While the Met Breuer is in its infancy, the Met and I go way back. We were first introduced in college, when I studied art history for the first time. I spent many weekends in their libraries researching for assignments. I paid a few cents per visit, because I was broke and I needed to be there often! Years later, I finally joined the museum and would visit on occasion and attend their summer fundraiser. Now I am a resident of the upper east side, and find myself there fairly often. A lot of people in New York say they live here for the museums and culture. I actually go to at least 1-2 museums a week! So I’m sure you can understand my excitement when the Met announced they were opening an additional location called the Breuer on 75th and Madison. This is in addition to their main location on 5th Avenue inside of Central Park and the Cloisters in Washington Heights.
The Entrance to the Met Breuer
The Met Breuer is located on 75th and Madison, and despite invitations to preview days and member events, life happened and I couldn’t get there in the opening days. Then I tried to go on Monday. Despite my love of #MuseumMonday, many museums are closed on Mondays! So finally, I made it for my inaugural visit this week. While I love Museums and admiring art, I fully disclosed in the title I am an amateur. I took one art history course in college, but I am not able to give you in depth analysis of the works in this museum. I’m simply here to share the perspective of the average museum go-er.
The Met Breuer is focused on Modern and Contemporary art. To be completely honest with you, as I scanned the map of the Breuer, I wasn’t sure it was going to hold my attention for very long. The museum currently houses two exhibits on their three gallery floors. While the exhibit Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible is a modern exhibition, I was delight ed to see it contained works from the Renaissance to the present. And there was even one hands on piece! I wasn’t allowed to photograph it, so you’ll have to go see for yourself! I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to a “Please Touch Art Exhibition”. (hint hint)
Another of my favorites, and it reflected the day on which I visited the Museum. It was almost spring (we had sunshine), but there was still something missing (warmth).
My initial thought was, who wants to see a bunch of unfinished works of art? I started browsing the gallery and was relatively unimpressed, until I caught a glance of a portrait by Picasso.Picasso is most frequently associated with his cubism, and there are plenty of examples of those in the exhibit as well. The portrait drew me in, and then I realized the artists displayed in this gallery were really famous and influential. Then I noticed a Cezanne and a Pollack. Now they had my attention. I went back to the beginning and started over. Carefully reading each name plate. This exhibit is actually quite fabulous for the art historian and the amateur. You learn so much about the artists and their processes by viewing their unfinished work. Some of the pieces had fabulous stories behind them as well, but I’m not here to give it all away. I am hoping you will go see for yourself! Just be sure to read about Gustav Klimt‘s unfinished portrait entitled Posthumous Portrait of Ria Munk III. Knowing the stories around the creation and sometimes abandonment of the art adds a new depth and perspective. A few of the issues artists dealt with forcing them to abandon projects include illnesses, perfectionism, disgruntled commissioners, and death. Sometimes no one knows why a piece went unfinished.
This beautiful work by Pablo Picasso was the first piece of the exhibition to draw me in.
As I moved into the next room, I discovered the hands on exhibit. I didn’t participate, but I saw the joy of another aficianado as I walked by. One of the interesting parts of this exhibit is that it is up to your own imagination to determine what might have been. I saw what I tell myself was intended to be a mermaid (my favorites) just feet away from a beach. Yes, the brave souls at the Breuer actually brought sand into the museum. As I continued on my journey I found two Mondrians. I will definitely be back. My Mondrian style dress is begging to be photographed by this artwork. And then there were works of art that horrified me. As I stood in disbelief, trying to figure out what exactly was going on in these images. A fascinating sculpture garden filled a room and a wall of large modern panels thought to be representing a forrest concluded the first floor of this exhibit. As I left the floor, I was amazed at how thought provoking unfinished art could be.
I continued downstairs to see the Renaissance pieces and some of the impressionists. It was stunning piece after piece, each demanding your attention and itching to tell you its story. Portraits of famous people or beautiful scenes lined the walls of the gallery. Each of these paintings had at least story. The one left visible, and the not so visible story of how it came to be unfinished. The famous artists continued. Monet, Degas, Tintoretto, Donatello, van Eyck, Dürer, da Vinci, Rembrandt, and I could go on and on and on. I’m not sure if so many famous artists have had their works displayed so close together at any point in history.
As you explore the galleries of the Breuer, you will notice that some of the work seems like they could be finished, or were left unfinished on purpose. And who is really the authority to decide what is finished or not in some of these pieces? And is it still art, even if it isn’t finished?
What’s not complete in this painting?
I hope that you have a chance to see this exhibit which will run through September 4th. If you are unable to see it in person, you can check out my favorites from this exhibit on Pinterest! And if that isn’t enough (because I tried to only include one piece from each artist to give you a broad representation of my favorite pieces) you can view the full collection here. Needless to say, I enjoyed this collection of unfinished masterpieces more than I ever imagined I would.
Here’s a view of Madison Avenue from the other side of that famous window.
I had a little time left and decided to explore the other exhibition, Nasreen Mohamedi. It didn’t speak to me, but you can take a look on the website and see if it might be of itnerest to you. The work in this exhibit is abstract, and mostly shades of black and white.
What’s your favorite unfinished work?
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Wow! That’s so impressive that you visit 1-2 museums per week. When I lived in NYC (back in 2011-2012), I was lucky enough to get free admission to all museums through my job. I went to all the major ones, including the Met and Cloisters. I actually find the concept of this museum to be amazing. I will definitely head there on my next visit to NYC.
This museum is going to be a treasure for NYC. As large as the Met is, it is too small to show of all of its amazing pieces of art. I can’t wait to see what the Breuer shares next!
Great post. I do enjoy museums. I think I’d personally prefer the hands on exhibits! 🙂
I hope to spend a lot more time exploring New York once I’m back in the states later this year. 🙂
Thanks for this post!
Come visit me in NY when you return!! MOMA might be the place for you!
I love seeing unfinished work, and even the sketches that come before the actual paintings. As you said, it reveals so much about an artists intention, and I’d be so curious to be able to find out why they stopped a project! I used to work in NYC, and The Met was a favorite excursion. I’ll have to keep this in mind for the next time we’re in NYC!
It was really interesting to see why they stopped. One artist had redrawn a face 3 times and then gave up in frustration. Another died. One flew the plague. Very interesting!
I love visiting museums, I used to go for free when I worked at am elementary school. That’s a really interesting theme for an art show, unfinished work. I write poetry myself and it’s true that it can be hard to say when something is finished even for the artists themselves.
Yeah, It wasn’t until I was there that I really understood the importance of the theme. And then it eventually sunk into me that very few exhibits or even museums have SO many famous artists in ONE exhibit. You can’t get Pollack and Van Gogh at the met. But you can’t get the older stuff at MOMA. It really put all of these great artists together in one collection, which you don’t see often.
You have done an amazing job analysing the unfinished art “business”. I certainly agree with you that they are so very thought-provoking and it’s super interesting to learn the story behind them.
I like the Picasso painting, but I absolutely love the next one with the numbers and abstract objects. So many thoughts are battling inside me right now!
I’m glad you found it interesting too. I’m finding a lot of New Yorkers don’t even know this exhibit exists yet!
Ooh, I love that unfinished Picasso! I am dying to see the Met Breuer, but I haven’t been yet. Some day soon! I think it’s great that we have the Met Breuer now in NYC because the Met hasn’t traditionally been so strong on modern/contemporary art.
I just saw the largest Picasso in the US today as well. It is located in the NY Historical Society. What a beauty it is!
I would love to see the part with unfinished artwork. As you said, it is what shaped the artists. You don’t become a Picasso from the 1st day; it is a succession of failures,testing color and finding/creating your own style.
I wish you had already started this Museum series when I went to NYC 2 years ago but I’ll remember for next time!
I’m hoping to start my next museum segment very soon. I’ll admit I am struggling to pic my next topic!! Too many options!!
This is such an interesting museum. I have never been to one where the art is unfinished. Since I have no knowledge of art (but enjoy museums), I think I would really enjoy this one. I busted out laughing on your comment on #MuseumMonday 🙂