Through September 2
The Met
The Department of Drawings and Prints at The Met Fifth Avenue hosts an extraordinary collection exceeding one million works on paper, encompassing drawings, prints, and illustrated books from Europe and the Americas, spanning from circa 1400 to the present. Given the fragility and light sensitivity of these treasured artworks, exhibitions rotate quarterly to showcase carefully curated selections that illuminate the breadth and depth of this vast collection.
“City and Country” is the latest rotation, thoughtfully arranged in the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery (Gallery 690). This thematic installation explores contrasting yet interconnected motifs of urban and rural life across centuries, featuring up to 100 objects grouped by artist, technique, style, historical period, and subject matter. From seventeenth-century Netherlandish and eighteenth-century British and Swedish landscapes to dynamic French Neoclassical drawings, the exhibition offers visitors a richly layered experience of artistic vision across borders and eras.
Highlighting recently acquired Netherlandish landscape drawings alongside British and Swedish views, the exhibition delves into depictions of nature and the countryside. Intriguingly, it also includes period-specific imagery such as scenes of beached whales—an emblematic motif of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Holland—reflecting the cultural and economic ties to maritime life. The display further presents French women artists from the revolutionary era, spotlighting their materials, techniques, and the intersection of their creative output with the political upheaval of the late eighteenth century.
Complementing pastoral themes, “City and Country” explores urban life through depictions of city dwellers, window shoppers, and a series of self-portraits that traverse time. The exhibition concludes with a poignant selection of British propaganda posters and trade cards from World War II, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the war’s end and offering a powerful glimpse into the role of visual media in shaping public morale and national identity.
This remarkably diverse and thoughtfully curated exhibition invites visitors to contemplate the evolving notions of place—both city and countryside—as well as the social, political, and artistic contexts that have shaped these representations over the centuries.
For those interested in exploring historical and artistic perspectives on landscape and urban life, “City and Country” offers an exceptional journey. Visit the official exhibition page for more information.
