THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ÉLITIST
After twenty years at the helm, Philippe de Montebello wants the Met to keep pulling in crowds—but not if it has to become a theme park.
On de Montebello's early self-assurance: When he ordered Cartier business cards inscribed "The Metropolitan Museum of Art" as a young curatorial assistant in 1963, his father considered it absurd. Philippe explained, "I will still be able to use them when I'm the director."