American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915

The December holiday season is a time of giving, which also makes it, for many, a time of shopping. For several months advertisers have bombarded us with gift ideas, ranging from cars and electronics to the latest fashions. Selling fashion is big business, and many of the most prominent retailers in New York set up lavish window displays every year to entice holiday shoppers. I went on a recent excursion to see some of the city’s window displays—(see some of my photos)—and the experience reminded me of several paintings in American Stories that relate to buying and selling clothes. Read more »

American Stories features 103 outstanding paintings, including twenty-five canvases from the Met’s own collection, one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world. It is especially exciting for us to be able to show these works while the American Wing’s paintings and sculpture galleries are closed for renovation. (These galleries are scheduled to reopen in 2011. Learn more about the renovation of the American Wing and the newly reopened Charles Engelhard Court and period rooms.) We’re also thrilled to include seventy-eight paintings from fifty-three public and private lenders, which, together with our own works, offer visitors an unusually thorough overview of the development of American narrative painting from about 1765 to about 1915. Read more »