Read all about it: Go Behind the Scenes at the Museum with the Port Jefferson Free Library.

The Port Jefferson Free Library can take you to the museum with our museum passes, now go behind the scenes at the Museum and a few other places where art is the focus!

Danziger, Danny. Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b3925245~S50

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the biggest museums in New York City and the second largest art museum in the world after the Louvre. To run a museum of that size and scope it takes nearly 2,000 employees. Fifty two of those employees are profiled in this entertaining volume. From the cleaning crew to the director and trustees, everyone gets to have their say about what they do, and how they fit into the great museum machine. This volume puts a human face(s) on what some view as an imposing institution. It is a reminder that museums are more then just the objects that they own.

Gross, Michael. Rogues' Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum of Art http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4121027~S50

The Metropolitan’s classical facade and neatly organized collections came to be through less than civilized behavior on the part of its founders and supporters, the wealthy art collecting elite of New York. However, they were not always the guilty parties. The staff at times did not always behave properly. There were directors who knowingly bought illegally excavated goods and manipulated donors, to the donors themselves who played the great museums one against the other to see who would win the honor of being the resting place for their treasures. If you ever thought museums were boring, this book will make you change your mind. (In an interesting twist, while this book is all about the Metropolitan, it was written without the Museum’s approval).

Hoving, Thomas. Making the Mummies Dance http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b2074941~S50

Thomas Hoving was the director (1967-1977) who brought the Metropolitan Museum of Art into the 20th century. He had a promising career at the museum which was briefly interrupted by a stint as Park Commissioner under Mayor Lindsay. With the sudden death of the former director, Hoving became the seventh director of the Museum. Tall, elegant, and charismatic, Hoving modernized the museum bringing the facilities up to date, and began the so called massive “blockbuster” exhibitions. He began the now famous museum parties, and under his leadership the Costume Institute began to hold regular exhibitions. During his tenure the museum acquired several famous works including, Velazquez’s Juan de Pareja http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110002322 and Monet’s Terrase a Saint Addresse http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110001581

However, his reign was not without controversy. It was Hoving who purchased the now infamous illegally excavated Eurphronios Krater (the so called “hot pot”). Hoving is an entertaining narrator (so much so that I am re-reading the book!)

Thornton, Sarah. Seven Days in the Art World http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4061841~S50

The art world is a much bigger and broader place than a museum. Sarah Thornton, art historian and sociologist, acts as the guide. She examines why art has become more popular, and believed this is due to our higher education level combined with extensive media coverage of high prices paid for works of art. Thornton dives into that world from the showrooms of Christies, the auction house, to a student art “crit”, to Art Basel the contemporary art fair in Sweden. She also observes the selection and awarding of the prestigious British art prize, the Turner Prize. She reports on the inner workings of ArtForum, the art journal. She visits the Venice Biennale (the bi- annual art show) and spends a day with the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.  This work presents a  fun and fast paced, yet informative, whirl through the contemporary art world.