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• VÉLEZ BLANCO PATIO REOPENS MAY 12 AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM AFTER THREE-YEAR RENOVATION

  Wednesday, April 12, 2000, 4:00 a.m.

  Two special exhibitions celebrate the reopening:
  The Forgotten Friezes from the Castle of Vélez Blanco
  Sculpture and Decorative Arts of the Spanish Renaissance

• STATEMENT BY PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO, DIRECTOR, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, AT A HEARING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ON HOLOCAUST ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2000, THE ASSOCIATION OF THE BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

  Tuesday, April 11, 2000, 4:00 a.m.

  Mr. Chairman, I am grateful to the Presidential Commission for the invitation to testify this morning. I appreciate this opportunity to update you, and through you, the public, on the efforts that The Metropolitan Museum has undertaken to re-examine its collections in order to ascertain whether any of its works were unlawfully confiscated by the Nazis and never restituted.

• WEN C. FONG TO RETIRE FROM METROPOLITAN MUSEUM AFTER THREE DECADES OF PIONEERING LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF ASIAN ART

  Thursday, April 6, 2000, 4:00 a.m.

  (April 7, 2000) — The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the retirement of Wen C. Fong, its first and longtime Consultative Chairman of the Department of Asian Art, and the Museum's Douglas Dillon Curator of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. Dr. Fong's retirement will take effect at the close of the Museum's fiscal year on June 30.

• SANDRA PRIEST ROSE ELECTED HONORARY TRUSTEE OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

  Tuesday, April 4, 2000, 4:00 a.m.

  (April 5, 2000) — Sandra Priest Rose has been elected an Honorary Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced this week by Museum Chairman James R. Houghton. Mrs. Rose's election took place at the March 14 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

• STATEMENT BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART ON THE PROVENANCE OF RUBENS'PORTRAIT OF A MAN

  Monday, March 13, 2000, 5:00 a.m.

  (New York, March 14, 2000) — Last Friday, in a news story reported by the Associated Press and subsequently printed in the New York Times (March 12), the executive director of the World Jewish Congress, Elan Steinberg, suggested — apparently relying on a brief provenance listing in an 18-year-old-catalogue published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art — that a painting in the Museum's collection "may have been stolen from Jews" during the Nazi-World War II era: Portrait of a Man, a 1597 work by Peter Paul Rubens.

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM PARTICIPATES IN A DAY WITHOUT ART IN OBSERVANCE OF WORLD AIDS DAY ON DECEMBER 1

  Sunday, November 28, 1999, 5:00 a.m.

  The Metropolitan Museum of Art will participate in World AIDS Day for the 11th consecutive year by observing "A Day Without Art" on Wednesday, December 1, 1999. This year's theme is AIDS — End the Silence. Listen, Learn, Live! and is designed to open communication about HIV/AIDS, especially among those under age 25. It also aims to increase awareness of prevention strategies, encourage caring attitudes toward people with AIDS, and help dispel the stigma of HIV/AIDS.

• THE NEW CYPRIOT GALLERIES

  Thursday, November 18, 1999, 5:00 a.m.

  THE CESNOLA COLLECTION
  

• PUBLICATION MARKS METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S COMMITMENT TO TEACHERS IN NEW YORK CITY AND THROUGHOUT AMERICA

  Monday, July 26, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  In a significant effort to enrich teachers' skills and to develop classroom resources, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has published 20th-Century Art: A Resource for Educators. The large boxed set of comprehensive written, visual, and high-tech materials provides essential tools for educators, featuring a 173-page publication — fully illustrated in color — with essays, strategies for classroom lessons, and background information that includes artists' writings and extensive bibliographic material. Also included in the packet are a set of forty slides, a full-sized, three-part poster set, a video, and a CD-ROM version of the book.

• EMILY RAFFERTY, SHARON COTT, AND JEFFREY RUSSIAN NAMED TO NEW POSTS

  Tuesday, June 29, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  (June 30,1999) — The Metropolitan Museum of Art today announced a number of senior administrative promotions, all to become effective with the start of its new fiscal year on July 1.

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES CURATORIAL PROMOTIONS AND NEW APPOINTMENTS

  Tuesday, June 29, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  (June 30, 1999)—Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today four promotions and two new appointments to the Museum's curatorial staff, all effective July 1 with the start of the next fiscal year.

• FRAGMENT OF GIOTTO FRESCO FROM BASILICA OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI ARRIVES AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

  Monday, June 21, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  Of the many damages suffered by the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi in the disastrous earthquake of September 26, 1997, certainly the most devastating was the collapse of two sections of the vaulting in the Upper Church, decorated with frescoes by the two greatest Italian artists of their day, Cimabue (1240-1302) and Giotto (1267-1337). In an instant, more than 2000 square feet of fresco from the dawn of Italian painting were transformed into colored dust and more than 50,000 fragments.

• "THE APOLLO CIRCLE," YOUNG FRIENDS OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, WILL HOST ANNUAL SUMMER CELEBRATION ON THE IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR ROOF GARDEN

  Monday, June 7, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  A new membership group designed specifically for individuals ages 21-39 has been formed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Apollo Circle, Young Friends of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a successor to the Museum's Junior Committee, will offer its members a variety of education and social activities and exclusive insights into the Museum's collections. Named after the Greek god of youth, the arts, culture, and music, the group is chaired by Nicholas A. Polsky, Eve Yohalem, and Jill Swid.

• MARY JAHARIS ELECTED HONORARY TRUSTEE OF METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

  Wednesday, May 26, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  (May 27, 1999) — Mary Jaharis has been elected an Honorary Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was recently announced by James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of the Museum. The election took place at the May 11 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM INTRODUCES KEY TO THE MET AUDIO GUIDE FOR SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS AND PERMANENT COLLECTION

  Sunday, May 23, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  (New York City, May 24, 1999)—In a major initiative to promote tourism through technology — and enhance the museum experience for local visitors, both English- and foreign-language-speaking — an all-new state-of-the-art audio guide becomes available this spring for visitors to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Key to the Met Audio Guide provides random-access commentary on both special exhibitions and the permanent collection — all on one CD player. For the first time, a "Director's Selections" tour of the permanent collection by Metropolitan Museum Director Philippe de Montebello will be offered in six languages, five of them narrated by Mr. de Montebello himself.

• ART MUSEUMS, INTERNET, AND NEW TECHNOLOGY TO BE SUBJECT OF MAY 10 PANEL DISCUSSION AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

  Thursday, April 22, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  A panel of four of the world's most distinguished museum directors will discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities facing museums as computers, the Internet, and other new technologies enter the arts arena. The program will take place on Monday, May 10, at 6:00 p.m. in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OPENS NEWLY RENOVATED GREEK GALLERIES

  Sunday, April 11, 1999, 4:00 a.m.

  For more information on the individual galleries, go to: Greek Art of the Sixth through Fourth Centuries B.C.: Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery;
  Greek Art of the Sixth Century B.C.: Judy and Michael H. Steinhardt Gallery;
  Greek Art of the Sixth Century B.C.: The Bothmer Gallery I;
  Greek Art of the Fifth Century B.C.: The Bothmer Gallery II;
  Greek Art of the Fifth Century B.C.: The Wiener Gallery;
  Greek Art of the Fifth and Early Fourth Centuries B.C.: Stavros and Danaë Costopoulos Gallery;
  Greek Art of the Fourth Century B.C.: Spyros and Eurydice Costopoulos Gallery
  
  
  The Metropolitan Museum of Art's extensive collection of ancient Greek art — preeminent in the Western Hemisphere and among the finest in the world — returns to view on April 20, 1999, in a dramatic new presentation in seven large galleries refurbished to their original neoclassical grandeur.

• FRANK E. RICHARDSON ELECTED TRUSTEE

  Monday, March 22, 1999, 5:00 a.m.

  (March 23, 1999) — Frank E. Richardson has been elected a Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of the Museum. The election took place at the March 9 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

• TWO WORKS BY VINCENT VAN GOGH BEQUEATHED

  Sunday, January 31, 1999, 5:00 a.m.

  Two important works on paper by Vincent van Gogh entered the permanant collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 8, 1998, under the terms of an unusual bequest of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Left to the Metropolitan by Ms. Rockefeller upon her death in 1948, her bequest allowed that the Museum of Modern Art, of which she was a founder, was able to borrow the works for a period of up to 50 years. When the 50 years elapsed, the drawings were transferred to the Metropolitan.

• ANNA WINTOUR ELECTED HONORARY TRUSTEE

  Monday, January 11, 1999, 5:00 a.m.

  (New York, January 12, 1999) — Anna Wintour has been elected an Honorary Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of the Museum. The election took place at today's meeting of the Board of Trustees.

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES THAT, WITH RETIREMENT OF WILLIAM H. LUERS IN 1999, MUSEUM WILL RETAIN OFFICES OF BOTH PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR, DESIGNATING DIRECTOR PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

  Tuesday, January 13, 1998, 5:00 a.m.

  (January 14, 1998) — Noting that President William H. Luers plans to retire in the spring of 1999, Arthur Ochs Sulzburger, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, today announced that at yesterday's meeting of the Trustees, the Board adopted a Report on Governance which reaffirms that the positions of both Director and President will remain essential to the effective leadership of the Museum.