IT has already been a huge crowd pleaser in San Francisco and Paris, and now ''THE STEINS COLLECT: MATISSE, PICASSO AND THE PARISIAN AVANT-GARDE'' is coming to New York, where it opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday. The exhibition focuses on Gertrude Stein and her brothers, Leo and Michael (as well as Michael's wife Sarah), who settled in Paris in the early years of the 20th century and befriended artists like Matisse and Picasso. Their home became a famous gathering place where they held weekly salons for artists and collectors, scholars, dealers and aristocrats to see the latest examples of what was being produced during those years. And over time the family amassed a formidable collection of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures that offers a snapshot of a seminal era in the history of art. The exhibition showcases the Steins' collection, with both well-known and obscure images that total around 200 paintings, sculpture and works on paper. The show begins with the art Leo Stein collected when he moved to Paris in 1903 -- paintings and prints by Cezanne, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet and Renoir -- and goes on to chronicle the family's acquisitions in subsequent years, examining the close relationships they formed with many of the artists they encountered. Through June 3, (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]