Are Museums The Best Place to Appreciate Art? Ask The Director of the Met.

Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft, c. 1660–61. Oil on canvas, 96.5 x 115.7 (38 x 45 1/2)

Philippe de Montebello, the longest-serving director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its history, discusses how and why we look at art. In his new book, Rendez-vous with Art, he reflects on the importance of museums, but wonders if they might be the worst possible places to look at art. 

Check out Fragment of a Queen's Face, which Philippe de Montebello called the most beautiful object at the Metropolitan Museum and in the history of human civilization.