in 'Impressionism, fashion & modernity,' so instead of going to see the Matisse exhibit with everyone else in Manhattan that had waited until the 11th hour on Saturday or Sunday, I stopped in on Friday and hit both.

The Matisse exhibit was beautiful and I learned a lot about his art and how he worked.  What was really interesting is that he created more than one iteration for almost every subject that he painted, "For Matisse, the process of creation was not simply a means to an end but a dimension of his art that was as important as the finished canvas." 

I also love that he wasn't afraid of color, or the effect that it could have on his subject.

The below is such a great example of his belief that each step of the way was just as important as the final product.  

When I walked into the next exhibit, I knew that I had obviously made the right choice about my Friday night.  

Grand paintings by Impressionists, Tissot, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Degas and many more filled the walls beautifully while clothing from the era, and sometimes from the exact painting hanging on the wall was displayed throughout, it was, dare I say, magical.  

"In seeking to establish their reputations in the Paris art world of the 1860's, painters of all stripe gravitated to contemporary dress as the key to invigorating threadbare traditions with modern sentiment."

"What poet in sitting down to paint the pleasure caused by the sight of a beautiful woman, would venture to separate her from her costume." -Charles Baudelaire

Impressionism also changed where painters showed their subjects, instead of posing them for a portrait the painter began capturing them in their daily activities.   I studied both paintings above and below in an art history class in college, I'll never cease to enjoy being in the presence of this kind of work.  If you have a chance to make it to the Met before this exhibit closes, I highly recommend it. 

"The Pariesienne is not in fashion, she is fashion." -Arséne Houssaye