Free Art Books from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Lovers Rejoice: 

the Metropolitan Museum of Art has FREE art books to download

Met Publications offers five decades of Met publications on art history, available to read, download and/or search for free. Launched in 2012, Met Publications continually adds to their collection of free online books.

Every year The Met produces stunning art catalogues to promote their exhibitions: but if you don't live in New York City, and can't continuously purchase the many wonderful art catalogues, that art goes unseen. Now, art catalogues as well as other art books that are out of publication and readily available to the public through The Met's free download program. Virtual museum tours are a wonderful opportunity for armchair travel to some of the world's outstanding museums, the Met's online art books allow you to continue your virtual art education.

Met Publications books can be read online, or downloaded as a PDF. Each available art book lists:

• book title
• author
• description
• year released
• book cover image

Some of the titles available for download are:

Christian Dior by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1996)

La Belle Epoque by Philippe Julian and Diana Vreeland

Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Barbara Burn (2006)

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry by Ambrose Lansing (1940)

Note: The Met also has over 400,000 free art images online for you to download.

à la prochaine,

Shirley

Spring Street Art Comes to New York City

Gazing Globes by artist Paula Hayes

When spring weather arrives to cities hit hard  by the winter's cold and snow, outdoor art installations sprout over night. New York City is blooming with spring flowers and public art exhibits, rewarding locals and tourists after an unusually brutal winter.

Madison Square Park in downtown NYC is home to an exhibit by artist Paula Hayes, Gazing Globes. This is Hayes' first outdoor art sculpture, and consists of 18 illuminated orbs filled with recycled objects from modern urban life.

Reminiscent of Christmas ornaments or snowglobes,  the clear globes merge memories of the city's winter streets filled with snow, sleet and ice dotted with street trash. Artist Hayes used:

vintage parts because technology moves at such a fast pace.  These play a role in the current landscape and how information is transmitted from one part of the globe to the next. I am making an illuminated landscape evocative of the designed landscape of Madison Square Park. Both are born of human imagination and technology.

~ Paula Hayes, artist

Gazing Globes in Madison Square Park

Gazing Globes in Madison Square Park

I'm invigorated by the burst of beautiful spring weather and public art sprouting up in cities and towns everywhere. What street art has popped up in your neighborhood?

à la prochaine,

Shirley