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What to See at the Met This Fall

With thousands of works in its vast collections, there’s enough to see at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to fill up multiple visits. In addition to the museum’s permanent treasures, though, there are plenty of special exhibitions that visitors should be sure to catch before it’s too late. Here are our top picks for what to see at The Met this fall.

masterworks unpacking fashion

Left: Ensemble, Raf Simons (Belgian, born 1968) for House of Dior (French, founded 1947), autumn/winter 2014-15 haute couture; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Christian Dior Couture, in honor of Harold Koda, 2016 (2016.256) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Anna-Marie Kellen Right: Ensemble, John Galliano (British, born Gibraltar, 1960) for Maison Margiela (French, founded 1988), spring/summer 2015; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of the Costume Institute Gifts, 2015 (2015.541) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Anna-Marie Kellen

New this fall will be several major exhibitions at the Met that span everything from haute couture to the Middle East. Opening November 18 is the Costume Institute’s next spectacular exhibition, Masterworks: Unpacking Fashion, which will explore the department’s most significant acquisitions over the past 10 years, including groundbreaking looks from some of the most iconic designers of all time from the 18th century through today. For a completely different artistic exploration, meanwhile, the exhibition Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven will turn its attention toward how the Holy City helped to shape the art produced during this 400-year period. The exhibition will include over 200 works of art, a quarter of which is on loan from key religious groups and other lenders in Jerusalem.

max beckmann new york met

Max Beckmann (German, Leipzig 1884–1950 New York), Beginning, 1949, Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967, © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

For a different look at the Holy Land, visit Faith and Photography: Auguste Salzmann and the Holy Land (through Feburary 5, 2017), which features photographs of Jerusalem taken by French photographer Salzmann in the 19th century. If you’d rather see artistic inspiration drawn from something a bit closer to home, meanwhile, the Met will also host a retrospective of works by mid-century German artist Max Beckmann (opening October 19), featuring 14 paintings created during Beckerman’s tenure in New York City. Another look at NYC will be provided courtesy of its younger citizens, with P.S. Art 2016: Celebrating the Creative Spirit of New York City Kids (through October 23). The exhibition puts a spotlight on the arts in NYC public schools by featuring work from 90 students in all five boroughs.

the old ball game willie mays the met

Willie Mays, Outfield, New York Giants, from Picture Cards, series 5 (R406-5), 1951. Commercial color lithograph, Sheet: 2 1/16 x 3 1/8 in. (5.2 x 7.9 cm)

Other global and historical looks at the art world opening this fall include exhibitions focused on Celebrating the Arts of Japan (opening October 20); the drawings and etchings of innovative 18th century artist Jean Honoré Fragonard (opening October 6); printed works for and by children from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Printing a Child’s World (through November 6); and Valentin de Boulogne, a 17th century European artist known for his naturalistic painting style. Those with more patriotic tastes can also enjoy several more American-centric exhibitions as well, with focuses on patriot Benjamin Franklin (through November 28) and baseball. The great American pastime is the focus of The Old Ball Game: New York Baseball, 1887-1977 (through November 13), which celebrates the city’s rich baseball history with a display of baseball cards dating back to the 19th century.

While The Met’s major exhibitions may draw on works from lenders from all around the world, the museum also has some of the greatest objects and works of art in its own possessions. Exhibitions this fall that draw from The Met’s vast collections include a selection of European and American drawings and prints (through October 24); more than three dozen pieces of Arms and Armor from the Islamic World (through January 2); The Arts of Nepal and Tibet (through January 15); Simple Gifts: Shaker at The Met (through June 25, 2017), which explores the Shakers through a selection of their furniture, textiles, and tools; The Secret Lives of Textiles: Animal Fibers (through February 20), which features works of art made using animal fibers from different regions and time periods; and The Aesthetic Movement in America (through June 25), which celebrates the Anglo-American aesthetic movement in the late 19th century.

Of course, as new exhibitions open at The Met, so too must other long-running exhibitions come to an end. This fall, be sure to catch a variety of exhibitions before they close, including Fabergé from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection (through November 27), which features a selection of stunningly ornate Fabergé works, and a retrospective of works by acclaimed American artist Alex Katz (through November 6). Photography-based exhibitions coming to an end this fall include Phil Collins: how to make a refugee (through November 6), which captures the before, during, and after of a journalism photo shoot in Macedonia with refugees of the Kosovo War; and Dream States (through October 30), which brings together photos and videos to evoke the experience of a waking dream.

A few blocks away from the museum’s Fifth Avenue headquarters, the newly-opened Met Breuer also has some must-see exhibitions going on this fall. On display through November 27 is Diane Arbus: In the Beginning, a retrospective of rarely seen early photographs by the iconic and influential American photographer. The exhibition focuses on the first seven years of Arbus’s career from 1956-1962, with many pieces coming from an archive of works donated by Arbus’s daughters that have never before been exhibited.

paul klee cold city

Paul Klee, German (born Switzerland), Münchenbuchsee 1879-1940 Muralto-Locarno, Cold City, 1921, Watercolor on paper mounted on maroon paper mounted on cardboard, The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1984, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met Breuer is also paying tribute to another iconic contemporary artist this fall with the exhibition Humor and Fantasy—The Paul Klee Collection (through December 31), which celebrates the work of German artist Paul Klee, featuring 70 of his works that range from his days as a student to his death in 1940. Visitors also have the chance to discover the work of a lesser-known American contemporary artist with Kerry James Marshall: Mastry (opens October 25). The exhibition will be the largest museum retrospective to date of Marshall’s work, which has chronicled the African American experience through works that reassert the place of the black figure within the Western painting canon.

For more information about these exhibitions and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visit the museum’s website here.

About the Author

Alison Durkee is a New York-based arts journalist and critic with a background in theatre and dance. She currently serves as the Features Editor of London theatre website Everything Theatre and also covers news and politics for Mic.com.

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