Monthly Museum Club: Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/~/media/Images/Exhibitions/2012/African%20Art%20NY%20and%20the%20Avant%20Garde/AfricanArt_poster.ashx?mw=481 African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde

This exhibition highlights the specific African artifacts acquired by the New York avant-garde and its most influential patrons during the 1910s and 1920s. Reflecting on the dynamism of New York's art scene during the years that followed the 1913 Armory Show, the exhibition brings together African works from the collections of many key individuals of the period such as Alfred Stieglitz, Marius de Zayas, John Quinn, Louise and Walter Arensberg, Alain LeRoy Locke, and Eugene and Agnes Meyer.

Featuring the Metropolitan's own holdings as well as loans from public and private collections, the exhibition includes some forty wood sculptures from West and Central Africa presented alongside photographs, sculptures, and paintings by Alfred Stieglitz, Charles Sheeler, Pablo Picasso, Francis Picabia, Diego Rivera, and Constantin Brancusi. Together, these works of art from Africa and the Western avant-garde evoke the original context in which they were first experienced simultaneously almost a century ago.

Exhibition website: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/african-art

DIRECTIONS

From East Side of Manhattan: Subway: Take the 4, 5, or 6 train to 86th Street and walk three blocks west to Fifth Avenue. This walk is about a half mile and takes approximately ten minutes. Bus: Take the M1, M2, M3, or M4 bus along Fifth Avenue (from uptown locations) to 82nd Street or along Madison Avenue (from downtown locations) to 83rd Street.

From West Side of Manhattan: Take the 1 train to 86th Street, then the M86 crosstown bus across Central Park to Fifth Avenue; OR take the C train to 81st Street, then the M79 bus (free transfer) across Central Park to Fifth Avenue.

From Penn Station: Take the M4 bus to 83rd Street and Madison Avenue; OR take the C local train to 81st Street and transfer to the M79 crosstown bus (free transfer) across Central Park to Fifth Avenue.

COST

There is a $2 event fee, which helps offset Meetup's group dues and discourage no-shows. Admission to the Metropolitan Museum is Pay-What-You-Wish. It is recommended to pay $25, but you can pay $10, $1, or 1 penny! http://img2.meetupstatic.com/981263258369601089/img/smileys/smile.gif Audio guides are available. Friday and Saturday evenings after 5:00 p.m., they are only $5.00