Sad News: Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum, has died.
Michael Gross (author of Rogues’ Gallery, about the Met) has posted the news on his website, including the information that “In the days just before his death, his long-time antagonists in the administration of the museum “buried the hatchet” with him…”
Read the rest here.
Hoving’s books — Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc. — were entertaining. But for my money, the best was Greatest Works of Art of Western Civilization, an illustrated book I refer to again and again. Before I travel, I often get it out to make sure I see whatever Hoving recommended in the city I’m visiting.
12/9 — 3:30 p.m.: The New York Times has now posted an obit for Hoving.