The Met and Ms. Wintour
It came to my attention last evening via a Facebook post that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has decided to name the newly redesigned and refurbished Costume Institute in honor of Ms. Anna Wintour of Vogue fame. I must say initially it came as quite a shock!
As a yearly sustaining patron of the museum, I admire the great work being done there to sustain, preserve, and further education in the arts. This is precisely why it came as such a surprise that this revered institution would name the Costume Institute...which Ms. Vreeland had to beg, borrow, and steal to get off the ground...or actually in the basement...after Ms. Wintour. One can only imagine it had everything to do with the raising of funds and collecting donors. Even in the world of fine art (or in the case of fashion an applied art) cash talks.
Photo from WWD...
Back in the late '70's as an FIT student, my first real "friend" worked with Ms. Vreeland as a consultant several days a week for free. She had no budget to pay anyone! He was an expert on European Military Dress Uniforms. I never really understood the why or how or what for...but she thought his knowledge on the subject was "just grand"! It turns out she needed it for an exhibition she staged on the Hapsburg-Austria Hungary empire.
Photograph by: Patrick Demarchelier...
The Met has put poor little me in a quandary. Should I send them my pitiful little yearly contribution? A drop in the bucket surely (yet they call and plead for it each year) or carry on and call it progress.
The larger question....is nothing sacred in the world of celebrity and endless cash? I expect that next they will rename the Temple of Dendur for the Kardashians....for the right number of zeros.
As always...xx.DT
As a yearly sustaining patron of the museum, I admire the great work being done there to sustain, preserve, and further education in the arts. This is precisely why it came as such a surprise that this revered institution would name the Costume Institute...which Ms. Vreeland had to beg, borrow, and steal to get off the ground...or actually in the basement...after Ms. Wintour. One can only imagine it had everything to do with the raising of funds and collecting donors. Even in the world of fine art (or in the case of fashion an applied art) cash talks.
Photo from WWD...
Back in the late '70's as an FIT student, my first real "friend" worked with Ms. Vreeland as a consultant several days a week for free. She had no budget to pay anyone! He was an expert on European Military Dress Uniforms. I never really understood the why or how or what for...but she thought his knowledge on the subject was "just grand"! It turns out she needed it for an exhibition she staged on the Hapsburg-Austria Hungary empire.
Photograph by: Patrick Demarchelier...
The Met has put poor little me in a quandary. Should I send them my pitiful little yearly contribution? A drop in the bucket surely (yet they call and plead for it each year) or carry on and call it progress.
The larger question....is nothing sacred in the world of celebrity and endless cash? I expect that next they will rename the Temple of Dendur for the Kardashians....for the right number of zeros.
As always...xx.DT
It is really disgusting that everything can be bought now. Everything.
ReplyDeleteHistorically, the Met has always been for sale to the highest bidder. I remember the hostility Ms. Vreeland encountered during her tenure. Donor beware.
ReplyDeleteI agree Ann. Most museums operate via this method out of necessity. I doubt Ms. Wintour actually brought personal funds as in days past when wings were named for patrons who funded them. She was merely the catalyst. Hmmm. xx.DT
DeleteI was quite surprised myself! I would have thought that Ms. Vreeland would have been the better choice. Oh, well. Money is everything today.
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