The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur," placing sculptures by Alberto Giacometti in and around the museum's ancient Egyptian Temple of Dendur. The show features a cluster of Giacometti's female figures, including works like *Tall Woman IV* (1960–61) and *Walking Woman (I)* (1932), mostly on loan from the Fondation Giacometti. The display is deliberately casual and breezy, with sculptures grouped in the temple court and a headless black work placed inside the temple itself, alongside a spindly cat sculpture. The exhibition is presented as a light, low-gravity experience while the museum's new Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art is under construction.
This exhibition matters because it signals a shift in how the Met approaches modern art display, with the museum telling Artnet News that the show's methodology will inform the presentation of art in the upcoming Tang Wing. The show's casual, accessible vibe—described as embodying the mantra "you can just do things"—contrasts with the traditional gravitas of Giacometti's existential modernism and the temple's ancient Egyptian context. By lowering the bar to entry rather than elevating the works to holy status, the exhibition tests a more relaxed curatorial approach that could influence future installations at one of the world's most prestigious museums.