Marathon at the Met

No, this marathon is not a running event. I wouldn’t recommend an indoor marathon anyway, but my best museum buddy Sande and I certainly give the museums a run for their money. On Friday we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an invitation-only preview of an ambitious show of the early 20th century Parisian art acquisitions belonging to patrons Leo, Getrude and Michael Stein. It took us just under four hours to view the 200 pieces spread out in what seemed like a never-ending labyrinth of galleries. (Four hours is about as long it takes to run a marathon.) The pieces were stunning! There were numerous Picassos, Matisses, Renoirs, and Cezannes as well as lesser known artists who were directly influenced by these masters. I would love to own at least half of what I saw, although Sande and I play a fantasy art viewing game in which we each select one painting we’d like to take home from each room in an exhibit. Alas, we’re not the Steins and so we had to go home empty-handed with only the visual memories dancing around our brains. Food for thought: The commentary on one Cubist painting by Andre Masson called “Man in a Tower” quoted the poet Stephen Mallarme. The painting shows a man who is probably incarcerated with dice in his lap. The quote: “A throw of the dice will never abolish chance.”