Jonathan Miller's 1997 production of The Rake's Progress, revived at the Metropolitan Opera House for the first time since 2003, and around for only two additional performances, eschews the look.

It is drizzling. Of course it is. The damp air smells of metro fumes and a hint of Terre d'Hermès as I painfully drag my suitcase up the stairs and onto le boulevard Saint Michel. I look around. Red lipstick stands out against the gray sky.

Much like the 1970s punk rock scene belonged to New York and Los Angeles was the birthplace of 1950s film noir, no locale is more synonymous with Modernism than Paris. Aspiring and established artists alike flocked from around the world to access the creative energy.

Two concurrent exhibitions in New York at the end of 2014 prove that the Surrealist legacy still informs some of the most vital and psychologically compelling art of the late 20th century -- as it still informs, albeit critically and via ironic realignments, a good deal of contemporary art today.

In a world drenched with 24/7 information, what's wrong with just experiencing art for yourself? Who says you have to "study up?" Museum exhibitions are designed to inform. You don't need to arm yourself in advance as if you're going into hazardous territory, you don't need to do homework.