A few more gems from the Met's Visual Storage. Sorry for the occasional glare on the glass, or my reflected head.

John Singer Sargent's Madame X is currently on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Visual Storage room. If you have never been to the Visual Storage room, it's a collection of some of the finest paintings not on display in the museum. The beauty is that that they are packed floor to ceiling into display cases and give views of paintings which are impossible in the museum proper. Madame X is too large to store in it's frame, and is currently displayed sans frame which is a real treat. I've included a shot of the edge of the painting below.

Abbot H. Thayer from the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Some work must be viewed in person to be truly appreciated. This is especially true for Abbott Handerson Thayer's work. The following three images were shot with my iPhone, which is less than ideal, but even with a professionally shot photograph, the color, depth and subtlety of these paintings is impossible to reproduce. The fourth image is the shot from the museum's website. There's a glow to every element in this piece, from the background to the faces of the children.

Abbott H. Thayer, My Children, ca. 1896-1910. Oil on canvas, 48 1/16 x 60 3/8 in.

Favorite painting: Brooklyn Museum of Art

John Singer Sargent

Val d'Aosta(A Stream over Rocks; Stream in Val d'Aosta) 1909. Oil on canvas 21 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.

Even more amazing in person, this painting perfectly captures the flow of water over the rocks and it's effect on the sunlight. Unfortunately, this painting is rarely exhibited.