Met's Picasso Exhibition Is One for the Record Books!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art said on Tuesday that its recent exhibition of works by that 20th century titan of creativity was its seventh highest-attended show in the museum's history.
Many members of the ARTKABINETT social network for fine art collectors viewed this wonderful exhibition
The exhibition, called "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," drew 703,256 visitors during its 17-week run from April 19 through Aug. 15, making it the museumís best attended show since 2001.
The Met said that the exhibition, which featured the museumís complete Picasso holdings of some 300 examples of the artistís painting, drawing, sculpture and ceramics, drew as many as 10,000 visitors on some busy Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
This landmark exhibition was the first to focus exclusively on works by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) in the Museum's collection.
It features three hundred works, including the Museum's complete holdings of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics by Picasso -- never before seen in their entirety --as well as a selection of the artist's prints.
The Museum's collection reflects the full breadth of the artist's multi-sided genius as it asserted itself over the course of his long and influential career.
Notable for its remarkable constellation of early figure paintings, which include the commanding At the Lapin Agile (1905, seen here) and the iconic portrait of Gertrude Stein (1906), the Museum's collection also stands apart for its exceptional cache of drawings, which remain relatively little known, despite their importance and number.
The key subjects that variously sustained Picasso's interest -- the pensive harlequins of his Blue and Rose periods, the faceted figures and tabletop still lifes of his cubist years, the monumental heads and classicizing bathers of the 1920s, the raging bulls and dreaming nudes of the 1930s, and the rakish cavaliers and musketeers of his final years -- are amply represented by works ranging in date from a dashing self-portrait of 1900 (Self-Portrait "Yo") to the fanciful Standing Nude and Seated Musketeer painted nearly seventy years later.
Still, it wasn't enough to top the Met's sixth most-attended exhibition, "The Horses of San Marco," which drew 742,221 visitors over seven months in 1980, seen here.
The Museum said that its seven highest-attended exhibitions have been:
1. Treasures of Tutankhamun (Dec. 20, 1978 through April 14, 1979) 1,360,957 visitors
2. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (Feb. 7, 1963 through March 4, 1963) 1,077,521 visitors
3. The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art (Feb. 26, 1983 through May, 12 1983) 896,743 visitors
4. Painters in Paris: 1895-1950 (March 7, 2000 through Jan. 14, 2001) 883,620 visitors
5. Origins of Impressionism (Sept. 27, 1994 through Jan. 8, 1995) 794,108 visitors
6. The Horses of San Marco (Feb. 1, 1980 through Aug. 31, 1980) 742,221 visitors
7. Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April. 19 through Aug. 15)
According to official U.S. sources, Museum attendance is growing nationwide creating job opportunites in a global economic downturn.
From the 2010 manual of U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics:
"Much faster than average employment growth is projected. Keen competition is expected for most jobs as archivists, curators, and museum technicians because qualified applicants generally outnumber job openings."
Employment change
Employment of archivists, curators, and museum technicians is expected to increase 20 percent over the 2008-18 decade, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.
Jobs for archivists are expected to increase as public and private organizations require organization of and access to increasing volumes of records and information.
Public interest in science, art, history, and technology will continue, creating opportunities for curators, conservators, and museum technicians.
Museum attendance is expected to continue to be good. Many museums remain financially healthy and will schedule building and renovation projects as money is available.
"Demand for archivists who specialize in electronic records and records management will grow more rapidly than the demand for archivists who specialize in older media formats.
Job prospects
Keen competition is expected for most jobs as archivists, curators, and museum technicians because qualified applicants generally outnumber job openings. Graduates with highly specialized training, such as master's degrees in both library science and history, with a concentration in archives or records management and extensive computer skills, should have the best opportunities for jobs as archivists.
Opportunities for those who manage electronic records are expected to be better than for those who specialize in older media formats.
Curator jobs, in particular, are attractive to many people, and many applicants have the necessary training and knowledge of the subject. But because there are relatively few openings, candidates may have to work part time, as an intern, or even as a volunteer assistant curator or research associate after completing their formal education.
Substantial work experience in collection management, research, exhibit design, or restoration, as well as database management skills, will be necessary for permanent status.
Conservators also can expect competition for jobs. Competition is stiff for the limited number of openings in conservation graduate programs, and applicants need a technical background. Conservator program graduates with knowledge of a foreign language and a willingness to relocate will have better job opportunities.
Museums and other cultural institutions can be subject to cuts in funding during recessions or periods of budget tightening, reducing demand for these workers.
Although the number of archivists and curators who move to other occupations is relatively low, the need to replace workers who retire or leave the occupation will create some job openings. However, workers in these occupations tend to work beyond the typical retirement age of workers in other occupations.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos065.htm
Courtesy sources: David Itzkoff, New York Times; and U.S. Department of Labor
