Rendez-vous with Art - Hardcover

De Montebello, Philippe; Gayford, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 050023924X ISBN 13: 9780500239247

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 2014

Synopsis

The fruits of a lifetime of experience by a cultural colossus, Philippe de Montebello, the longest-serving director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its history, distilled in conversations with an acclaimed critic

Beginning with a fragment of yellow jasper―all that is left of the face of an Egyptian woman who lived 3,500 years ago―this book confronts the elusive questions: how, and why, do we look at art?

Philippe de Montebello and Martin Gayford talked in art galleries or churches or their own homes, and this book is structured around their journeys. But whether they were in the Louvre or the Prado, the Mauritshuis of the Palazzo Pitti, they reveal the pleasures of truly looking.

De Montebello shares the sense of excitement recorded by Goethe in his autobiography―"akin to the emotion experienced on entering a House of God"―but also reflects on why these secular temples might nevertheless be the "worst possible places to look at art." But in the end both men convey, with subtlety and brilliance, the delights and significance of their subject matter and some of the intense creations of human beings throughout our long history. 75 illustrations

About this title

About the Author:

Philippe de Montebello is the longest-serving director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in its history. His retirement in 2008 was described as the end of an era “in the cultural life of the city, the state, the nation, and the world.” He is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and has a worldwide influence on cultural policies, often in an advisory capacity. He is now Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York.

Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator. His books include Man with a Blue Scarf, A Bigger Message, and Rendez-vouz with Art (with Philippe de Montebello), and Modernists and Mavericks.

Review:

“Philippe de Montebello has produced a humane and engaging volume aimed squarely at the educated lay reader . . . The book hints at the history of the museum as a societal institution and yields insights into the benefits and shortcomings of seeing art in a museum setting, where our access to objects often entails severing them from their original content. . . .  It is a testament to Mr. de Montebello's character that he has chosen to write a book of this type and not an arrogant, inflammatory account of his tenure at the Met.”
- The Wall Street Journal

““A sparkling gem of a book.””
- The Wall Street Journal

“Sure to provoke a response . . . The premise―two art experts look at some of the world’s most magnificent works in tandem―is a good one, offering readers guided tours of the Louvre, the Prado, the Palazzo Pitti, and other prestigious institutions. . . . The book adds an ingenious twist to the classic approach to art criticism. Considerable insights into the featured art.”
- Publishers Weekly

“Rather than a traditional art history or theoretical text, the authors seek to revive the timeless pleasures of looking deeply at artwork themselves and to mark the irreplaceability of first-person artistic encounters. De Montebello particularly emphasizes the importance of the viewer’s own emotional connection with art in discriminating the good from the great.””
- Booklist/American Library Association

“An absorbing read, which should prove to be of just as much interest to the general reader as to the insider. . . . What makes these conversations so valuable is the fact that they give us something we will never otherwise have―a kind of covert biography of Philippe de Montebello, combined with his response to art.”
- The Spectator UK

“Gayford and de Montebello engage readers with pleasant, unapologetically scholarly nostalgic conversation in dialog format. The authors are clearly passionate about their shared history of art in museums, the institutions’ sense of place, and even their commiseration about ‘museum feet.’ Top-shelf art appreciation makes this ‘impulsive’ discourse stand out.”
- Library Journal

“Rendez-vous with Art is your chance to stroll the Met, the Bargello, the Louvre, and more with de Montebello as he chats with Martin Gayford. Together, they teach us fresh ways to look at and think about their artwork the spaces that house these treasure troves.”
- Traditional Home

“The sprawling-yet-intimate structure works. . . . The two authors discuss why photographs never quite capture art . . . and the two art lovers mourn, as they run into a crowd at the Prado, that the more famous a picture is, the harder it is to see.”
- New York Observer, Gallerist NY

“As we accompany the two friends on their wanderings, we get an unvarnished glimpse of where their affections and prejudices lie. Normally, such insights are rare....Would that Rendez-vous with Art were made required reading in today's postgraduate art history programs!”
- The New Criterion

“The chief pleasure of reading de Montebello is to watch a connoisseur at work. Can such a refined, scholarly vision survive the current trend towards the anthropological, populist approach?”
- Financial Times UK

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 050023924X
• ISBN 13: 9780500239247
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248