The Met is the NY taxpayers' gem and this news is exciting and needs to be expanded on. All very thrilling and can't wait to make a visit or two, or three.
9
African and African-American contributions to world art are indeed important. At the same time, I, a racial minority, question the wisdom of efforts in the art world to promote African-American and African art, artists, scholars, and curators in a country which whose population over the past three centuries has been of European descent and whose cultural roots are West European. This is not out of a desire to exclude other cultures, whether they be African, Asian, Latin American, etc., but to recognize a reality. Even today, 70% of Americans trace at least part of their racial identity to Europe (including Hispanic-speaking), and 13% to Africa. The fact is that most of Africa did not have a written history before the arrival of either the Arabs or Europeans. I, for one, as a non-black racial minority cannot and do not identify primarily with Africans or African-Americans, culturally speaking. I cannot pretend otherwise.
14
A trip to the Etruscan/greco/roman wing is a trip in a time machine. It is the unique opportunity to immerse oneself in a different time, place, and collective mindset. It is a reflection of a whole culture. The current obsession with the individual artist is completely in contrast to this.
==
Contemporary art placement there is like finding coke bottle in the Amazon.
11
@Working doc - but it's ok that there is electricity, HVAC, sheetrock, and modern antiseptic cleaners used in the Etruscan/greco/roman wing? Meanwhile, that "coke bottle in the Amazon" shows you how ubiquitous and iconic modern design is and its never-ending influence in human civilization. There was a reason artists from the last two millenia kept using heroic David and humble, pure Mary as their subject matter, preceded by Athena and Hercules, etc.
1
This is all well and good. Indeed, I think many visitors to the Met nowadays aren't all that focused on the traditional work and are just eager to see whatever headlined exhibit is on, or to check the place off as a site to be seen. Last spring I was there and saw that the core of the collection of Dutch masterpieces were picked out for a special showing in the basement level of the Lehman wing. We hurried down and, astonishingly, there were very few others there. So we could spend some time examining in detail Rembrandt's Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer! Also included was the famous Rembrandt self-portrait, etc. If an exhibit like that isn't just packed wall-to-wall, it suggests that the audience has indeed shifted in a rather profound way, and maybe education is needed on the more traditional parts of the collection.
19
How about REALLY shaking things up by paying people who work at the Met, whether salaried or contractors, a living New York City wage? I'm tired of seeing exploited youngsters and grey-haired freelancers eking out a living behind the scenes of the glorious exhibitions.
33
@ManhattanMom
The "grey-haired freelancers" are, for the most part, highly accomplished career professionals who, now retired, have found cultural and intellectual enrichment by volunteering at the Met. We are hardly eking out a living!
17
Good bye, Met, another victim of runaway progressivism.
23
" Mr. Hollein is also thinking seriously about the visitor experience..." Wow, how new.
12
Do all museums have to be the same?
The Met provides a wealth of culture—yes, in departments—which the writer of this article has always had it in for. I am a frequent visitor and have found many young people exploring them, giving them exposure that many schools no longer provide. These departments’ exhibitions have been and are superb and DO include the cultural/political contexts. Are we to understand that our context should crowd out earlier ones?
17
I welcome the presentation of art that includes contextualizing “its political messages.” I welcome scrutiny of donors and trustees. But unless the Met ends its association with David Koch its attention to such issues is a bad joke.
14
@Martin David Koch is dead.
8
@Charles
His name remains on the building.
4
Just a suggestion, but he might wish to rethink the payment system. The scrum that develops in front of the DIY kiosks is frequently a disaster, even for members. Surely there is a better solution on how people pay, or perhaps more machines are needed.
9
I think the Ken Monkman will be his best. He shines at working with collections. He also ticks a lot of boxes. Very woke indeed.
2
“It’s a new day at the Met,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, who championed Dr. Murrell. “What it says about Max is he is willing to do bold things, he is willing to disrupt the normative practices of the museum, he is going to innovate and transform.”
I can’t believe this reaction! Why is hiring Dr. Murrell a ‘bold’ ‘disruptive” ‘normative’ innovative, transformative, thing, deserving such reaction? From the article, it seems to me that Dr. Murrell has the credentials, the knowledge and the vision to be an excellent choice. Is this so unusual for a non-white, or is Mr. Walker so completely out-of-touch?
18
@OAJ I think what the article doesn't make clear enough is that Hollein has done something unusual in creating this cross-departmental position that reports to a deputy director rather than a department chair (e.g., Sheena Wagstaff). Essentially he's defied the longstanding structure of the curatorial departments, which is where power lies at the museum.
11
@OAJ Totally agree. Hire one black curator. More like long overdue, finally taking baby steps in the right direction, after one of worst records of diversity a reprieve. New York museums are closed off to other voices, they want to do everything themselves. The Guggenheim doing the Basquiat show with an outside curator was remarkable unfortunately she said she was treated shabbily by the Guggenheim. Still a long way to go. Where are the First Nation galleries in New York museums? Canada is way ahead in this regard.
3
I think Max Hollein has already taken exciting positive steps forward. New York City’s vibrant visual art and cultural scene and audiences seems to demand “innovation” (as in every other field today) of our cultural gatekeepers. I’m right across the park and have been a Met member for three decades, I’ve seen Hollein in action around town this year. I think the Met’s in good hands and am eager for his next moves.
5
This really sounds more like a “Me too” reaction to MoMA’s dropping of it’s collection into a blender. The latest “woke” fad must be adhered to and one museum can’t let the other one outwoke them.
33
@Kevin Incorrect. This is an organic expression of what people are thinking in the art world right now. Curators and museum directors don't exist in a vacuum. They're not trying to "out-woke" each other; they're influenced by one another, just as you are influenced by others in the culture to which you belong about whose opinions you care.
3
These “woke” people are totally ignorant of art and the Met. Rosa Bonheur’s great 19th century painting “The Horse Fair” has been prominently displayed at the Met for a century. Rosa Bonheur was a lesbian who received official permission to dress as a man. Her sexuality is totally irrelevant to her talent.
The painting is an accomplished stunner. Who needs to know or care what she did behind closed doors. What she did on canvas is what got her into the Met.
41
@William Folchi Museums are in the business of telling stories about how the lives of artists affected their work. This isn't something new. It's just that we're choosing to pay attention to and privilege aspects of peoples's lives that have not only been dismissed and ignored, e.g., sexuality, race, etc., -- conditions for which so many have historically been ostracized, oppressed, disenfranchised or otherwise punished. Why wouldn't one's sexuality provide an illuminating lens through which to enrich one's understanding not only of the artist's life, but of the work they created? This doesn't displace the formal appreciation of a work of art. It merely adds new dimensions to the richness of what art is.
8
@William Folchi
Have these commentators actually gone through the Met?
Certainly the European Painting and Sculpture galleries contain mostly works by professional dead white males. (And shouldn’t Monet,for instance, be shown, even if was white and male.J
However,these are only a portion of the collection.There are galleries dedicated to African Art, and a separate wing for Egyptian art. There are Near Eastern galaries, and Asian galleries. There are rooms filled with Art from the Pacific. There are collections with the works from a mix of cultures of periods such as the ceramics and music instruments exhibits. These are not trendy new installations,but have been there for years.They have been and remain essential parts of the museum. Is there anything more iconic to the Met than It’s Egyptian Temple.
The Met does not need to “become” multi cultural. It has long been a leader in the entire world of art.
26
"Can you imagine if we lived in a time that". That was how I was going to begin this comment. But Trump has tried to subjugate California, and could just as well go after New York. So if Trump went after the Met for being inclusive and actively used the options of his office to make the Met display exhibits more to his nationalist philosophy where would we stand?
"Innovate and transform"..."shake things up"..."likes provocation...to take risks".
Whenever I hear such a description of a new leader, I sit back and wait for a train wreck. And it most likely will come.
These things never turn out well...
27
Well, look at the Brooklyn Museum. It used to be a real museum, with curators like von Bothmer and others of his caliber; years ago, the curators were let go and event planners took their jobs.
Lots of stuff in storage, the costume collection given to the Met; in their place, hip-hop exhibits, glass condoms, ghost dummies, and paper-mache guano in the period rooms -- all in an attempt to be relevant to "the community," as if the community was too stupid to appreciate real art.
The Met has never been a stagnant sort of institution. I hope it can resist the changes woke warriors want to see.
43
Why does the cultural emancipation of staid stodgy and “entrenched” institutions always read like the same NPR produced script. So totally predictable! POC, Trans or gender fluid artists or advocates of some kind are brought in to reinvigorate the ashen halls with new woke cultural product and presto, said institution gets a clean bill of health from culture arbiters. I can’t be the only one rolling my eyes at this hackneyed, hallmark like, feel good script. I bet even the young journos writing these stories are getting cynical about this formula.
54
Alway a plus to pick a director with 1) a Mid-Atlantic accent, say like Cary Grant, 2) Or straight out English, like Phillipe De Montebello, or , in this age of diversity expectations, a woman and an African America. Hope she's good and doesn't start throwing stuff on the walls that no way belong there because of outsider claims on our attention. Trouble is, is she comes up a cropper, it's gonna be years before she's terminated, with all the hoopla her supporters will stir up.
Meanwhile, the museum charges an arm and a leg for non- New Yorkers to go have a look see. Nice!
4
Cary Grant had a mid-Atlantic accent?
Philippe de Montebello had an English accent?
Oh, dear. I think not.
8
@heyomania She's damn good.
1
So let me get this right, Max Hollein, is "shaking things up" at the Met by hiring an ASSOCIATE curator who is a person of color?
I'm glad to see Daniel Weiss getting the financials in order. But don't try to sell Max Hollein as shaking things up. He's another white European male in the art world.
I ask you this: If he was a black female with the same credentials, would he have this position? If he was a hispanic male, would have have this position?
16
@M. This is true; Max Hollein is no radical.
However don't underestimate what such a curatorial appointment can mean for the field. The reason there are no such directors with the backgrounds you describe is because there have historically been so few curators with said backgrounds. We know why that is, but to change it requires disrupting existing structures of advancement. This move would seem a step in that direction.
4
I mean, really, who needs Emanuel Leutze when you can have Miss Chief Eagle Testickle?
8
I have been learning about the latest show "The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I" on Instagram and it has definitely got me interested. In general, I am not typically interested in armor and can walk right past those exhibits in any museum. However, the recent Instagram stories by the Met about the pieces in the show that were used as flattery/gifts as well as the connection to Maximilian's family tree was fascinating.
In this context, the political purpose (such as the reason it was given, the recipient, etc) is as important as the workmanship, craft and beauty of the armor...And perhaps that is what is meant by Hollein. There's more nuance than just the artistry.
9
It's about time the Met came into the 21st century in terms of how museums operate these days. The new paradigm embraces diversity, inclusiveness, engagement, and decolonization, and Mr. Hollein fits the bill! Thank you for this article.
6
Let them shake up the security and make it more diverse! More training on how to deal with young people, or just people of color. I won't take my 10th grade students to The Met ever again because my students were profiled the last two times we went. Almost all my students are people of color, and we were watched, followed, and spoken to aggressively by the guards while classes of white students were louder and closer to art works, (nothing outlandish, basically what you expect of kids at the museum)and their behavior did not receive a second glance. I received apologies from the higher ups, but many of my students had never been to a museum before (How is that possible with them growing up in NYC?) and this turned them off to the experience.
36
@Horrified A group of students to the Boston museum experienced the same thing. It is sad that in this day and age this keeps happening.
12
So exciting to see the new paths the MET is taking. Art is universal and I am glad that the MET is finally catching up.
4
“Art cannot solely be perceived in regard to its beauty and craftsmanship,” Mr. Hollein said. “You also have to evaluate it in light of its political messages.”
I could not disagree more and fully understand this view is currently nearly forbidden. While no one including myself will argue that art exists without its context, I would suggest that Art exists because it rises above its context by the very value of being something beautiful; it is a statement of intellectual and spiritual value. Beauty is a worthy thing in itself.
81
@JLxx5 That's a false opposition. Any Picasso still life (or any Jane Austen novel, or any Puccini opera) can be beautiful statement of intellectual and spiritual value that, at the same time, carries political messages. Hollein isn't insisting on trying erase the very idea of beauty when he says "you also have to evaluate it in light of its political messages." If the art's worth its salt, the beauty remains -- and can even be enhanced.
32
@JLxx5 I emphatically agree. There is a sequence in the history of art and artistic logic in viewing it historically. It can't be rewritten that Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, or Picasso, to name a few, are men. The frequently anonymous works from Africa and the Inuit are beautiful. One responds to good art instinctively. The Met is not a museum of "modern" art, nor should it dilute its strength with an attempt at social history. There are other sources for this.
30
@A. Reader This
1
In the meantime, Mrs. Wrightsman has willed her magnificent art collection to the "entrenched" Metropolitan Museum, and I hope that the gift is appreciated. It might not be woke enough.
The Met spent money foolishly under the last head. Let's hope it gets back on its feet.
Visited the redesigned MOMA last week. A piece of hanging burlap, binder clips, a pedestal of potato chips, an acorn sporting a tiny plastic man on it (this last, admittedly charming) -- nowadays pass for art. Okay.
44
@B. Convgratulations. You've joined the long line of people complaining about what passes for contemporary art. So it has always been. So it shall likely always be.
4
Clearly, you didn’t wander very far into the MOMA if this is the impression you walked away with. It makes me sad when people don’t want to see
I like contemporary art. Binder clips? Potato chips? Not my idea of art.
10
Very interesting. Very exciting. I can't wait to see.
I've long felt the Met needed to update it's approach to the representation and perspective of art. All major art institutions have done this years ago
10
Clearly, attracting new audiences is highly correlated to securing more donations and major gifts.
1
Does a curatorial hire, an exhibition, programming, etc. signal a seismic shift of an institution toward inclusivity? How low is the bar for white leaders of museums to be considered “risk takers”?
What are the imagined possibilities for a museum that embraces community led solutions toward equity instead of privileging oversight by a wealthy board?
15
@Pablo Anaya Excellent questions, ones more quickly answered and with new strategies put into play if one is steering a small passenger board instead of a behemoth cruise ship like the Met. Risk of course cannot be divorced from context.
6
The new path is the way of the future for ALL MUSEUMS forward, to relate to the diversity of Humanity.
10
Surprised not to see mention of the terrific Mrinalini Mukherjee show at the Met Breuer earlier this year. Very positive direction for the Met. Bravo.
10
In contrast to much of western art history, these changes are unambiguously positive. So often museums invite the public to embrace a single narrative progression of western art - a series of (primarily) great men experimenting with light, structure, and abstraction in a series of innovations. The story of art becomes the story of genius men who, like inventors, build upon each other's past achievements to achieve greater and greater heights.
Of course, the professionals at the museums know the history is more complicated and often even say so in descriptions of the art, but they are subtle. You have to know to look.
These new exhibitions are a wonderful step towards embracing a multi-faceted portrayal of art history for the public - appreciating not only the artists, but also their collaborators (e.g. "The Black Model..."), their external influences, and the context in which the art was created.
What a time to be an art-lover.
22
There is less and less effort made by the Met to provide basic amenities such as affordable dining and comfortable seating for the visitors. The cafeteria is now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays making the other choices incredibly crowded and limited or outrageously expensive. Even before MoMA was expanded there were several comfortable and spacious areas where a visitor could enjoy some downtime. With the expansion it is even better. It is obvious that the comfort of the guest is not a consideration of the Met.
42
@Judy 5 Add to that -- the bathrooms are from the third world.
21
@Emma
The article warns that more of the objects on display will be from the third world too. Let's hope that masterpiece paintings and sculpture and objets d'art from Greece and Rome and Europe and America won't be entirely consigned to the arrière plan so that the artisans of grievance can be given preeminence.
26
The bathrooms would be fine if the patrons who use them were cleaner.
9
Obviously, the Met has to live within its means and I am glad to see that it will be reaching a break even point this year.
Unfortunately, the retrenchment has been brutal. The many lectures I used to enjoy in the auditorium have essentially vanished. These often included speakers from abroad and one can appreciate the cost involved. However, it is disappointing that the museum has so dramatically abandoned adult art education. Sadly, the museum staff has been reduced at a cost of expertise and scholarly activity. Exhibitions are fewer in number and often have fewer items borrowed from other institutions.
I wish the Met would give up on commissioning works of art. Those annual things on the roof seem to get worse with each passing year. We have had artificial turf, the Psycho house, painting that seemed like splattered blood, and a series of transparent platforms where women had to be warned of voyeurs lurking underneath. Perhaps the greatest disaster was lifting the paving slabs and placing them in piles, which resulted in injuries to inattentive visitors.
The four statues placed in the niches of Fifth Avenue facade seem bizarre and have little to do with what is inside the building. I do admit their installation illustrates how the original architecture was flawed in that they cannot be seen except head on. Something akin to the Four Continents of the Customs House would have been more appropriate.
54
@David Activities and funding are seemingly now aimed at teens and millenials.
28
Six years ago, I visited both Washington D.C. and New York City, spending approximately a week in each city. In each city there are citadels dedicated to culture and history. The MET is such a structure, holding monuments to the arts. It was breathtaking in scope, size and diversity. It is and I am greatly appreciative of this gathering of humanities finest of offerings showing what hands guided by vision and talent can express. Wonderful, in the full meaning of the term. Thank you for the care invested and ongoing efforts to renew its offerings, while acknowledging humanities rich past.
21