Museum Junkie: Met reopens its American wing

by Sean McLachlan on

The American wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York reopened yesterday after two years of construction and renovation. The museum’s excellent collection of American painting, sculpture, and minor arts has taken on new life with a major remodel that includes a reconfigured main courtyard containing thirty pieces of important sculpture. A video of the stunning, light-filled courtyard can be seen here.

The new interior uses generous amounts of glass as well as an airy, open interior to create a beautiful space within which to admire American art. People have often bypassed this section to make a beeline to the more famous medieval and Egyptian galleries, but the American wing has an amazing collection of works that can hold their own with any period of art.

In this museum junkie’s opinion, the most interesting part of this wing has always been the period rooms, two of which are pictured in the gallery below. These are twenty original interiors from all periods of American history, ranging from 1680 to 1914, that really bring you into the feel of the time. New digital interpretation panels help you see beyond the pretty furniture and architecture to understand how these places were actually lived in. It’s all part of the museum’s commitment to make a more visitor-friendly experience and bring American art more into the public’s attention.

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Looking for cheap art? Where else but China

by Jerry Guo on

You know those innocuous paintings hanging in your average hotel room? Ever think where they came from or who painted them? Well, like most consumer products, in all likelihood they came from China, specifically a village near Hong Kong called Dafen. And they were probably painted by poor–but entrepreneurial–factory workers who dreamed of becoming successful artists in a big city (but never quite got there).

Here are some pictures from Dafen, which looks like a remarkable place. In China, what you’ve got are entire villages popping up that are devoted to manufacturing one single item. In the case of Dafen, it’s your standard Andy Warhols, Gustav Klimts, Manets, Audubons, Da Vincis, etc.

Some of the paintings are a steal. $3 for a hand-painted Vincent van Gogh (sunflowers). Others are a bit more expensive, a $350 sprawling canvas of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “The Luncheon of the Boating Party.”

Here are more shots. You’ll have to see it to believe it.