The Met is one of my most favorite museums. This is "the" exhibit to see!! I attended on Wednesday July 20th and it was really amazing. The Met released information on July 21, 2011 it has had the highest attendance in 40 years! Here is some information from that press release:
Metropolitan Museum Announces 5.68 Million Attendance, Highest in 40 Years
(New York, July 21, 2011)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that 5.68 million people visited the Met during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The number, which includes attendance at The Cloisters museum and gardens, is the highest recorded in 40 years. The total was more than 400,000 greater than in Fiscal Year 2010.
"We are delighted by this extraordinary response to our collections and programs, especially in the context of ongoing fiscal challenges faced by both the Museum and the public," said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO. "The Met is truly a museum of the world, and that scope is reflected in our collections and the remarkable range of visitors who come here each year. There is something for everyone within our galleries, and I have no doubt that we will continue to give audiences reasons to keep returning again and again."
Visitors in Fiscal Year 2011 were particularly drawn to a number of special exhibitions, including the popular Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, which has welcomed more than 500,000 visitors since it opened on May 4. (The Museum has extended the exhibition by an extra week through August 7, and it will remain open to the public for extended hours until 9 p.m. beginning August 4. The exhibition will also open an hour early for Museum Members, beginning on July 22, every day except Mondays. Additionally, the Met Mondays with McQueen ticket program continues to offer additional hours on Mondays for special viewings when the Museum is otherwise closed to the public.)
Last summer's highly attended exhibitions Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 27-August 15, 2010), which drew 703,256 visitors, and Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú(April 27-October 31, 2010), which drew 631,064 visitors, also contributed to last year's record attendance.
The 5.68 million attendance figure includes more than 214,000 New York City school visitors who were welcomed by the Museum, nearly 20,000 more than the previous year. Membership has now reached a record-breaking 139,800.
I was trying to find information on this exhibit and how long it would really take and since I couldn't find that, this post was born! We had our tickets pre-paid from online (highly a good idea) arrived around 1pm. We left the museum at 4pm and this was the only exhibit we saw!! It was an hour and a half wait just to get to the exhibit and then another hour and a half to view it. I hope this helps anyone planning to view it as will be on display until August 7, 2011.
Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010)
Dress
Sarabande, spring/summer 2007
Nude silk organza embroidered with silk flowers and fresh flowers
Courtesy of Alexander McQueen
Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce
there is no photography allowed in the exhibit and it is so dark it would be very hard to obtain a good shot. this is from the Metropolitan website, one of my faves, and so gorgeous in person. Such detail to everything and really all works of art.
Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010)
Ensemble
VOSS, spring/summer 2001
Jacket of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye embroidered with silk thread; trouser of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye; hat of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye embroidered with silk thread and decorated with Amaranthus
Courtesy of Alexander McQueen
Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce
My second favorite was very dramatic in person. The embroidery was just so beautiful.
The Met's website can be found HERE for more wonderful photos of the designs in the exhibit.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
There is a wait to enter the exhibit. Through August 3rd the entrance line closes at 4:30pm on weekdays and 8pm Friday and Saturday. During the final week, August 4 to 7, the exhibit will be open until 9pm. You can purchase timed tickets to view the exhibit on Mondays, when the museum is closed to the public, HERE for $50.00 per person. You can bypass the line if you are a member of the museum and can purchase membership online or in the Great Hall or Uris Center for Education. One of McQueen's great handbags from the Bergdorf Goodman window in 2010, taken by myself......
I hope this information has been helpful to you, and if you are in the city while this great exhibit is open, by all means stop in and see the wonderful world of Alexander McQueen!! If you have seen the exhibit, I would love your thoughts and what were your favorite pieces..........
Today's Words of Wisdom: "I don't get inspired (by specific women) It's more in the minds of the women in the past, like Catherine the Great, or Marie Antoinette. People who were doomed. Joan of Arc or Colette. Iconic women" - Alexander McQueen
