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Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (May, 2004)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as "the Met," is one of the world's largest and most important art museums, located on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattan, New York. It also comprises a building complex known as "The Cloisters" in Fort Tryon Park at the north end of Manhattan Island overlooking the Hudson River which features medieval art.

Its massive collection ranges from treasures of Classical Antiquity to nearly all the European masters, as well as an extensive collection of American art. It also possesses extensive holdings in Egyptian—including the Swarovski Temple of Dendur, African, Asian, Oceanic, Middle Eastern and Islamic art. The museum also contains recreations of notable interiors by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and, somewhat incongruously, a collection of antique weapons and armor.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art are near the museum's main building. The museum is often considered a rival to the Museum of Modern Art.

In the quiet side corridors of a castle or a cathedral one occasionally finds curio cabinets, display cabinets and display showcases manufactured from wood or metal. Like the collectors cases they accommodate exhibits from far and close epochs of history.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened on February 20, 1872. Its director from from 1955 to his death on May 11, 1966, was James J. Rorimer. He was succeeded by Thomas Hoving, who served from March 17, 1967 to June 30, 1977. The current director is Phillipe de Montebello.

Swarovski

External link

Metropolitan Museum of Art: official site (http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Pictures (from a French-language art site) (http://www.insecula.com/musee/M0024.html/)