More on the Discreet Charm of Tom Campbell UPDATED

Thomas Campbell, with Philippe de Montebello (center) and Harold Holzer, the Met's senior vice president for external affairs, at his back

Ed Winkleman in a blog post yesterday astutely pointed out what may lie behind Tom Campbell's excess of discretion at Wednesday's press conference introducing the Metropolitan Museum's next director to art scribes.

Winkleman opined:

She [me] might have missed the more probable reason Campbell's responses were short on details about his personal vision for the museum...he was sitting right next to the outgoing legend, and anything that he stated that might be interpreted as a criticism would be pounced upon by the press and thrown up as disrespect...how dare this relative unknown suggest he knows better than Philippe? Indeed, I sense a hint of unrequited lust for just such an opportunity throughout Lee's post.

I agree with this blogger/dealer (except for the "lust" part): Campbell might well have considered it bad form to talk in detail about changes that may occur in what board chairman James Houghton called, "The Thomas Campbell Era," when the Philippe de Montebello Era still has a few more months to run. Discretion is a directorial virtue and a "listening tour" among constituents is a politically and managerially smart thing to do.

Still, in case you doubt my previous observation that substance was lacking throughout the press conference (not just in response to the two questions and answers that I quoted in my above-linked post), I refer you to Carol Vogel's report in today's NY Times based on her interview with the director-elect, which is heavy on biographical and personal details, light on museological insight, knowledge or plans.

In talking to me briefly after the press conference, Campbell did discuss with me (as he did with Carol) his interest in using technology to transmit different types of information to different audiences. To me, he specifically mentioned the promise of handheld devices, causing traumatic flashbacks to the clumsy gadgets that visitors lugged around for the Whitney Museum's "The American Century" show on technophile Max Anderson's directorial watch. There we could gaze at a digital image of a waving American flag while standing in front of the Jasper Johns version. I worry about anything that causes us repeatedly to look down at a screen instead of up at the art. Then again, we don't yet really know what Tom has in mind.

My only "lust," Ed, was for the kind of articulate musings on museums in general and the Met in particular that informed my first interview with Philippe de Montebello (for a detailed ARTnews profile), soon after he started the job. I knew right then and there that the doubters (of whom there were VERY many) were wrong: This guy had the goods.

Then again, Philippe was already firmly ensconced in the director's office at the time of our talk. I must curb my impatience and hope that the new appointee will be willing to speak with me again when he's done sufficient listening and is truly ready to start talking

UPDATE: I just came upon Jed Perl's expansive paean to de Montebello for next month's Atlantic (online now): The Man Who Remade the Met, written before Campbell's appointment but including much praise for his tapestry shows. Perl extols the new appointment in a column posted online Wednesday for the New Republic.

But Jed, you may be singing his praises, but you never wrote Philippe a song!