The Met reopens 45 European art galleries after a five-year renovation

The European galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York have been reopened after a period of renovation that lasted 5 years, giving art lovers the opportunity to enjoy outstanding works by great artists such as Caravaggio, Goya, El Greco, Vermeer , Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso. As part of this renovation, a reorganization of the rooms has been carried out with the aim of improving the representation of the artistic dialogue between the various regions of the Old Continent over the years.

Before the remodel, the more than 40 galleries were organized by schools or countries, but now they follow a thematic and chronological approach. This modification makes it easier for visitors to appreciate the evolution of European art.

Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, originally from Austria, maintains that the institution houses one of the most extensive collections of European paintings in the world, attributing this achievement largely to the generosity of wealthy donors. The decision to carry out the renovation took on critical importance given the decline in visitor numbers the museum has experienced since 2019. Hollein further explained that with this change in layout, they hope visitors will discover new, lesser-known works while They reunite with their favorite artists.

The lighting system, which dates to 1939 and had not been renovated since the 1950s, represented a backwardness in terms of energy consumption and technological advances for the museum. In 2018, a lighting and heating renovation project began, initially being implemented in phases to keep most of the works open to the public. However, once the installation of the new systems was completed, the museum completely closed the galleries to reorganize the spaces according to the new criteria.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has placed significant importance on the efficiency and sustainability of its renovation project. The three wings of the building, which house the 45 rooms (equivalent to an entire block in New York City), were the main consumers of energy in the museum. Thanks to the new lighting, heating and cooling system, millions of dollars in savings are anticipated for the city, which assumes the costs of public services. The simple implementation of skylights, alone, is projected to reduce the Met’s overall carbon footprint by 7%, while mitigating condensation risks associated with aging skylights.

The final result also allows visitors to explore the history of European art from the 14th century to practically the present day, although works of modern and contemporary art continue to occupy separate spaces.

The change in exhibition focus has become a trend in many contemporary galleries, as it makes art easier to understand for a broader audience. This new design takes visitors from the Lombardy region under the rule of the Sforza family, where the perspective of Da Vinci meets the tenebrism of Caravaggio, to the French painting academies of the 17th century, where figures such as Charles Le Brun They revolutionized national art.

For the transition to the 20th century, the Met highlights the room dedicated to the Cretan artist Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco. His distinctive style, with elongated canons and supernatural atmospheres, laid the foundations of modernism. The Met’s curators placed a work by Picasso, “The Actor,” in the middle of the collection of works by El Greco, apparently in a confusing way but with the intention of highlighting El Greco as one of the Malaga artist’s great inspirations.

Similarly, a painting by Dalí, “Crucifixion”, is presented surrounded by religious motifs from the Spanish Baroque. One of the most suggestive and unique changes is the room dedicated to the art of the Viceroyalty of Peru and other territories of the Spanish Americas, where religious motifs are intertwined with the sensitivity and textures of indigenous art, authentically expressing the legacy of the Spanish Empire in the new continent.

The museum is built in the Beaux Arts style and is located on Fifth Avenue next to Central Park. Apart from the paintings on display, the Met has recently acquired paintings and portraits of women artists, such as a still life created by the Flemish painter Clara Peeters in the 17th century or the portrait of an Indian woman by the British painter William Wood during the colonial era of the 18th century.

Together, these changes seek to convey to the visitor the idea that European art is organic and dynamic. Despite the differences in forms, the great European masters influence each other’s artistic creation.

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