The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Neue Galerie New York, known for its collection of German and Austrian art, are set to merge in 2028, the museums say.
The Neue Galerie will operate as a branch of the Met, located diagonally opposite the museum on Fifth Avenue, and will be officially renamed “The Met Ronald S Lauder Neue Galerie,” the museums said in a press release.
Max Hollein, the Austrian-born director of the Met since 2018, told the DPA news agency ahead of the announcement that “for the art world, this means that one of New York’s most beloved and distinctive cultural institutions – the Neue Galerie, built by Ronald Lauder – will not only be preserved, but will continue exactly as the museum it was always meant to be”.
The merger will also bring the Met a collection of “icons of art history,” Hollein said, including works by Egon Schiele, Gabriele Münter, Oskar Kokoschka, Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Paul Klee.
According to Hollein, the acquisition will fill “a significant gap” in the Met’s collection in “an incredibly impressive way”.