museum – Live Eat Colour

Probably one of my biggest highlights in New York was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET) on Fifth Avenue. This is the largest and third most visited museum in the world. So no trip to New York would be complete without a visit.

The MET has a collection that boasts two million works, which are split between 17 curatorial departments. The permanent collection includes art and sculpture from Greek and Roman antiquity, ancient Egypt, Middle age to Renaissance European masters, American and modern art, as well as African, Asian, Oceania, Byzantine and Islamic art. There are also various temporary exhibitions that change throughout the year. On my visit, I was only able to cover three quarters the permanent collection on level 1 and the temporary exhibition Manus x Machina. This took me about two hours. So if you plan on seeing it all I would allow for 4-5 hours. To see the extensive size of the museum, see the map.

General admission for the MET is quite reasonable and valid for three consecutive days for all three MET locations. However, depending on if you purchased a New York pass, you may have your entry included. Audio guides are also available in a variety of languages for an additional rate. There are also free guided tours available in a variety of languages throughout the day. You can also find several restaurants and cafes in the museum.

Greek and Roman Art

I started my tour from the left of the Great hall, which began in the Greek and Roman Art galleries. These galleries are bright and airy with plenty of natural light and an extensive collection throughout the age of antiquity. This was probably one of my favourite wings and luckily many people passed through it quickly, allowing me to marvel at these ancient treasures.

Prehistoric and Early Greek Art

Greek Art: Sixth–Fourth Century B.C.

Mid 2nd-1st century, 3rd–1st Century B.C.

Roman Sculpture Court

Later Roman Empire: Third Century A.D

Egyptian Art

The Egyptian art is found in a gallery from the left of the Great hall and continues into The Sackler wing. The main gallery is quite dark, but the various pieces are quite well lite. I was quite impressed by this collection, as it was quite different other travelling Egyptian collections. I particularly liked the paintings and decorative sarcophagus.

The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing

American Wing

The American Wing covers art from the 18th to early 20th century. Within this wing, there is a bright and spacious courtyard which has various sculptures, stain glass and mosaic art. This was another one of my favourite place in the museum. I also enjoyed the various galleries of furnished room and painting artworks. This was my first time seeing American art, so I was quite blown away by the bright use of colour.

The Charles Engelhard Court

American Wing

Medieval Art

The Medieval collection runs through the centre of the first floor. It includes art from the 4th to the early 16th century from Byzantine and Europe. I love Medieval art religious art, so I really enjoyed this area. My favourites are the oddly shaped busts.

Arms and Armor

The Arms and Armor is a small gallery, off the Medieval wing. Apparently it one of the museums most popular collections, possibly because of the impressive ‘parade’ of armoured figures on horseback. This gallery includes weaponry and armour from a variety of geographical regions.

Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology

The last collection was from the 2016 exhibition Manus x Machina, by the Costume Institute. It was housed in the Robert Lehman Wing galleries. It explored designer handmade and the machine-made haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear fashion. There were about 170 garments, spanning from the early 20th century to the present. Each dress was a stunning work of art, due to their intricacy and uniqueness. I didn’t expect to enjoy this exhibition as much as I did. I also appreciated that the garments were not behind glass, so I was able to get a good look and great photos without glare.

This is my last post for my trip to New York. Next I will be taking you to Washington D.C, where I saw plenty more museums, iconic sites and ate plenty of delicious meals.

On day 6, one of our stops was the amazing American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on the Upper West Side. It was established back in 1869 and is the largest natural history museum in the world. If you haven’t heard of it, you probably recognise it from films like Wonderstruck and the Night in the Museum trilogy.

The AMNH has several permanent exhibition halls, as well as special temporary exhibitions. The halls include Biodiversity and Environmental Halls, Bird and Reptiles and Amphibians Halls, Earth and Planetary Sciences Halls, Fossil Halls, Grand Gallery, Human Origins and Cultural Halls, Mammal Halls, Rose Center for Earth and Space, Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and the Discovery Room. Each of the halls has one to six specific exhibitions within them.

If you would like to visit this museum you can find Ticket prices are quite reasonable and are cheaper for students, seniors and children. Within the museum, there are also a variety of cafes and food courts, but you can also bring your own food. The museum also offers Sleepovers for children and adults, as well as a range of public and self-guided museum tours. To see the layout, see the map.

Our biggest interest to visit the museum was to see the fossils of dinosaur, animals and human species, as well as geographical cultural and animal life-like displays. So you can see the photos I took are mostly from these sections. We didn’t get around to see all the permanent exhibitions in a few hours. So you plan on seeing it all, make sure you have the entire day. Its unforgettable experience, especially if your a museum junkie like me.

My favourite halls were definitely the North American Mammals and Human Origins species. The halls vary in terms of standard of displays. Some were better lite and detailed, others were a little bland. However, when you compare this with other museums, it’s pretty spectacular as a whole. I did have trouble photographing with the dim lighting and hundreds of other visitors, but I tried as best I could. If you would like to know what I actually photographed, just press the pictures, as I have meticulous labelled most sections.