Maurizio Maranghi and Art

Thomas Hoving, 78, Met Art Museum Director will Be Missed

Thomas Hoving, director of the New York Metropolitan Art Museum during the 1970s, passed away yesterday in his Manhattan home, due to cancer, according to his wife. He changed the image of the Met Art Museum from something that was “dying” and “gray,” to something that was representative of modern, contemporary times. He broke norms and created controversy, whether it may have been illegal–he was busted for selling antiquities illegally including paintings by Van Gogh or Rousseau to fund other projects like obtaining art pieces from Diego Velazquez–or not. By ushering in pieces by Pop Icon Artists like Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Jasper Johns, he created a storm in the Art culture with his efforts to develop a contemporary art department. He was also widely respected for shifting the Met’s focus by welcoming in very exotic art of Islamic, African, Latin American and Asian descent. Despite what other museums were doing, he treated his exotic findings with the utmost respect, placing them next to pieces by Poussin and David. He “commercialized” the Art industry and many criticized him for doing so. Regardless, he was a true innovator and visionary that impacted Modern Art for the better.

Sources: CBS News and NYTimes.com

Model Arrested for Posing Nude at the MET Art Museum

Can you believe that a model was arrested for posing nude at the MET in NYC? It just seems odd that nude images are on canvas and sculptured in marble all over the MET, but real naked human bodies is a bit much.

Kathleen “KC” Neill, 26, was arrested in August 2009 and charged with public lewdness after posing in the museum for photographer Zach Hyman as part of a series of nudes in New York’s public spaces. Maybe, my being Italian sees the lightness in it all, but NYC’s MET Art Museum and the NYPD apparently did not.

Zach Hyman has shot nude images in Times Square, in the NYC subway, in church, and other public spaces without complaints. He said that “people see a naked woman and smile.” He wants to show the human form and its sexuality; this is not pornography whatsoever. Kate’s nude shot at the MET Art Museum is part of this specific collection and has since been displayed at the New York Chair.