In the transition period before taking over as director, Tom Campbell gave himself a crash course in contemporary art. He slogged through galleries and art fairs and biennials, studied the auction market, talked with artists and dealers and curators, and concluded that “something extraordinary” was happening. “There was such a level of energy and activity, partly because of globalism, partly because of media and publicity… I felt there was a sort of neo-Renaissance that the Met should be part of.”