Museum Guide
078
New York
Glories of the Past
Through January 27, 1991
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street)
New York, NY 10028
(212) 879-5500
What is, in the opinion of many experts, the most extraordinary private collection of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquities in the United States can now be seen by you and me. The show is called “Glories of the Past”—and it is indeed glorious. On exhibit are over 200 pieces from the private collection of New Yorkers Shelly White and Leon Levy, who, in a mere two decades, have acquired a collection unparalleled not simply in scope but, more importantly, in quality. Here indeed is the crème de la crème. The show includes—a last-minute addition—the famous red-figure krater signed by Euphronios that Mr. Levy acquired at auction in June for $1.76 million. In an interview, Mr. Levy rejected the idea that he and Ms. White own these pieces. “We have borrowed them for a lifetime,” he said. “Afterward they will pass to institutions; then the responsibility to care for them and study them will pass to others.”
The collection consists mainly of objects from the northern Mediterranean basin. Of special interest to BAR readers are 29 works from the ancient Near East. These include a standing worshiper from the region of Mari where cuneiform tablets have been discovered that provide a background to Biblical prophecy; an elegant mountain goat, pictured here, sporting king-like horns; and a silver-gilt rhyton, or formal drinking cup, whose form flows into a gracefully leaping horse.
Ms. White and Mr. Levy are not only collectors and serious students of the ancient past, they are also active in the archaeological world. Both have served as trustees of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), the leading American organization of professional Near Eastern archaeologists. In addition Mr. Levy sponsors a major archaeological excavation in Israel, at the site of Ashkelon, a Philistine city that figures prominently in the Bible. He also supports other excavations in Israel and in the Arab world. Mr. Levy serves on the board of the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
Ms. White, a financial journalist, is a member of the board of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, but the true measure of the range of her interests and expertise may lie in the fact that she will soon publish a book entitled What Every Woman Should Know About Her Husband’s Money (Random House). Ms. White and Mr. Levy are, incidentally, married.
Gold of Greece: Jewelry and Ornaments from the Benaki Museum
Through January 13, 1991
Cooper-Hewitt Museum
2 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128
(212) 860-6868
“Gold shining like fire blazing in the night, supreme of lordly wealth,” sang the Greek poet Pindar. This exhibit of about 200 objects from the Benaki Museum in Athens, spanning 4,000 years, dazzlingly testifies to the truth of the poet’s words. Greek mythology and daily life are captured on earrings, pins, necklaces, bracelets, rings, amulets and pendants—many of them enriched with gemstones and enamels. The jewelry on display highlights such techniques as hammering and cutting of sheet gold; embossing; casting; filigree work; and granulation. The stunning results were often achieved by using the simplest of tools: chisels, awls and punches.
Malibu, CA
Illuminated Devotional Manuscripts
Through December 30
J. Paul Getty Museum
17985 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90265
(213) 459-7611
During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance in Europe, increasing numbers of men and women—with the church’s blessing—prayed and meditated on their own, outside the daily round of structured worship services. Featured here are 20 richly decorated volumes from the 12th to 16th centuries that served their owners in private prayer, study and meditation. Three classes of manuscripts are represented: Psalters, or Books of Psalms; Books of Hours, or compendia of prayers to be read at certain times during the day; and devotional works that, although not formal prayer books, contain entertaining narratives meant to inspire the reader to consider significant religious issues.
Atlanta
Beyond the Pyramids: Egyptian Regional Art from the Museo Egizio, Turin
October 24–March 10, 1991
Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology
Michael C. Carlos Hall
Atlanta, GA 30322
(404) 727-4291
Fifty objects from one of the world’s largest museums of Egyptian art outside Cairo highlight the three regional sites of Gebelein, Qaw el-Kebir and Assiut. The exhibit features funerary and religious objects from the First Intermediate Period (c. 2100–2040 B.C.) to the mid-XVIIIth Dynasty (c. 1400 B.C.).
New York
Glories of the Past
Through January 27, 1991
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street)
New York, NY 10028
(212) 879-5500
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