by Lynn Murphy

Created on: July 22, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

It has been several years now since I climbed that majestic staircase and entered the wonderful world that is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it has stayed with me, etched in my memory, never to be forgotten. That is the thing about art museums. The buildings are almost as spectacular as the artwork itself. An art teacher and great admirer of art that I am, the Metropolitan was a feast for the eyes and the soul.

My first stop in any museum I visit is the Impressionists. This was my first visit to a museum that had a a major collection. I will never forget walking into the room that housed my favorites, the paintings of artists who I admired and emulated. The first painting I focused on was a huge still life by Renior. It was incredibly beautiful, with those distinctive brushmarks and the luminous quality that only a Renior possesses.
From there came Monet's waterlilies, more beautiful than any artwork I had seen until then. I could have spent the entire day staring at them. The Impresssionists have that effect on me wherever I go to admire art. I have loved them for so long, they have become a part of my soul. But to see them in real life! You are at first amazed by the size of the works. Then you are taken in by that juxtapostion of light and color. I was completely taken in by them.

Another favorite from the vast Impressionist gallery at the Metropolitan was a Cassatt. This was my first introduction to the ex-patriated American woman who painted with the impressionistic greats. This particular picture, Young Mother Sewing, draws you in as you connect with the eyes of the young child laying across the lap of her mother, who is sewing. Equally arresting is the Cup of Tea, which shows Cassatt to be a master at creating portraits. Her Japanese style prints, also part of the museum's collection are equally as interesting and captivating.

Perhaps trite, but I found my self drawn to the bronzes by Degas, of which, the little dancer is the clearly the best. Life size, she commands your attention when you enter the gallery. You cannot help but look at her. The same is true of Degas' oil and pastel works of dancers. The museum has some of the best examples of Degas' dance class paintings, as well as some truly lovely sketches that I had nevr run across in an art book or art history class.

I toured the entire museum, but these are some of those works that stayed with me, they are the ones to which I have since them compared every other collection I have seen. Of course, art is in the eye of the beholder, and each visitor to the museum will be looking for the artists he or she likes the best. However, I did find that I enjoyed touring the "modern" art exhibits as well, being able to draw inspiration from the likes of Picasso, deKooning, Pollack and Miro.

The wonderful Metropolitan should be on the to do list of every visitor to New York City!

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