Main entry:

Hoving, Thomas, 1931-2009.

Title & Author:

Making the mummies dance : inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art / Thomas Hoving.

Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, ©1993.

Description:

447 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Notes:
Includes index.
Introducton -- A Very Dangerous Place -- The Search Committee Calls -- Moving and Shaking -- Nervous in the Service -- The Curators -- High Society and the Revered Patrons -- The Big Stuff -- Toadying -- To Hell with the Critics -- "You'll Never See Their Likes Again" -- Harlem on my Mind -- I need a Coup to Survive! -- Happy Birthday, Happy Fight -- Sweet Victory -- Truth, Not Art -- The Big "Kerfuffle" -- The "Hot Pot" -- High Roller -- Dictator of Taste -- King Tut -- The Final Bow -- Index.
Also issued online.

Summary:

"No museum in the world is like the Metropolitan Museum of Art - and no man has ever run it, or revolutionized it, quite like Thomas Hoving. In a decade, Hoving changed almost everything people had grown accustomed to from the Met, shaking the institution out of royal repose and transforming it into the most vital cultural presence in the country. Now, the irrepressible former director delivers a fearless account of his life at the pinnacle of the art world - a modern Vanity Fair, a true story of masterpieces and money, society and scandal, intrigue and international theft." "The Met is more than a dazzling art showplace. The museum is a vibrant if quietly influential community, inhabited and run by singular sorts of people: trustees and curators, connoisseurs and conservators. It is steeped in history and tradition and seems to move in a serene and elegant world of impeccable manners and the finest taste." "Behind the proper social veneers and pristine marble galleries, Hoving reveals the cutthroat precincts where the real business of the Met is carried out. From seducing important patrons like Robert Lehman, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Annenberg, and Brooke Astor to spiriting ancient treasures across international borders; from striking secret agreements with the world's most powerful dealers to sidestepping rivals; from securing blockbuster exhibitions, like "Tut" and "The Glory of Russian Costume," to seizing the most phenomenal Velazquez portrait, Hoving shares not only the nimbleness and brashness that made him so effective, but also the zeal and passion that made the Met so exciting." "Making the Mummies Dance is told in the head-on, even naughty, way that is trademark Hoving. This is an important, shocking museum story and more - an unforgettable tale of power struggles and one-upmanship, fame, big money, and, of course, great art."--Jacket.

ISBN:

0671738542
9780671738549
0671880756 (pbk.)
9780671880750 (pbk.)

Subject:

Hoving, Thomas, 1931-2009.
Hoving, Thomas, 1931-
Hoving, Thomas.
Hoving, Thomas 1931-2009
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) Management.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.).
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) Gestion.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art museum directors New York (State) New York Biography.
Directeurs de musée d'art New York (État) New York Biographies.
Art museum directors
Management
Autobiografie
Erlebnisbericht
Art museum directors Biography.
New York (State) New York
Geschichte

Form/genre:

Autobiography
Biographies.
autobiographies (literary works)
Autobiographies

Holdings:

Location: Library main 302008
Call No.: BIB 248217
Status: Available