Overview
- The museums announced the merger Thursday, with the Neue to become the Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie in 2028 while operating as a distinct Fifth Avenue townhouse museum.
- Ronald S. Lauder and Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer will lead funding for an endowment of about $200 million and will donate 13 Austrian and German works, with roughly 80% of the target reported as raised.
- The Neue Galerie will close on May 27 for renovations and reopen in the fall for its 25th‑anniversary exhibition, with its collection and Café Sabarsky remaining in the landmark Beaux‑Arts mansion.
- Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch‑Bauer I will stay on view in the townhouse, though other works may appear at the Met’s Fifth Avenue galleries.
- Met director Max Hollein said the union strengthens a gap in the Met’s holdings of early 20th‑century Austrian and German modernism, and a joint advisory board chaired by Lauder will guide the integration to 2028.