Clark Snares de Montebello…at Least for a Night

Talk about being on the news!
This Jan. 9 press release just came in from the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA:
Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, today announced his plans to retire before the end of the year. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is fortunate to host de Montebello who will present the lecture “Museums, Why Should We Care?” on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 7 pm, as part of the Director’s Perspective series.
I think Philippe-in-retirement should set up a museum think tank, to tackle the thorny issues of the day.
But wait! Will he be deejaying on satellite radio? Somehow I just don’t believe that he’s as into the Moody Blues as Brooklyn blogger Alan Horn asserts (in a post that Horn linked to a comment on Richard Lacayo‘s Looking Around blog). Can you just picture it: “The Count’s Countdown.” The Moodys’ lyrics do seem appropriate, though:
Since you gotta go,
Oh, you’d better go now.
Actually, I truly believe PdM’s declaration yesterday that he really doesn’t know yet where he’s going next.
Here‘s Eric Gibson on Philippe’s waning reign, from today’s Wall Street Journal (which, under the new Rupert regime, is rolling out more free online content than it formerly offered on its subscription website).