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Philippe
de Montebello’s Enduring Legacy
Last month, the Metropolitan unveiled the most comprehensive
in-house exhibition it has ever mounted. The Philippe de Montebello Years (on view
through February 1, 2009) serves as a tribute to the Museum’s eighth
and longest-serving director. Helen C. Evans, the Mary and Michael
Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, organized the show that includes
more than 250 masterpieces—from each of the Met’s curatorial
departments—of the 84,000-plus acquired during the director’s
31-year tenure. She spoke with Membership News Editor Eti
Bonn-Muller about the legacy he will leave and what she will miss
most about working with him.
The interview is available in
the monthly newsletter for Members and will be archived in the Members-only section of our
website.
Visit a special section of our website devoted to The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate
Three Decades of Acquisitions. Here you will find links
to related audio series and videos, our first-ever online exhibition catalogue, and more.
For another look at this remarkable exhibition, we recommend
a slideshow, complete with audio commentary, from The New York
Times: De Montebello at the Met.
During
your visit to "The Philippe de Montebello Years" exhibition, hear
the story of the acquisitions on our Audio Guide tour, which features
conversations between the director and Museum curators, for the
Members’ discounted price of $6. For families and younger audiences
(ages 7–12), special Story Time at the Met episodes are also
available in which Philippe de Montebello recounts myths, legends,
and fairy tales related to three works in the exhibition.
We
are pleased to offer a bonus excerpt of this audio tour exclusively
to our Members, available in the Members-only section of our
website.
Please take this opportunity to become a Member today! In light of the
director’s myriad contributions to the Museum’s collection over the
years, please consider attending The Acquisitions Fund Benefit on Thursday,
December 11. This year’s black-tie dinner will establish the
Philippe de Montebello Fund for Acquisitions, and is a vital source
of support for the Museum’s Acquisitions Fund. Call 212-570-3948 for
more information.
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Exclusive
Audio for Members
We are pleased to offer a bonus excerpt from "The Philippe de
Montebello Years" audio tour on the Members-only section of our
website.
Also coming soon for Members, a sneak peak of the
audio tour for the upcoming exhibition Art and Love in Renaissance Italy.
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Members-Only Exhibition Previews 
Art and Love in Renaissance
Italy
November 18, 2008–February 16,
2009
This exhibition will explore the various exceptional
objects created to celebrate love and marriage in the Italian
Renaissance. The approximately 150 objects, which date from around
1400 to the mid-16th century, range from exquisite examples of
maiolica and jewelry given as gifts to the couple, to marriage
portraits and paintings that extol sensual love and fecundity, such
as the Metropolitan’s Venus and Cupid by the great Venetian
artist Lorenzo Lotto. See the online preview for more information,
including sponsorship credits.
• Daytime previews
(by invitation): November 11–16
• Evening
reception for Supporting Members: November
19
• Evening receptions for Members beginning at
the Sustaining level: November 20 and 25
During your visit to
the exhibition, rent an Audio Guide at the Members’ discounted price
of $6.
Join today and enjoy a special daytime or
evening preview of the exhibition.
Related
Event
Get an inside perspective on the exhibition
before it even opens to the public: Attend a special Sunday at the Met afternoon of lectures on
November 16 at 2:00 p.m. (free with Museum admission). Andrea Bayer,
curator in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of European Paintings, will
introduce the event, which focuses on the exceptional objects
created during the Italian Renaissance to celebrate love and
marriage.
Image: Venus with the Organist and a Dog (detail), ca. 1550, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio),
(Italian, Venetian, ca. 1488?–1576). Museo Nacional del Prado,
Madrid.
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Member
Double Discount Days and New Holiday Shop 
Double Discount Days
This month, don’t
miss our Members Double Discount Days. Museum Members save 20% on
their purchases online and in stores November 11 through November
24. See Special Offers for Members for details. If
you are not yet a Member, join now to take advantage of these extra
savings just in time for the holidays.
Private
Shopping Day
All Gift Shops within the Museum will be
open exclusively for Members during this private shopping event on
Monday, November 24, from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00
p.m.
New Holiday Shop
The Met Store’s new
Holiday Shop, conveniently located at the Museum’s 81st Street
entrance on Fifth Avenue, will be open 7 days a week until 7:00
p.m., from November 28 through December 30.
Become a Member today and save when you
shop at The Met Store.
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Holiday
Reception and Gala Dinner
Members at the President’s Circle, Patron Circle, Patron,
Sponsor, Donor, Contributing, and Sustaining levels are invited to
celebrate the holidays at the Main Building during a private
reception and at The Cloisters Museum and Gardens for a gala dinner.
Holiday Reception
Supporting and
Sustaining Members may attend a special Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on
Tuesday, December 2, in the Museum’s Medieval Sculpture Hall. Enjoy
a light supper and dessert reception with other Members in the
Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court. Attend this
exclusive event when it’s most convenient for you: 6:00–8:00 p.m. or
8:30–10:30 p.m. $200 per person.
Purchase tickets online. For more
information, please call Karen Winiarski at
212-570-3887.
Learn about the Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque
Crèche exhibition.
Gala Dinner at The
Cloisters Museum and Gardens
Supporting Members will
enjoy Gallery Talks about the collection, including the renowned Unicorn Tapestries, followed by dinner and
dancing in The Cuxa Cloister on Wednesday, December 10
from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. Black-tie event. $400 per person.
Purchase tickets online. For more
information, please call Karen Winiarski at
212-570-3887.
Holidays at the
Met
Find out about other upcoming festivities in the
annual Holidays at the Met section of our
website.
Image: Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque
Crèche Twenty-foot blue spruce
with a collection of 18th-century Neapolitan angels and cherubs
among its boughs and groups of realistic crèche figures flanking the
Nativity scene at its base, displayed in the Museum’s Medieval
Sculpture Hall. Gift of Loretta Hines Howard.
Choir Screen from the Cathedral of
Valladolid (behind the tree),
1763; Spanish. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of The
William Randolph Hearst Foundation, 1956 (56.234.1)
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For Young
Members 
MetShare
The Met is connecting with
Young Members and other audiences across
the globe by offering new ways to learn about art. We also want you
to share your Met Museum experiences with others!
Learn more
on MetShare, an introduction to the Met’s
presence on YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, and more. From there, you may
subscribe to receive notifications whenever new videos are added on
YouTube, become a fan of the Museum on Facebook, listen to audio clips from our
concerts on MySpace, and more.
Exhibition
Highlight
New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt,
1937–1940
In the late 1930s, Rudy Burckhardt created
what are today considered to be some of the greatest photographs of
New York ever made—67 now-classic images of street furniture,
outdoor advertising, and pedestrians, selected and sequenced by
Burckhardt in 1940.
Subscription
Lecture
Portraits and Society: From Impressionism to
Cubism
Join Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Distinguished
Professor of History and Theory in the School of Architecture, City
College of CUNY, on Wednesday, November 19, at 8:00 p.m. This lively
lecture will look at portraits from an unusual time, when
revolutions in artistic representation matched enormous changes in
the social and political structure of Europe and in the place and
identity of the artist. Tickets: $23. Learn more.
Young Members
Party
In the summer of 2008, the Museum held its
second-annual Young Members Party, and it was a resounding success.
Catch a glimpse of the party in this video from the Museum’s YouTube channel.
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Not To Be
Missed
See these critically acclaimed
special exhibitions:
Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints
1914–1939
Through December 7,
2008
The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without
End
Through March 22,
2009
See all special exhibitions.
Travel with the
Met
Mayan Kings & Great Pyramids: A Yucatán Voyage
Aboard Le Levant
(PDF)
December 26, 2008—January 4, 2009
Travel aboard
the yacht Le Levant
Land/cruise rates:
from $6,990
For a list of upcoming trips or for more
information, please visit Travel with the Met or call 212-650-2110.
for a family adventure over the New
Year holiday. From the colonial city of Mérida, discover Chichén
Itz, with its pyramids and the carved facades of its temples.
Experience Uxmal, with the richest decorations of all Mayan cities,
as well as Campeche, Tulum, and Belize.
The Met Store Featured Item
Avian Holiday Cards
Our charming card reproduces a delightful watercolor
painted by American artist Adolf Dehn in 1953.
Member Price:
$16.16
Non-Member Price: $17.95
Experience the fine art of
shopping at The Met Store.
Members Double Discount Days:
November 11 through November 24
Met Podcast Episode
The first of 11 interviews between Philippe de Montebello
and the Museum’s curators was recently published as a Met Podcast
episode. Download this episode to listen to the
director and European Paintings curator Keith Christiansen discuss
Duccio’s Madonna and Child.
This
conversation was produced in conjunction with the exhibition The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate
Three Decades of Acquisitions, on view through February
1, 2009.
During your visit to the exhibition, rent the
special Audio Guide with more one-on-one
conversations with the director and Museum curators.
New Audio Guides
Get an up-close-and-personal tour of the Museum’s
collection and special exhibitions through engaging Audio Guide commentary by prominent
curators and educators. A recently added segment features the works
on view in the extraordinary exhibition, Giorgio Morandi, 1890–1964 (through
December 14).
Museum Members receive a discount on Audio
Guide rentals. You may also purchase a Frequent User
Card to receive additional discounts. See Audio Guide for more information.
A Gift That Provides Stable Payments
A wonderful way to support the Metropolitan Museum and
also create a fixed stream of income is through a charitable gift
annuity. With a gift of $10,000 or more, a charitable gift annuity
can offer:
• A secure stream of income for life
for yourself or someone you care about
• Higher income
from long-held but underperforming stocks and minimize
taxes
• A current tax
deduction
• Protection from stock market
volatility
• Removal of contributed assets from your
taxable estate
• Membership in The William
Society
Gift annuity donors enjoy a current tax deduction,
and if appreciated securities are used to create an annuity they may
receive additional tax benefits.
For more information on how
an annuity might work for you, please call the Planned Giving
Program at 212-570-3796 or use our life-income calculator on the
Museum’s website, www.metmuseum.org in the Planned Giving
section under Ways to Giveplanned.giving@metmuseum.org.
or email us at
Upcoming Sunday at the Met
The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate
Three Decades of Acquisitions
Sunday, December 7,
2:00 p.m.
The acquisition of works of art is central to the
mission of the Museum and has been a hallmark of Philippe de
Montebello’s tenure. Since 1999 the Museum has documented this
process in a series of videos produced for the Museum’s Acquisitions
Benefit Fund Dinner. This afternoon program offers a rare glimpse
into the Museum’s complex acquisition process by featuring a
selection of these videos, followed by a panel discussion with
Museum curators moderated by Philippe de Montebello.
Due to
popular demand and seating limitations, this program will be
ticketed. Tickets are free with Museum admission and may be picked
up on a first-come, first-served basis at the ticket kiosk in the
lobby in front of the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium beginning at
10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 7.
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DESERT SOUTHWEST & WILDFLOWERS CALENDARS
BOOKS, PUZZLES, BREAK AT HOME GEODES AND STUFFED ANIMALS!
Agate Bookends
Sounds of the Desert:
Don’t forget the colorful 
Albany, N.Y., picked up 22.5 inches, the greatest November snowfall on record, with amounts up to 30 inches reported elsewhere.
Only male turkeys, or toms, can gobble. It is a mating call and attracts the hens.
HOLIDAY RECIPES
At this season, every sense is
In the Garden 
November 21, 1620
To Your Health
Stript of all their recent splendor,
When Will It Snow? 
November 18, 1931
Making a pie is a comforting experience and a lot easier than most people think. The art is in the crust which needs to be light and flakey and hold together well.
Go outside and see the 
No shade, no shine, no
Click here to enter the
As the days grow colder, we think of
If the stars are blinking and
