The Metropolitan Museum of Art, already a behemoth of culture, is about to get even bigger. It's merging with the Neue Galerie, a private museum just a few blocks away, in a move that promises to significantly beef up the Met's modern art collection.
Come 2028, the Neue Galerie will officially become the "Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie" (or "Met Neue" for those of us who appreciate brevity). It's a bit like a big fish absorbing a slightly smaller, incredibly valuable fish — specifically, one that holds a collection of German and Austrian modernist art so good it's been called "our Mona Lisa."
The Art of the Deal
That "Mona Lisa" is Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), which Ronald Lauder, the Neue Galerie's founder, famously bought for a cool $135 million. It's one of those pieces that makes art history buffs swoon, and it's staying right where it is in the Neue Galerie's Fifth Avenue townhouse, even after the merger. Because, why mess with perfection?
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Start Your News DetoxMax Hollein, the Met's director, admits the museum's early 20th-century Austrian and German modernism game isn't as strong as it could be. And considering Vienna in 1900 and Berlin in the 1920s were basically avant-garde art party central, that's a gap worth filling. Enter the Neue Galerie's collection, which includes not just Klimt but also heavy hitters like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and George Grosz.
Now, a merger of this magnitude isn't free. The Met needs to rustle up $200 million to support its new acquisition. Lauder and his daughter, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, are kicking in some serious cash and 13 artworks, which is a rather generous way to ensure your passion project lives on and, you know, gets an even bigger stage.
This whole affair is also part of the Met's grander vision for a brand-new wing dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Designed by architect Frida Escobedo, that 126,000-square-foot, $550 million extension is set to open its doors in 2030. Because when you're the Met, you don't just expand; you build an empire. And sometimes, you do it by simply walking a few blocks down Fifth Avenue and shaking hands.
