The Metropolitan Museum earlier today: Always a work in progress.
If all goes according to plan, I’ll be commenting on Thomas Campbell‘s appointment as the Metropolitan Museum’s new director on WNYC‘s The Takeaway tomorrow at about 6:42 a.m. (But I wouldn’t count on such precision!)
If you’re in the NYC metropolitan area, you can hear me on 93.9 FM, and in Des Moines you can hear me live on the web here (click the red-boxed arrow on the left).
And stay tuned later to CultureGrrl for a report on how well Campbell handles the ornery New York scribes at his first press conference.
I was actually at the Met today, while the trustees were at their conclave. As you can see, above, it’s sort of like the Parthenon—always under construction. This time, it’s for repair and restoration of the main outdoor stairs, including installation of a snow-melt system.
The entrance is now rather confusing. Could the trustees find their way in?
I was happy to see that the Duccio was back in its case, none the worse for being manhandled by Philippe:
And one El Anatsui, I discovered, isn’t enough for the Met. Now it’s got a new acquisition by the Ghana-born artist, who seems to be on every museum’s must-have list. The previously acquired one was displayed in the African art galleries. The enormous 2007 wall-hanging below, purchased this year (whatever happened to the Met’s 50-year rule for contemporary purchases?), is displayed in the 20th-century design galleries:
Are these bottle-cap weaves included in Thomas Campbell’s curatorial domain as the Met’s tapestry expert?
If you can’t wait for CultureGrrl tomorrow, Michael Kimmelman of the NY Times weighs in with his “News Analysis” tonight.