TOMKINS, History of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N. Y.

Speranza

It's always good to read Tomkins, but I was hoping for a little more contemporary insiders' gossip.

This is serviceable, but unless you're going for a degree in museum management, you might want to skip it.

I had the feeling (perhaps unfounded) that whoever was writing Tomkins' paycheck was looking over his shoulder most of the time.

The history of the greatest art museum sounds dull and pedantic.

Tomkins's history is anything but dull. T

here are revelatory altercations between curators and trustees, monumental egoes of wealthy donors that still need to be assuaged, and enough descriptions of dysfunctional interpersonal relationships that read like the "true confessions" of gossip magazines.

And yet there is a wealth of facts and figures to keep the most demanding of readers satisfied.

 

This museum means a lot to me.

 

I learned art history just by being exposed to the best of the best.

 

My mother took me many times when I was a little boy.

 

 Thereafter, I would go on my own.

 

I've seen a lot of changes to the "Met" over the years, and this wonderful, easy-to-read book explains how it all happend.

 

You will not be disppointed.

 

 

It's entertaining and informative at the same time.

 

Tomkins is a well-known writer; this book is his masterpiece.