The Cathedrals of Art

Florine Stettheimer (American, 1871-1944) - - The Cathedrals of Art (also known as The Dawn of our Art), 1942 (Oil on canvas. Met) - - A fantastical portrait of the New York art world. Microcosms of three of the city’s major museums and their collections are watched over by their directors: the MoMA (upper left), The Met (center), and the Whitney (upper right). A gathering of art critics, dealers, and photographers of the day, including Stettheimer herself (lower right), appears around the Metropolitan’s grand staircase…