Grid of six black and white photographic portraits of artists

The Artist Project

What artists see when they look at The Met

Ever since it was founded in 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been a place where artists come to gain inspiration from works of art from their own time and place, and also from across time and cultures.

The Artist Project is an online series in which we give artists an opportunity to respond to our encyclopedic collection.

From March 2015 to June 2016, we invited 120 artists—local, national, and global—to choose individual works of art or galleries that sparked their imaginations. In this online series, artists reflect on what art is, what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art, and in so doing, they reveal the power of a museum and The Met. Their unique and passionate ways of seeing and experiencing art encourage all museum visitors to look in a personal way.

Over the course of six seasons, The Artist Project shares the perspectives of one hundred and twenty artists with the public, telling us what they see when they look at The Met.

View previous seasons

Episodes

Alexander Melamid on Ernest Meissonier's "1807, Friedland"
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Artist Alexander Melamid reflects on Ernest Meissonier's 1807, Friedland in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Cory Arcangel on the harpsichord
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Artist Cory Archangel reflects on the harpsichord in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Deborah Kass on Athenian vases
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Artist Deborah Kass reflects on Athenian vases in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Artist Enrique Chagoya discussing Goya's "Los Caprichos"
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Artist Enrique Chagoya reflects on Goya's Los Caprichos in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
George Condo on Claude Monet's "The Path through the Irises"
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Artist George Condo reflects on Claude Monet's The Path through the Irises in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Izhar Patkin on "Shiva as Lord of Dance"
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Artist Izhar Patkin reflects on Shiva as Lord of Dance in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
John Baldessari on Philip Guston's "Stationary Figure"
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Artist John Baldessari reflects on Philip Guston's Stationary Figure in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Katrín Sigurdardóttir on the Hôtel de Cabris, Grasse
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Artist Katrín Sigurdardóttir reflects on the Hôtel de Cabris, Grasse in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Kehinde Wiley on John Singer Sargent
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Artist Kehinde Wiley reflects on the paintings of John Singer Sargent in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Lisa Yuskavage on Édouard Vuillard's "The Green Interior"
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Artist Lisa Yuskavage reflects on Édouard Vuillard's The Green Interior in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Mickalene Thomas on Seydou Keïta
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Artist Mickalene Thomas reflects on the photographs of Seydou Keïta in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Natalie Frank on Käthe Kollwitz
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Artist Natalie Frank reflects on the work of Käthe Kollwitz in this episode of The Artist Project
March 25, 2015
Nayland Blake on "boli"
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Artist Nayland Blake reflects on boli in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Nick Cave on Kuba cloths
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Artist Nick Cave reflects on Kuba cloths in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Nicola López on works on paper
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Artist Nicola López reflects on works on paper in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Nina Katchadourian on Early Netherlandish portraiture
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Artist Nina Katchadourian reflects on Early Netherlandish portraiture in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Tom Sachs on the Shaker Retiring Room
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Artist Tom Sachs reflects on the Shaker Retiring Room in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Walton Ford on Jan van Eyck and workshop's "The Last Judgment"
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Artist Walton Ford reflects on Jan van Eyck and workshop's The Last Judgment in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Xu Bing on Jean-François Millet's "Haystacks: Autumn"
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Artist Xu Bing reflects on Jean-François Millet's Haystacks: Autumn in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015
Zarina Hashmi on Arabic calligraphy
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Artist Zarina Hashmi reflects on Arabic calligraphy in this episode of The Artist Project.
March 25, 2015

About Season 1

Twenty artists share their perspectives on works of art at The Met


A close-up of vivid bird feathers in shades of orange, teal, yellow, and brown,  with overlaid text that reads 'Immaterial,' with the letters staggered vertically.
A podcast spanning 5,000 years of art, one material at a time
A large yellow dot at the center of a gray background with the words "Spotlight: One Met Icon, New Perspectives" written in black.
One Met icon, new perspectives
A vibrant painting features two figures with stylized faces in a cityscape, surrounded by colorful buildings, with an overlay of text that reads 'HARLEM IS EVERYWHERE.'
A new podcast about the art and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance