Masterworks from the Morgan presented more than three hundred masterworks drawn from all six of the Morgan's collection areas, including new acquisitions and works that have never been seen or have not been exhibited for many years.
Morgan Medieval Masterworks on View at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Through January 8, 2006
The Metropolitan Museum of Art had on display seven superb examples of medieval art from the Morgan Library. These objects were on view in the Tapestry Hall while the Morgan proceeded with its expansion project. The long-term loans include some of the favorite works of the noted financier and collector Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), a past president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Painted Prayers: Books of Hours from the Morgan Library
October 18, 2004 through January 8, 2006
Comprising fifty-eight examples in manuscript or printed editions, Painted Prayers: Medieval and Renaissance Books of Hours from the Morgan Library examined the tremendous popularity of Books of Hours through an exploration of their customary prayers and the beautiful pictures that traditionally accompany these texts.
To Observe and Imagine: British Drawings and Watercolors from the Morgan Library, 1600–1900
September 24 through December 31, 2005
To Observe and Imagine: British Drawings and Watercolors from the Morgan Library, 1600–1900, was a major survey of the Morgan's important collection of British drawings. The basis of this group dates to Pierpont Morgan's well-known 1909 purchase of virtually all the holdings of Charles Fairfax Murray, the English Pre-Raphaelite artist and collector.
The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible
March 6 through June 6, 2004
The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible used medieval works from the Morgan and The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, to explore ways in which Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures used storytelling to define themselves and their values. The Picture Bible—one of the greatest illuminated manuscripts produced in thirteenth-century France—was disbound for conservation and study, offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view twenty-six of the book's pages in a single exhibition.
Picturing Natural History: Flora and Fauna in Drawings, Manuscripts, and Printed Books
February 12 through May 4, 2003
Picturing Natural History: Flora and Fauna in Drawings, Manuscripts, and Printed Books was The Morgan Library & Museum's first exhibition devoted to natural history illustration. It was also the Morgan's last before closing to the public for an extensive renovation and expansion program. The institution reopened to the public in spring 2006.
The Thaw Collection: Master Drawings and Oil Sketches, Acquisitions Since 1994
September 27, 2002, through January 19, 200
The Thaw Collection is an exhibition of works that have been acquired by Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw since 1994. In the decades since the early 1950s, when they obtained their first drawing, a figure study by Giambattista Tiepolo, they have assembled one of the finest collections of drawings and watercolors in private hands. On the occasion of the first exhibition of their drawings at The Morgan Library & Museum in 1975, the Thaws announced their intention to eventually present the collection to the institution.
As part of a commitment to build a representative collection of works on paper by twentieth-century artists, the Morgan acquired two major works by the American painter and draftsman Stuart Davis (1892–1964): his earliest known diary, used by the artist between 1920 and 1922, and a sketchbook dated 1926. To celebrate these acquisitions, the Morgan presented Stuart Davis: Art and Theory, 1920–31.
The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible
October 27 through December 29, 2002
The Walters Art Museum made the Middle Ages come alive for visitors with The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. The Picture Bible—one of the greatest illuminated manuscripts produced in France during the thirteenth century—was disbound for conservation and study, offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view twenty-six of the book's pages in a single exhibition.
Honor, Glory, Adventure: Books for Boys in the Age of Pierpont Morgan
June 25 through September 8, 2002
The market for children's books was an eighteenth-century innovation. By the last half of the nineteenth century, it was a major publishing enterprise. Efforts to educate greater portions of the populace and a growing middle class had fostered a larger reading public. Advancing technology had changed the appearance and availability of books. New illustrative and binding processes were often tested on books for children, giving them a glamour that dust jackets must provide today.
