Berry’s Guide to the Met

On a recent trip to New York, I had the pleasure of revisiting my old stomping grounds at 1000 Fifth Avenue. The Met is a sacred space to me, and it is one of the few places on this earth that fill my soul with wonder, amazement, and inspiration. And this particular trip had an added bonus: my mother, a former art history teacher, joined as well. 

We began our visit in the Modern and Contemporary Wing. The highlights included epic paintings by Sam Gilliam, Kerry James Marshall, Robert Colescott, Nicole Eisenman, and a very surreal sculpture by Robert Gober. Next, we visited the dizzyingly stunning Cecily Brown exhibition, followed by Richard Avedon: Murals, which also did not disappoint. 

I returned a few days later to visit the monumental Lauren Halsey installation on the rooftop, and say a quick hello to a few of my old friends including John Singer Sargent’s The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennantin in the American Wing, and Fragment of a Queen's Face Egyptian Wing - among many others. 

There was so much that sparked my imagination, and seeing the Sargent portraits in particular inspired me to come home and dig into my velvet ribbons and beads, and create a few new hair ribbons and chokers for the summer season.

There is never enough time to see everything at the Met, and I am so thrilled to be returning later this summer for a very special reason…more to come on that soon!