The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) reopened after nearly six years, replacing its 1969 building with a 146,000-square-foot complex designed by Adjaye Associates. The new structure features nine interlocking modernist pavilions, a 40-foot mosaic by Nick Cave, and flexible spaces like a central hall convertible into a lecture hall. The museum's collection of 117,000 objects is installed with ahistorical juxtapositions, pairing works such as Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn (1962) with a 14th-century Virgin and Child, and Titus Kaphar's To Be Sold (2018) with a George Washington portrait. The reopening follows controversy: David Adjaye stepped back from the project in 2023 after allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied.
The reopening matters because PUAM now has the footprint to match its ambition as a leading museum for Princeton students and the broader community, situated between Manhattan and Philadelphia. Its accessible design—with four entrances and proximity to campus residence halls—emphasizes openness. The museum's curatorial approach, which deliberately pairs disparate works across time and cultures, offers a fresh model for engaging with art history. The building's completion despite Adjaye's departure also highlights ongoing tensions in the art world between institutional ambitions and accountability for prominent figures.