Master Pieces: The Curator's Game

by Kate Learson, Thomas Hoving, Lori Stein

Book Overview

As Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a decade, Thomas Hoving brought art to a new level of public awareness by pioneering such blockbuster shows as the King Tut exhibit. Early in his career, Hoving was introduced to the "curator's game." Each week, he and his contemporaries met to examine details of larger museum masterpieces. Whoever correctly identified the detail in context won free coffee: the losers paid. In an imaginative adaptation...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393328384
• ISBN13: 9780393328387
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Master Pieces: the Curator's Game

Stimulating book - took me back to days as an art student. Enjoyed very much.Purchased as a result of borrowing the book from the local library. Excellent.

Lovely Book for Historians and Novices Alike

Thomas Hoving was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a decade (1967-77). He presents the humble public with this shining book/game with obvious love and appreciation of its contents. He starts off by recounting how every week during the long coffee breaks at the MET, a select person would bring in photographs taken of certain details from various famous (and not-so famous) works of art. It was then the pleasure of the art buffs in the room to discern just where it was they'd seen those images. There were easy details, there were mind-bending details. They came to call this the "Curator's Game." Equally as entertaining are Hoving's assorted thoughts and interesting side-notes on the works. He never shies away from providing his own opinions. For instance the clue from a Renaissance piece on pg.28 reads that the artist's women "had a softness that his rival Michelangelo never achieved." The first half of the book has all of the details along with their respective clues. You'll find angels and men, dogs and instruments as it winds down to incredibly difficult background images. The second half houses all of the paintings from which the details were taken along with a brief description and examination of them. And don't fret, if you fear you won't be able to find them all, Mr. Hoving has been kind enough to provide us with an answer key. As has been written by others, this would make a wonderful gift. It also proved a great way to pass the time on a rainy day. Recommended for my part.

Sharpen your eye for art-- and have fun doing it!

This is a wonderful book for art buffs and and novices alike. As Hoving says in the introduction, it's based off of a game that curators often played together at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each identification "challenge" comes with a brief biography of the artist and unusual fact/perspective on the piece or its depiction, and the book's unique format helps me remember (and want to share) everything I learn. It's great for dinner parties, long car-rides, or just curling up with on your own to sharpen your eye for art. It makes the perfect gift-- I'd recommend it to anyone!

A new way to look at art

Pick up this book for fifteen seconds and you won't put it down. It immediately got me involved with its "curator's game" of showing small details of great art-and then challenging me to match the details to a famous artist and the complete painting. Where had I seen those haunting eyes before? What story is being told by the reflections in the small mirror? When you turn to the complete paintings in the back of the book, and see how the piece fits into the masterpiece, you learn a lesson that will stay with you for a long time. The lesson: Look carefully at all parts of a painting instead of just standing back and admiring the work as a whole. It's true that "God is in the details," so this book encourages you to relish and delight in those details.

An art adventure for all ages

What a gem of a book. As a grandmother I look for books that can sharpen my mind while sharing activities with my grandchildren- Master Pieces is like a day at the Metropolitan Museum without leaving home!Even with an art history background I learned to look at familiar and less familiar art masterpieces from fresh points of view. Surprise and challenge yourself. Do you dare to do the double red diamond challenges? The artist biographies combine serious information with spicy gossip!Beautiful reproductions. Organization of puzzle pieces is inspired. The game continues beyond the book as you take your re-energized looking skills out into the real world of art which is everywhere. This book is a real kick. S. Carleton, Providence, R.I.