The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Neue Galerie in New York are merging. Starting in 2028, the Neue Galerie will operate as a satellite of the Met, renamed "The Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie." Founded in 2001 by cosmetics entrepreneur and art collector Ronald Lauder, the Neue Galerie houses a renowned collection of German and Austrian art, including Gustav Klimt's "Adele Bloch-Bauer I." Met director Max Hollein announced the merger, which also includes a donation of 13 works from Lauder and his daughter Aerin, plus an endowment for ongoing operations.
This merger matters because it secures the future of a beloved New York institution while filling a significant gap in the Met's collection—German and Austrian modernist masterpieces by artists like Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Wassily Kandinsky. The partnership ensures the Neue Galerie's legacy endures within one of the world's most prestigious museums, creating new curatorial possibilities and preserving access to iconic works that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.