Making Our “Making The Met” Designs
As The Metropolitan Museum of Art turns 150, the exhibition Making The Met, 1870–2020 highlights transformational moments in the evolution of the Museum’s collections, buildings, and ambitions. To celebrate this major moment in the institution’s history, The Met Store team collaborated closely with the show’s curators on the right way to bring the breadth of The Met to life via a suite of functional and beautiful products.
After considering artworks of wildly varying shapes, colors, and media, from cultures and times spanning from the ancient Middle East to 20th-century America, we arrived at a lineup of masterpieces that vividly capture The Met’s scope and ambition. Laid out in an eye-pleasing grid, the works that appear on our tote, mug, poster, tee, and other styles can be seen on view in Making The Met (through January 3, 2021).
Now, about that art…
Raven Rattle, Native American (Tsimshian)
Skidegate, British Columbia, Canada;Native American (Tsimshian); cedar, pebbles, polychrome; 19th century; The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.611)
Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn, Princesse de Broglie, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, 1780–1867); oil on canvas, 61 ¼ x 39 ½ in., 1851–53; Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.186)
Mirror-Bearer, Maya
Guatemala or Mexico; Maya; wood, red hematite, 6th century; The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1063)
Panel Composed with Tiles in Shape of Eight-pointed Stars and Crosses
Made in Iran, possibly Kashan; stonepaste, luster-painted on opaque white glaze under transparent glaze; 1260–70; H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Horace Havemeyer, 1941 (41.165.22)
Burgonet, Filippo Negroli
Filippo Negroli (Italian, ca. 1510–1579); Italian, Milan; steel, gold, textile; dated 1543; Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1720)
Studies for the Libyan Sybil, Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564); red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study; sheet 11 3/8 x 8 7/16 in.; ca. 1510–11; purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1924 (24.197.2)
Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Oil on canvas, 82 1/8 x 43 1/4 in., 1883–84. Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916 (16.53)
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, Charles Demuth
Charles Demuth (American, 1883–1935); oil, graphite, ink, and gold leaf on paperboard; 35 ½ x 30 in.; 1928; Alfred Stieglitz Collection, (1949 49.59.1)
Limestone Head of a Bearded Man, Cypriot
Archaic; Cypriot; limestone, early 6th century B.C.; The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76 (74.51.2857)
Seated Statue of Hatshepsut
Egypt; New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III; indurated limestone, paint, ca. 1479–1458 B.C; Rogers Fund, 1929 (29.3.2)
Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara, El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek, 1541–1614); oil on canvas, 67 ¼ x 42 ½ in., ca. 1600; H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.5)
Under the Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Katsushika Hokusai
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849); polychrome woodblock print, ink and color on paper; 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in.; ca. 1830–32; H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (JP1847)
Street Story Quilt, Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold (American, born 1930); cotton canvas, acrylic paint, ink marker, dyed and printed cotton, and sequins, sewn to a cotton flannel backing; 1985; Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund and funds from various donors, 1990 (1990.237a-c) | © Faith Ringgold
Celestial Globe with Clockwork, Gerhard Emmoser
Gerhard Emmoser (German, active 1556–84); Austrian, Vienna; partially gilded silver, gilded brass (case); brass, steel (movement); 1579; gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.636)
Orthostat Relief: Winged Human-Headed Lion, Hittite
Neo-Hittite; Syria, Tell Halaf (ancient Guzana); Hittite; basalt, ca. 10th−9th century B.C.; Rogers Fund, 1943 (43.135.4)