The underlying question for this erratic series on museum bookstores is whether or not the store is worth visiting independent of the museum. Anyone who has ever walked into the Met’s bookstore knows there isn’t any suspense, it is the Queen of Museum Bookstores and always worthy of a special trip to visit. The sheer size of the store would woo any art lover, it is significantly larger than most museums’ combined concession areas (bookstore, gift store, pop up stands, etc.).
Having spent the day at the Museum seeing the French paintings I read about earlier in the summer, I failed to leave enough time to explore the store. I was proverbial kid in a candy store, everywhere I turned there were books I wanted to sample and buy. The book tables were organized geographically (this seems to be a trend in NYC, both McNally Jackson and Idlewild are similar) which was perfect for me. I could find books about Realism, Orientalism and Impressionism, trends all were present in late 19th century French art, in one place.
Further in the store, I discovered sections devoted to each of the Museum departments, along with separate sections for reference, instructional and the usual artist monographs (here comprising a long wall of offerings). I spent time in the criticism section and came away with two books: The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe and Art and Culture: Critical Essays by Clement Greenberg. Greenberg was a proponent of abstract art and hugely influential in the emergence of 20th century American Art. Wolfe isn’t so enamored with modern art or Greenberg, so I’m looking forward to an interesting dialogue between the books.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art publishes enough books to keep an art lover busy for a lifetime. These books are displayed on several dedicated shelves in the store. I momentarily dreamed of following the example of the kids in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg, hiding in the museum and working my way methodically through the books and the holdings. [As an aside, when my kids were younger, I read The Mixed-Up Files to them and made a list of the art mentioned in the book. With that list, I designed my own tour for the kids at the Met. It was the perfect way to introduce them to the collection without completely overwhelming all of us.]
My one disappointment with the store is that there isn’t a bookseller, or at least I didn’t notice anyone who could talk to me about books. I’ve experienced this with all of the museum bookstores I’ve visited. There are lovely cashiers, but not a resident bookseller who can guide me to the next great art history book that I would love. In other bookstores, I can walk in and say I loved The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt (which I did), what do you recommend I read next? I greatly miss that interaction.
1000 5th Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
Claire
Kim
