Seeing Art Through a Pandemic Lens

How does the pandemic change our interpretation of art? Since lockdown, staff members at The Met have discovered that familiar artworks now appear different in profound and personal ways. For Alison Hokanson, assistant curator in the Department of European Paintings, a painting by Edvard Munch speaks to her need for quiet introspection after so much time isolated indoors with her husband and three children. For Abraham Thomas, Daniel Brodsky Curator of Modern Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts, a Finnish lounge chair designed to support recovery from tuberculosis reminds him how integral design can be to healing. And for Margaret Golden, a Met docent and retired physician, a medieval Islamic mortar connects directly to the efforts of frontline medical workers saving lives today.

Guests:

Alison Hokanson, assistant curator, European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Abraham Thomas, Daniel Brodsky Curator, Modern Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Margaret Golden, retired physician and Met docent

Objects mentioned in this episode:

Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863–1944). Night in Saint-Cloud, 1893. Oil on canvas, 27 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (70 x 56.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Private collection (L.2018.2)

Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898–1976). “Model No. 41” Lounge Chair, 1931–32. Laminated Birch, 26 1/2 x 24 x 36 in. (67.3 x 61 x 91.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of Twentieth Century Decorative Arts Gifts, by exchange, 2000 (2000.3750) © 2022 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Mortar and Pestle made for Abu Bakr ‘Ali Malikzad al-Tabrizi, late twelfth–early thirteenth century. Attributed to Iran. Bronze; inlaid with silver and black compound, Mortar: H. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm), Diam. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm); Pestle: H. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm), Diam. 2 3/8 in (6 cm).The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.527a, b)

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