The Artist Project

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City-The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

Since the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York nearly 150 years ago, artists have lingered in its hallowed halls, taking inspiration from a collection that spans over five millennia. A new book celebrates this tradition in the 21st century. Based on a year-long web series by the Metropolitan Museum debuted between March 2015 and June 2016, The Artist Project features interviews with 120 well-known contemporary artists from around the world about works in the Met's collection that spark their imagination. Readers will be excited to discover the unexpected places where the artists find personal connection in one of the world's preeminent museums. Mark Bradford reflects on the emotional temperature of color in Clyfford Still's abstract paintings; Lee Ufan contemplates the magical aura of an 18th century Korean vase by an unknown artist; Liliana Porter admires how the precise details in portraiture from the late 15th century bring the subjects to life; Edmund de Waal marvels at the timelessness of a Ming dynasty white Chinese ewer; and Martha Rosler travels to the Cloisters where she considers the relation of historical and contemporary artistic practices and the broader purpose that art serves in society. Originally recorded for the Met's website, the interviews have been transcribed for the book and are accompanied by reproductions of each piece from the Met's collection alongside images of the artist's own work-allowing readers to see for themselves the visual connections across time and cultures. The unique perspectives and thought-provoking insights offered by the artists will inspire readers to look at art in a new, more personal, way.

Readers discover the Metropolitan Museum of Art one artwork at a time through the eyes of contemporary artists-a surprising and engaging personalized tour of this world-renowned collection. An impressive and diverse roster of 120 artists contributed: Vito Acconci, John Baldessari, Cecily Brown, Eric Fischl, Nan Goldin, Sheila Hicks, Alex Katz, Jeff Koons, Wangechi Mutu, Shahzia Sikander, Thomas Struth, Sarah Sze, Wayne Theibaud, Mickalene Thomas, Lisa Yuskavage-and over one hundred more. They live and work internationally; and fifty percent are women. The Artist Project is one of several collection-inspired online initiatives from the Met, including the Heilbrunn Timeline and other video series such as 82nd & Fifth, which receive a combined total in the millions of visits per month. The book supplements the content of the web series with images of each artist's own work and an illustrated index that visualizes connections between the historical and contemporary art discussed throughout the book. The Met has received a new wave of international attention following the opening of the Met Breuer in February 2016. This is the first book collaboration between two premiere international names in culture: Phaidon and The Met. We are in discussion about innovative ways we can partner to cross-promote the project.