Movies •Books •Music •Food •Tv Shows •Technology •Politics •Video Games •Parenting •Fashion •Green Living •more >

Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide Revised Edition » User review

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide Revised Ed...

Book

Edit Topic

< read all 2 reviews

Memories to cherish forever!

Mar 21, 2010

by cpw1952
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Like the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum is a fabulously wealthy storehouse of incalculable value, "a living encyclopedia of world art. Every culture from every part of the world - from Florence to Thebes to Papua New Guinea - from the earliest times to the present and in every medium", "frequently at the highest levels of quality and invention", is represented. Also like the Louvre, its holdings are immense - "more than three million works of art, of which several hundred thousand are on view."

The guide, organized in the same fashion as the museum, suffers only by its inability to represent the museum completely. Choices had to be made. How incredible is it that the museum holds thirty paintings by Monet and the editors of the guide were forced to choose only four? How many museums in the world could lay claim to having five paintings by an artist as illustrious as Vermeer and yet be limited to including only three in their guide?

Having been fortunate enough to indulge in a recent visit to the museum, I can tell you that all five works by Vermeer and all thirty by Monet were as magnificent as one might imagine. The guide (a wonderful way to prepare in advance for any upcoming visit) will serve as a memorable souvenir and the descriptive text written by the curatorial staff of the museum will serve to elucidate the history and context of the individual pieces of art that were chosen to best represent the museum as a whole.

Highly recommended as a way of enjoying the world's art even if you think you will never be in a position to enjoy the visit in person.

Paul Weiss

What did you think of this review?

Helpful

Thought-Provoking

Fun to Read

Well-Organized

Post a Comment

Adrianna March 23, 2010

I couldn't agree with you more about enjoying the world's art through books, especially if you can't visit in person. I'm limited by the area where I live, so I "travel and see" new places by reading about them. I really wish they didn't have to reduce the number of Monet paintings for the guide, though. What a pity!

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

More The Metropolitan Museum of Art... reviews

Quick Tip by Lauren328. July 02, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

A Quick Tip by Lauren328

One of my favorite museums in NY! Guide was helpful and informative.

Comment Compliment

see all The Metropolitan Museum of Art... reviews (2)

About the reviewer

Paul Weiss (cpw1952)
Ranked #18

A modern day dilettante with widely varied eclectic interests. A dabbler in muchbut grandmaster of none - wilderness camping in all four seasons, hiking, canoeing, world travel,philately, … more