Have you ever had a chance to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York City? Did you know it is one of the finest and largest art museums in the world with over two million works of art that cover five thousand years of history and culture?  It happens to be one of my favorite places to go in New York, and I am apparently not alone.  The Met has more than five million visitors through her doors each year!   

We, here in Naples, were fortunate enough to have Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as the lecturer at the most recent Naples Town Hall Distinguished Speaker Series event this past weekend.  I had the pleasure of enjoying the dinner event with a few friends, and it was truly one of the most fascinating and captivating talks I have ever heard.  The life that Mr. Montebello has had is nothing short of amazing, and you found yourself not only excited about art in general, but also informed and appreciative of all the forethought that goes into setting up the major collections the we all get to enjoy.  The details he spoke about from acquiring certain pieces of art to setting up the displays for the collections were absolutely intriguing!

According to Philippe’s bio, The Met, “nearly doubled in size under his leadership, vastly increasing its exhibition space, acquired significant collections and individual masterpieces, mounted acclaimed international loan exhibitions, developed wide-reaching educational programs, and reinstalled much of its permanent collections in new and refurbished galleries.  In 2008, Philippe became the first scholar in residence at the Prado Museum in Madrid, and he joined the Board of Trustees of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. In the fall of 2009, Mr. de Montebello launched a new academic career as the first Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University and as a special advisor for NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.” 

For those of you that weren’t able to attend this lecture, you can see Philippe on the weekly WNET/PBS culture series called SundayArts that he co-hosts with Paula Zahn.  It will definitely be worth your time.  You can also see his full biography from the Naples Town Hall Distinguished Speaker Series here –

http://www.naplesdistinguishedspeakers.org/pages/philippe_de_montebello.html

I must say that I am so eager for our next trip to New York in April!  I will have a completely different perspective and excitement this time as we move through the Met…and I can’t wait!