Being Metropolitan

My lovely and fabulous friend Kate and I had a fantastic night out on Friday, which started out with a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The plan was meet at the Met at about 6:30 and head up to the rooftop deck martini bar for some cocktails and pleasant conversation with beautiful people. After initially being told that the rooftop (home to the Jeff Koons exhibit) was closed for the remainder of the day, we were told that it, indeed, was open. Indeed, NOT! Once upon the roof, what we found were fifty million Europeans photographing their own reflections in Koons' sculpture. We also discovered, to our disappointment, that the martini bar had been wheeled away because of the earlier rain storm. We also discovered the spectacular view of Manhattan from three sides as well as one of the Central Park tree line below us. The sky was one of the clearest, bluest, and most amazing that I have ever seen. A solitary group of clouds floated calmly by on the crisp fall-like breeze that permeated the air on the rooftop. I’m glad that I took a photograph, which I think almost captures the beauty of the night just prior to sunset.

Afterwards, Kate and I browsed various galleries at the Met, Including Spanish Modern Art, which was fantastic. I was very intrigued by pieces by Miro (Untitled, 1931; Oil and ink on wood) Dali and, as well as a self-portrait by Leonora Carrington, who was Mexican but British born.
We also headed to the very sexy exhibit celebrating superheroes, for which top designers contributed designs inspired by classic caped crusaders. The exhibit included costumes from various Batman movies and from X-Men. Very cool!

Last year, I was fortunate to take the time to see the Met’s “Glitter and Doom” exhibition, which was cool, creepy and artistically inspiring. As I entered one of the permanent collection galleries, I was drawn to a piece by Otto Dix entitled “The Businessman Max Roesberg, Dresden,” which appeared in “Glitter and Doom.” Painted in 1922, it was one of my favorite pieces in the exhibition.

The Met also has a wonderful Asian and Southeast Asia collection, which instilled us with both a sense of tranquility as well as exhaustion, since there is so much to see. It can also be difficult to find your way out if you’re stupid like we were and didn’t look at the map. The Met is always a terrific place to find yourself and feel like you’re doing something productive. It’s always a good idea to eat before you go, though.