New York 1960: FOUNTAIN OF THE MUSES - METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Monday, June 1, 2015

FOUNTAIN OF THE MUSES - METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

By the Swedish-American sculptor Carl Milles

installed in the Restaurant

of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

"This fountain was inspired by the story of the goddess Aganippe, who frequented a spring on the road leading up to Mount Helican in Greece. From the Spring of Aganippe gushed waters of inspiration, which five of the fountain figures, representing the arts, have just been drinking. Filled with enthusiasm, they are rushing home, each artist carrying his symbol with him.

NIGHT VIEW of the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART c. 1960

Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street

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Mission Statement

NEW YORK 1960 is a window into the architecture and urban landscape of New York City from the end of WWII to the Bicentennial as seen through "chrome" postcards from the period. These mid-century cards were printed using a new "chromolithic" process, yielding bright, saturated colors more like a color photograph than any previous postcard printing process. The images and their descriptions provide the contemporary viewer an opportunity to understand how the city saw itself during a time of sweeping changes ushered in by post-war prosperity. They also depict how corporations and cultural institutions embraced and distilled the Modernist aesthetic. Corporations used it in the design of skyscrapers to project an image of power and progress. Cultural institutions employed it to appeal to a younger or progressive demographic. Many buildings have become icons of the era for better or worse.