Metropolitan Museum Essay

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art began as a concept discussed by a group of Americans who wanted to build a “national institution and gallery of art” made specifically to familiarize the American public with art and its education. The person who originally proposed the idea, John Jay, propelled the construction of the museum forward until its incorporation to the Union League Club on April 13th, 1870. Originally the museum was located in the Dodsworth Building at 681 Fifth Avenue. Later that year the museum became home to a Roman Sarcophagus, which was the first object to be displayed in the museum. After being situated for a short period of time on West 14th street, the museum moved to the current site on Fifth Avenue, and opened to the public. “The architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould designed the initial Ruskinian Gothic structure, the west facade of which is still visible in the Robert Lehman Wing” (The Met Museum). Since then the building has been …show more content…

The curators of the Met have created an immersive and incredible environment for the art within the museum. They have also designed a specific experience for the viewer which is simultaneously vast, yet relaxed, and beautiful. The Met is the perfect place not only to spend an afternoon, but to spend a lifetime, each visit providing more insight to beloved pieces that are enjoyed time and time again. The success of the Met as a museum stems from its ability to make the experience of art enjoyable. It is through these experiences that public audiences become more involved with art and more attached to the processes which produce such work. In this way the Met is not only reviving the necessity of art in our society, but the passion for

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