Partnership allows users to display museum works on their Samsung The Frame TVs.
Since last year, users of the Samsung Art Store has the opportunity to display iconic artwork from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) at The Frame, transforming your TVs into digital displays that add an artistic touch to any room. In this partnership with Samsung, the public has access to immersive digital experiences that allow them to appreciate historical artifacts from the comfort of their homes.
The Met seeks to expand arts education by exploring new ways to use technology to promote cultural exchange and inspire audiences around the world. The goal is to bridge the gap between past and present, creating a future where beauty and creativity can thrive anywhere.
Samsung Newsroom interviewed Stephen Mannello, head of retail and licensing at The Met, to discuss the partnership with Samsung and how technology can positively influence the museum experience.
A new partnership for the digital age
- What is your role at The Met? How do you influence the museum and visitor experience?
I am head of retail and licensing at The Met, my role involves collaborating with The Met Store and our licensing partners to develop products, publications and experiences inspired by the museum's vast art collection, which spans 5,000 years of history. Our goal is to make these products available to consumers around the world.
This position provides me with a unique opportunity to make a meaningful connection with visitors and consumers by offering products that engage, educate and inspire them to explore The Met's 19 different collection areas in innovative ways. The resources generated by our work are directed to supporting the study, conservation and presentation of The Met's collection, ensuring there is a tangible impact on the products and experiences we develop.
We're excited to evolve and experiment as we continue The Met's mission to bring art into everyday life, and technology plays an essential role in making this possible.
- What was The Met's initial focus when it began its collaboration with Samsung Art Store* last fall?
Working with Samsung Art Store allowed us to enter a unique space where technology meets digital innovation and interior design. Our inaugural collection spans different periods and locations, including highlights from The Met's 17 curatorial departments, which The Frame users can explore and display in their homes.
Sharing these beloved works with the Samsung Art Store has allowed us to present a small part of what The Met has to offer to a global audience of art and design lovers like never before, and this is just the beginning of what we hope will be a relationship lasting. We look forward to sharing more of our collection and exploring different themed offerings that will inspire and delight Samsung Art Store users in the future.
- In recent months, what has been the reaction of users of The Frame to The Met's collection?
We were amazed to see the popularity of The Met's artwork on the platform. This stands as a true testament to the enduring appeal of works like Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypress Trees or Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware River, both popular attractions in our galleries and beautifully reproduced when they are displayed digitally on The Frame.
Wheat field with cypress trees, by Vincent van Gogh, at The Frame
Impressionism with The Met and Art Store
- This month, Samsung Art Store will present a selection of impressionist works from The Met’s collection. What does this new selection mean?
The Impressionist movement began in 1874, just four years after the founding of The Met. Although these two events are independent of each other, there is an interesting parallel in the revolutionary spirit of artists such as Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro, who led the innovation of this radical style of art-making, emphasizing everyday life, and in the founding of The Met, which sought to democratize art, making it accessible to the masses.
Over the past 150 years since the movement began, The Met has become home to dozens of renowned Impressionist works that remain visitor favorites. The visual beauty of these works is complemented by their fascinating stories. For example, “The Monet Family in their Garden at Argenteuil” was painted by Edouard Manet in 1874, while the two artists were on vacation near each other. While Manet painted this work, Monet, in turn, painted Manet, and Renoir simultaneously painted “Madame Monet and Her Son” (currently in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC). These works of art reflect the vibrant creative exchange that occurred between the Impressionists at the beginning of the movement.
- Of the artworks selected for the Samsung Art Store, which three would you recommend for The Frame?
View of Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a storm The Oxbow (1836) by Thomas Cole
The First View of Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, After a Storm, The Oxbow (1836), by Thomas Cole. This stunning Hudson River School landscape painting combines wilderness and pastoral settlements to highlight the beauty of the American setting, offering a wide range of possible interpretations of the artist's message. Hidden in the foreground, Cole stands at his easel capturing the breathtaking scene. The refined details and enigmatic nature of the work provide a captivating experience for anyone viewing it at home.
The Circus Parade (Parade de Cirque) (1887-88) by Georges Seurat
The next The Circus Parade (Parade de Cirque) by Georges Seurat (1887-88). This groundbreaking painting is the artist's first night scene and the first to depict popular entertainment. At the time it was created, the parade, or side show, was a free attraction designed to attract passersby to buy tickets for the circus' main event. The exquisite details of this pointillist composition are especially easy to appreciate in The Frame.
Still life with apples and a pot of primroses (ca. 1890) by Paul Czanne
Lastly, I recommend Still Life with Apples and a Jar of Primroses by Paul Czanne (ca. 1890). This elegant still life once belonged to Claude Monet, a lover of gardening, who received it as a gift from the painter Paul Helleu, who created the famous design of the astrological ceiling in Grand Central Station. With its bold colors and graphic lines, this beautiful work demonstrates Czanne's mastery of still life and is sure to enhance any environment.
- How do you think The Met has used The Frame and Samsung Art Store to further support its aspirations of bringing together audiences from different countries and cultures and making unexpected connections?
This digital initiative provided a valuable extension of the museum experience into the home environment. Just like when visiting galleries, different works resonate with different people at different times in their lives. It's exciting to watch users constantly select and change the artwork displayed in their homes to suit their mood, design aesthetic, or even the season. Visiting museums should be a journey of discovery and curiosity, with an element of surprise. The Met's feature on the Samsung Art Store is a successful example of translating a physical experience into the digital environment.
The impact of technology on art and accessibility
- What is your opinion about the impact of art on individuals and its influence on collective culture? How does The Met contribute to this impact?
The Met is a space dedicated to inspiring, educating, and revealing surprising connections across time and space. Our collection encompasses more than 1.5 million examples of human creative achievement from around the world, offering visitors to the museum and our website a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in art. Experiencing The Met and its works represents an opportunity to reflect, question and explore unexplored ideas and creativity.
There is an intriguing connection between the revolutionary spirit of the Impressionist movement, which brought a new emphasis to everyday life, and the mission of The Met, which sought to democratize art.
- In your opinion, why is it essential to democratize access to art, making it available to a wider audience through platforms such as the Samsung Art Store?
We believe that art should be accessible to everyone, but many people who visit The Met only get to do so once in their lives. Expanding access through digital initiatives, products and experiences allows us to establish lasting relationships with art enthusiasts around the world. We hope that by sharing The Met's collection in The Frame we can spark a meaningful dialogue about culture and creativity, spanning past, present and future.
- What role does technology play in improving the museum experience, especially in the context of digital art platforms such as the Samsung Art Store?
Digital engagement with art enthusiasts allows us to highlight works from The Met's collection in innovative ways, promoting discovery and exploration. This may include viewing works that are not on display in galleries, learning the stories behind the art and artists, or zooming in on details, these are just some of the initial possibilities for bringing physical artworks into the digital space. We're excited to evolve and experiment as we continue The Met's mission to bring art into everyday life, and technology plays an essential role in making this possible.
Learn more about Samsung's The Frame
The Frame, which has versions from 32 to 85 inches, is the perfect option for displaying all types of art on the screen instead of the black screen of the TV when turned off, from masterpieces from the main and most important museums and galleries in the world, even the user's own images. Among its differentiators, the anti-reflective Matte Screen, which extends to all Lifestyle TVs, allows an experience without interference from ambient light and without reflections on the screen. The Slim Frame Design is less than 3 cm thick and has the look of a picture on display, which is enhanced by the Slim Wall Mount wall bracket and the One Connect external control unit (both included) to keep the TV close to the wall and connected only with a discreet thread. Customizable frames in different colors and styles, in addition to Art Mode, which gives access to free works of art from the Samsung Collection and the possibility of subscribing to the Art Store, with more than 1,400 famous paintings and photographs by the world's leading artists and museums, make The Frame perfect for those looking for a TV that fits the user's needs. All this with QLED technology and 4K resolution.
*To access the Art Store, you must include a payment method (credit card). Service charges: R$16 monthly subscription to access all available content. Cancellation of the service depends on the user's action. Any content, museum, gallery or artist may be discontinued or modified without notice. Art Mode keeps the television in “stand by” mode.
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