The Vermeer-less Show





Tuesday I took off as a personal day to go to the Metropolitan Museum of art to see the Vermeer show. I am in love with the movie Girl with the Pearl Earring, and show it in some of my high school studio art classes as and I looked forward to seeing the actual painting.

The trip down was fun. A stop at Smiths Pub for a grill cheese and Bloody Mary. A stroll down 5th Avenue for a bit. A stop into St. Patrick and Rockefeller Plaza, where the skaters grinned widely as it was over 50 degrees and the sun was shining. The tree and sculpture peered out from the scaffolding teasing us with what is to come.The 5th Avenue shops were decorated for the holiday and the windows sparkled and beckoned like German glass glitter.

The MET was crowded. But since it IS so huge, only the special exhibits showed any signs of over crowding. After wandering through Ancient Egypt, Greece, Roman, and Oceanic art, we arrived at the Vermeer Exhibit. Very crowded, (and a bit stinky I have to say--too many weird odors in too small a place for MY nose) and much to my dismay, after running around all three rooms quickly, I found that there were only 6 Vermeer's out of the 32 that he painted, and the Pearl Earring was not one of them!

It was nice to see the few that I saw, but I was disappointed. I did not some to see his teacher's work, or read about the symbolism in the art of the time, I came to see the Vermeers dammit!!!!! I can read about the rest of that stuff in books or online!

Later on, slightly disappointed, we landed in the cafe, mulling over the show sipping on a martini and slurping squash soup.

Still I was inspired by the day, and realize that for the years that I have left in my teaching career, I am going to do some more direct research/interaction and photographing for my classes by hanging out in NYC Museums from time to time.

Oh and I did get one photo of one of the paintings before the guards snagged me and said NO PHOTOS. I guess becaue the Met makes money from special exhibits through post cards, books,etc., they don't want you to photograph the art. Pretty much everything else in the place is fair game, as long as you don't use a flash.

Here are a few photos..off to do some research... (LOVING MY CAMERA LARRY!!)

Patti O Tripper

Comments

Tangled Stitch said…
I read the book about the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Never saw the movie and every time it's on I catch the very end and click off. I also never went to the museum even though I lived down there for 44 of my 50 years. Maybe next time I visit.
Tangled Stitch said…
Hi Patti, just wanted to let you know there is a Vermeer documentary on Ovation at 10:00 tonight.

Popular posts from this blog

La Cucina

Cape Painting

Framing: Sources for Frames