Meandering Through the Met

The Metropolitan Museum was my first bite of NY’s cultural banquet – OK – no more florid metaphors!!!!! The meandering bit refers to the vast number of inter-connecting rooms at the Met which mean that despite its vast size, there is more of a feeling of wandering through a rather eccentric house made up of rooms from all sections of the globe and times in history. There are the art galleries with the usual stunning array of paintings, the Egyptian and Grecian collections, the entire reconstructed rooms from European castles and so much more that a one-day visit can only be a very tiny bite.

I also experienced a common phenomenon – that the special thing I had gone to see what not what impressed me the most, but rather some unexpected gem. The large splattery beige, black and brown Pollock was my “must see” painting, but what grabbed me was the Georgia O’Keeffe collection. I returned at the end of my wanderings to sit in front of the Black Iris painting to marvel at its wondrously sensuous effects. The other enchanting item was a “no photos” room entirely made of exquisite wood inlay. It was the study of an Italian nobleman, and every inch of the walls and floors is covered in intricate wood inlay work, often creating a trompe l’oeil effect such as a view through an open window, or cupboards and doors. The impression of such a museum is – how many years would it take me to see it properly?? I limited myself to one floor, and still only touched a fraction. Oh well, you are always supposed to leave something to go back for........