We Americans are incurable Egyptomaniacs!  Stay calm, it’s okay…Egyptomania is perfectly normal and has beset cultures for thousands of years.  Yes, thousands!  It plagued the Minoans, Hittites and Mycenaean’s of the late Bronze Age Aegean (c.2,500 BC), the Greeks,… Read full post »

A blog post from our intern Alicia!

One of my personal goals this summer is to give more thought to, and expand my interest in, modern and contemporary art. Before my stay in NYC, modern and contemporary art never fully caught my attention.  It seemed so simple to blankly pass… Read full post »

In June I started as an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and now that I have thoroughly read the official blog policy of the Met, I can tell you all about it. So may I just say that anything you read here is my opinion and is no way… Read full post »

Another post from our new intern Alicia!

I must admit that so far in New York City, I have spent a great deal of time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think one reason why I see the Museum as so awe inspiring is its vast collection of art… Read full post »

“What’s your favorite thing at the Met?”

It’s a question we get a lot.  Most recently, I was asked this by a reporter for Time Out New York writing an article on museum highlights.  Usually I would offhandedly quip something about picking a favorite child, bu/… Read full post »

Meet our new intern, Alicia! 

Art has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. I love making art, learning about art, as well as roaming museum halls for hours on end.  Given the amazing opportunity to spend a month in New York City, I can’t help… Read full post »

As I mentioned in my last post, fakes can be a major problem for museums. Some forgers are so skilled that they fool the most trained professionals. Nova ScienceNOW on PBS did a short piece on new computer programs that are being developed to cut down on this probelm.

The video… Read full post »

When I was a child, one of my favorite books was The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg. If you’ve never heard of it, it is about two children who run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While staying there,… Read full post »

I think that as Art Historians we are likely perceived as occupying the penthouse of the academic ivory tower, but there are many of us who are seriously down to earth (and in some cases, below sea level)!

What do we DO every day?  Sit in libraries and research mostly.  Go to… Read full post »

From time to time, we will be answering your questions or comments.  If you have something you would like answered, please leave it in the comments. The first one we received was from Verbal Remedy, who asks simply: “Jackson Pollock, WTF?” We both are taking a stab at this one… Read full post »

"Twenty percent of you are going to fail, and if you don't like those odds, get out!"

And so began my career in art history. It was Western Art History 1, ancient through Medieval, at the University of Vermont, I was in an auditorium with 150 other students… Read full post »

 My focus in graduate school has been on Indian art and people often ask what drew me to that field. The exoticism of India initially attracted my attention in high school and I enjoyed looking at the intriguing artworks in museums because they fascinated and mystified me. But my interest was… Read full post »

When I was nine years old, I came to New York for the first time with my family. One of my clearest memories from the trip was going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That may have to do with the fact that in my excitement I got too close to… Read full post »