Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art [Hardcover]

Thomas Hoving (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

The former director of the famed New York museum recounts his activities at the art world's pinnacle, from wooing important patrons to battling for acquisitions, from high-society goings on to day-to-day power struggles and one-upsmanship. 75,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As director of Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to 1977, brash, energetic Hoving transformed a stodgy, elitist institution into a bottom-line-oriented business enterprise, a modernized, expansive museum that actively engages the public. In this ebullient memoir, Hoving, who is preening and amusingly self-deprecating at once, provides a rare behind-the-scenes peek at turf wars, intrigues, fabulous acquisitions and stormy managerial battles. A highly cultivated man with wide-ranging tastes, this self-described publicity hound copes with eccentric, unpredictable donors, ostrich-like curators and angry protestors; he clashes with Robert Lehman, Edward Koch, J. Paul Getty and Jacqueline Kennedy. Hopping from Paris to Moscow to Cairo, he describes the internal controversies that have erupted over major exhibitions, giving former colleagues and critics their comeuppance. A hectic, entertaining tour of a rarefied world. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Possessing scholarly credentials, influence, friends, and connections, "wonder boy of the art world" Hoving was the seventh director of the diverse and dazzling Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to 1977. In this, his fifth book, he colorfully chronicles the behind-the-scenes activities, associations, and dealings in his indefatigable lust to make the Met the "encyclopedia of mankind's visual genius." During his tenure, the Met underwent the most comprehensive growth in its 97-year history. Besides landing collections, "gallivanting around . . . thinking up exhibitions, raising funds, and recruiting," this salesman extraordinaire spent "heady days dreaming up architectural solutions and dueling political dragons." As in King of the Confessors ( LJ 10/1/81), Hoving's style is often self-congratulatory, though he admits what he views as his flaws. With the flair of a spy novelist, Hoving--now a consultant--weaves the tale of his contributions to making the Met "a household word." Recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Vicki Gadberry, Harris Media Ctr., Mars Hill Coll., N.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 447 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671738542
• ISBN-13: 978-0671738549
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SPILLING THE BEANS ABOUT THE MET REVOLUTION, November 18, 2002

By 

Luciano Lupini (Caracas Venezuela) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Making the Mummies Dance : Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Paperback)

This is a refreshing book, about the author's personal quest to transform the Metropolitan Museum of Art of N.Y., during his tenure as director of the museum (1967-1977).
When Hoving arrived as Director, he assessed the Met as a disorganized institution, a collection of collections, located in a mixture of buildings and architectures that gave "the impression of something worse than incomplete; it seemed forgotten and forlorn...." At the time Hoving was offered the post, he was commissioner of Parks, under the tenure of Mayor John Lindsay, whose mayoral campaign the author had joined with a leave of absence from... the Met, where, after receiving his Ph.D. in Art from Princeton University, he went from assistant curator to curator of the Medieval Department and the Cloisters. And indeed, it was Lindsay, when told the news about the directorship, who said: "...have you considered the boredom? Seems to me the place is dead. But, Hoving, you'll make the mummies dance." Hence the title of the book.
The story is a fascinating, at times egotistical and gossipy account of what it took to revolutionize an institution like the Met. From the seduction of the patrons and trustees, such as Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Annenberg, Brooke Astor, Robert Lehman, to the development of a network of experts, smugglers and famous collectors, Hoving takes us on a journey that reveals a lot about the inner workings of power, expertise and glamour, in the art world.
At the end, we are led to believe Hoving's final insight about his tenure:
"With the creative energy of the Trustees who had been on my side and the stuff who supported me, the most sweeping revolution in the history of art museums had taken place. The Met, once an elitist, stiff, gray, and slightly moribund entity, came alive. THE MUMMIES DID DANCE......"

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gossipy delight, February 20, 2000

By 

Steven Goldstein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making the Mummies Dance : Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Paperback)

This treasure was passed to me by a gallery owner who said I would love it and she was right. Hoving gives you just the right amount of background to ensnare you in Art politics and society without overdoing it and boring the reader who isn't that into art. The book is peppered with anecdotes about the glitterati of the New York and international art/high society scene that ends up having the tone of Gore Vidal but on a subject he probably would never touch.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scorched Earth policy at the New York Met, March 20, 2006

By 

Peter T. Wolf "Gilded Age Lover" (lake forest, ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Making the Mummies Dance : Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Paperback)

This book appeals to a select audience. Those who enjoy reading about the great chase for the treasures of the world. Treasures that wars have been fought over. Those who enjoy reading about the super-rich and their foibles. Those who enjoy reading about the intrigues and back stabbings in elite organizations (this book makes The Apprentice look like a pillow fight). And finally those who enjoy reading about a man's all consuming ambition to succeed and yet through it all remain passionate about great art. If any of the above is your cub of tea then you are going to love this. I absolutely recommend his later book 'False Impressions'. And yes, the author spares no punches in his analysis of alot of famous people.