| 1 | Name: | Mr. Philippe de Montebello | |
| Institution: | New York University & Metropolitan Museum of Art | ||
| Year Elected: | 2001 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 503. Administrators, Bankers and Opinion Leaders from the Public or Private Sectors | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1936 | ||
Philippe de Montebello directed the Metropolitan Museum of Art - the largest and most comprehensive art museum in the Western Hemisphere - for 31 years. In January 2008 he announced that he would retire at the end of the year and assume a professorship at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. As the first Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums, he will teach while also advising the university on its plan for a new overseas campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mr. de Montebello attended French schools before graduating from Harvard University in 1958 with a B.A. degree in the history of art. After serving as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he received an advanced degree from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. With the exception of four and one half years spent as the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, his career evolved at the Metropolitan Museum. Under Mr. de Montebello's leadership, the Museum has nearly doubled in size and is today the world's most encyclopedic art museum. Its permanent collections - housed in 17 curatorial departments - embrace some two million works of art spanning 5,000 years of world culture, from prehistory to the present. During Mr. de Montebello's tenure, the Metropolitan has focused much of its resources on reinstalling, conserving, and publishing its permanent collection, while also pursuing an active acquisition program through purchase. And, to the five million people who visit the Museum each year, it is his familiar voice that guides visitors in special exhibitions and installations through the audio guides that he has narrated throughout his tenure as Director. Mr. de Montebello has been awarded several honors, including Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1991, the 2002 Blérancourt Prize for his contributions to the cultural bond between France and America, and was one of eight 2009 National Humanities Medalists. Mr. de Montebello was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society in 2001. In 2014 he collaborated with Marting Gayford to write Rendez-vous with Art. | |||