I had a pleaseant surprise at the Met this week when I entered the American Modernist rooms. I discovered that some of my favorite paintings of all time (and paintings I have been missing greatly) have recently been re-installed. Among the works are:

Edward Hopper, Lighthouse at Two Lights, 1929
Edward Hopper, Tables for Ladies, 1930
Edward Hopper, From Williamsburg Bridge, 1928
Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931
Thomas Hart Benton, July Hay, 1943
Marsden Hartley, Mt. Katahdin, Maine, #2, 1939-40

Another wonderful surprise was the Pietre Dure exhibit also currently on view. There are a pair of breathtakingly beautiful console tables with inlaid marble tops which stand out in what is an exquisite exhibition. The pieces, Alleghory of Water (with inlaid seashells and coral against a blue presumably underwater ground) and Alleghory of Air (butterflies, flowers and ribbons against a sky) were designed by Giuseppe Zocchi and crafted in Florence’s Galleria dei Lavori in the 1760s. The two pieces have been reunited from their current homes in Paris and Vienna for this exhibition and present an incredible opportunity to see the pair together.