Metropolitan Museum Announces 12/24, 12/31 Viewing Days

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters museum and gardens will be open to the public on two Mondays in December-December 24 and 31, the days before Christmas and New Year's Day, respectively-as part of the Museum's popular "Holiday Mondays" program. Closing time on both days will be 5:00 p.m.

Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum, stated: "During the winter holidays, when many of us wish we had a little extra time to take part in festivities of the season, the Museum is pleased to offer two additional days-two December Mondays-when tourists and area residents can visit our main building or The Cloisters and enjoy some of the world's most beautiful works of art as well as special installations that are appropriate to the time of year."

What to See on December 24 and 31
In the Metropolitan Museum's main building, at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue, visitors have the opportunity to see several exhibitions that will be closing soon: Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years examines the nature and impact of artist Andy Warhol on contemporary art (on view through December 31); and Bernini: Sculpting in Clay features 40 of the small clay models created by the great Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) to help him visualize life-size or colossal marbles (through January 6). Also on view will be George Bellows, a retrospective of the noted early 20th-century American artist, who is remembered for his depictions of boxing matches and crowded New York City's parks and streets, often covered in snow (through February 18); African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde, revealing the American engagement with African art during the years that followed the 1913 "Armory Show" (through April 14); and Matisse: In Search of True Painting, showcasing the way in which the acclaimed French artist Henri Matisse questioned, repainted, and reevaluated his work (through March 17).

Of special interest to families during the holiday season will be the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche-a brightly lit, 20-foot blue spruce decorated with 18th-century angels, cherubs, and a Nativity scene-in the Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall (through January 6).