An Acquiring Mind： An Inside Look： The Exhibition)

Visitors to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art were treated to a unique exhibition, the Curator's Tribute to Philippe de Montebello. It showcased the wide range of acquisitions made during the tenure of the Met's longest serving director. Part of the show's intrigue was the arrangement of the pieces themselves. I think one of the great advantages of this exhibition, one for which I'm deeply grateful to all of my curators, is that it gave them and me an opportunity to look again at our acquisitions over the years and look at them in a completely fresh and different way. By the juxtapositions, the surprising juxtaposition of one work next to another from totally different departments, totally different civilizations or eras, I think what we have done is to challenge the visitor and to challenge his or her preconceptions about the nature of art. We have not displayed these works either chronologically or by theme or by country or medium. Rather, they're all merged. They're all shown side by side. Months of planning and preparation were reflected in the details of the opening. The staff's enthusiasm for the project is highlighted by Helen Evans, the curator in charge of the exhibit. The heads of all the departments, because this is the first exhibition that I'm aware of that every department in the museum participated in, selected it down to what was supposed to be 170 works, and at last count is 300. I have a department who's come to ask if they can add something else after you leave today. The excitement of the opening carried over into the evening at an elegant gallop, honoring DiMattebello and launching the exhibition. While we contemplate these great masterpieces, we know that the greatest masterpiece of them all is Philippe himself. Thank you all very much. We have all, and I hope you feel it as well, been partners, all of us, in this great three-decade journey during which it has been my immense privilege to be entrusted with running this wonderful institution. This is your greatest gift to me, allowing me to run it for so long. The curator's tribute to Philippe DiMattebello celebrated works that transformed the museum's collections and reflected the director's appreciation for the work of his curators, but as those curators would be quick to add, it was really about the art itself. I could go on for a very long time. I'd rather you look at the art. I believe Mr. DiMattebello would rather that you look at the art. Here you get the chance to say, I'm excited by that work, which is what moves Philippe, and in a way that's our greatest tribute to him today. We're offering you the chance to see the art the way he does, as individual works of great importance.