January 2009

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English-born and Oxford-educated, Campbell has been a curator at the Met since 1995. He is a leading authority on European tapestry and has organised two highly acclaimed shows at the Met in recent years: ‘Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence’ (2002) and ‘Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor’ (2007). Despite his deep involvement in his chosen field, Campbell possesses, as Liedtke points out, ‘a broad appreciation of the arts, ranging from antiquity to the present and from Asia to America’. And, noting that Campbell’s speaking voice is almost as mellifluous as de Montebello’s, Liedtke cheerfully adds that ‘the audio-guide will sound like it’s gone through the Channel Tunnel but no further, thank goodness – or rather, our trustees’. Campbell is young – just 46 – and was a fairly junior figure in the Met’s hierarchy, not a full department head like some other internal candidates for the job, such as the 20th-century paintings specialist Gary Tinterow or Campbell’s own boss, Ian Wardropper, chairman of the department of European sculpture and decorative art. As James R. Houghton, chairman of the Met’s board, acknowledged to The New York Times, the appointment may lead to hurt feelings in certain quarters. ‘This is a hell of a job’, Houghton said. But, more than anything, the decision is a testament to the board’s open-mindedness, creativity and willingness to take a chance.

Speaking to de Montebello before Campbell’s appointment was announced, I asked him – purely in the abstract – whether it was reasonable to think that someone could make the leap from being a curator to being the director of a great museum, as the two jobs are indeed quite different. ‘Many have done it’, de Montebello responded. ‘If you’re going to spend the rest of your life being told, “You have no experience, and therefore I’m not going to hire you”, then how do you gain experience? At some point someone has to take a risk and say, “This person has promise.” That’s what the decision comes down to with any job.’ Early indications are that the Met’s latest decision may turn out as felicitously as the one made in 1977 – which says a lot, as the shoes to be filled are very large indeed.

Jonathan Lopez’s biography of Han van Meegeren, The Man who Made Vermeers, was published by Harcourt earlier this year.

‘The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions’ is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 24 October to 1 February 2009. For more information telephone + 1 212 535 7710, or visit www.metmuseum.org