The MET Makes 2015 A Stylish Year
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
In every sense of the word, this has been ‘THE’ year for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This isn’t just your normal museum. Not only is it historic, dating back to 1866, but the day will slip away as you step into a fascinating world of culture and art from all around the world.
Climbing those famous steps, seen in many a well-known movie or television program, brings you into one of the most intriguing buildings in New York City. Overlooking the massive greenery of Central Park, there can be no better way to spend the day. Although every exhibition has their own unique qualities, the fashion exhibitions have to be my favorites.
This past May, the fashion tradition continued as it does every year at that time. On May4, 2015, the MET GALA took our breath away once again. The number of elite and celebrity guests crowded into one venue, as well as the gorgeous gowns seen on the Red Carpet, draws women from all across the city to sit on the sidelines and watch the evening unfold as guests enter the museum for this charitable event.
Following on the heels of this event, ‘China: Through The Looking Glass’ , was the stylish exhibition that made its debut on September 7, 2015, and set the theme of the MET GALA. Now, this exhibition has broken records, proving that Anna Wintour and the many board members of the MET know how to choose the most mainstream exhibitions to tantalize those desiring to see what is housed in the Costume Institute. Encompassing approximately 30,000 square feet in 16 separate galleries in the Museum’s Chinese and Egyptian Galleries and Anna Wintour Costume Center,this has certainly been the Costume Institute’s largest special exhibition ever, and also one of the Museum’s largest. With gallery space three times the size of a typical Costume Institute major spring show, China has accommodated large numbers of visitors without lines. The exhibition that coincides with the MET GALA each year usually runs up to the middle of August but since this has received exceptional reviews, ‘China: Through The Looking Glass’ has been extended until after Labor Day, September 7, 2015.
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“This exhibition is one of the most ambitious ever mounted by the MET, and I want as many people as possible to be able see it,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the MET. “It is a show that represents an extraordinary collaboration across the Museum, resulting in a fantastic exploration of China’s impact on creativity over centuries.” The impact of Chinese aesthetics on Western fashion is explored in detail and the reason that China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries is revealed through each and every scene and ornate gown. In this collaboration between The Costume Institute and the Department of Asian Art, high fashion is juxtaposed with Chinese costumes, paintings, porcelains, and other art, including films, to reveal enchanting reflections of Chinese imagery.
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The exhibition features more than 140 examples of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear alongside Chinese art. Filmic representations of China are incorporated throughout to reveal how our visions of China are framed by narratives that draw upon popular culture, and also to recognize the importance of cinema as a medium through which to understand the richness of Chinese history. The media give this exhibition rave reviews and generous sponsorship has come from YAHOO, Conde’ Nast and a group of Chinese donors.
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Not long after ‘China: Through The Looking Glass’ ends, the next fall fashion exhibition promises the same popularity as the one it follows. This exhibition that opens on November 19th and extends through February 21, 2016 is ‘Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style.’ Countess Jacqueline was one of the most highly-regarded fashion icons of all times. She had her own unique style and she wore it well. The exhibition will feature about sixty ensembles of haute couture and ready-to-wear primarily from de Ribes’s personal archive, dating from 1959 to the present. Also included will be her creations for fancy-dress balls, which she often made by cutting and cannibalizing her haute couture gowns to create nuanced expressions of her aesthetic. These, along with photographs and ephemera, will tell the story of how her interest in fashion developed over decades, from childhood “dress-up” to the epitome of international style.Focusing mostly on her unique style, the elegance in the way she wears each piece and her knack for originality, there is also a glimpse into her successful design business, which she established and directed from 1982 to 1995. Extensive documentation from her personal archives will illustrate the range of her professional life, including her roles as theatrical impresario, television producer, interior designer, architect, and director and organizer of international charity events.
“A close study of de Ribes’s life of creative expression yields illuminating insights into her strategies of style,” said Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, who is organizing the exhibition. “Her approach to dress as a statement of individuality can be seen as a kind of performance art. When she established her own fashion house, her friend Yves Saint Laurent gave his blessing to the venture as a welcome projection of her elegance.”
Those who attend this exhibition can look forward to seeing some of the most acclaimed designers of all time including Giorgio Armani, Pierre Balmain, Bill Blass, Marc Bohan for House of Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Jacqueline de Ribes, John Galliano, Madame Grès (Alix Barton), Valentino Garavani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Norma Kamali, Guy Laroche, Ralph Lauren, Ralph Rucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Fernando Sanchez for Révillon Frères, and Emanuel Ungaro.
The best news came just a few days ago. Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced that a record 6.3 million people—from the five boroughs of New York City, the local tri-state area, across the United States, and around the world—visited the Museum during the fiscal year that ended on June 30 (FY15). This sets the record for the most visitors to the Museum since the Met began tracking admission statistics more than 40 years ago, and it is the fourth year in a row that attendance exceeded six million. The statistics encompass visitors at the main building on Fifth Avenue and at The Cloisters museum and gardens, the branch of the MET in upper Manhattan devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages.
Mr. Campbell said: “This year’s record-breaking numbers demonstrate the ongoing enthusiasm for the Met’s exhibitions, collections, and programs. For the second full year, we have been open seven days a week to the public, and last September we unveiled our welcoming new Fifth Avenue plaza. In the galleries, we continue to present a spectrum of exhibitions, from small focused installations to major international loan shows like the current ‘China: Through the Looking Glass.’ And several months from now we will launch our expanded modern and contemporary art programming at The Met Breuer. These and many other new projects carry forward our mission to collect, study, preserve, and make accessible to our visitors the full sweep of art history, from ancient times to the present.”
It is no surprise that the Met continues to be New York’s most visited tourist attraction, one that you do not want to miss. Visitors from the five boroughs of New York City comprised 26% of the Museum’s visitorship for FY15, while New York City and tri-state visitors together comprised 41% of the total. International visitors from 189 countries visited the main building and The Cloisters in FY15, accounting for 38% of the annual visitorship.
Make your way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see all the outstanding cultural exhibitions that make the museum such a popular place to spend an entire day.
