15th Annual McKim Lecture with Philippe de Montebello

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 Cocktail Reception at 6:15 pm, Lecture at 6:45 pm Optional Dinner to Follow

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) is proud to partner with the University Club and the One West 54th Street Foundation to present the Annual McKim Lecture – named in honor of renowned architect, Charles McKim. Philippe de Montebello will deliver the 2016 lecture, entitled “The Museum from the Outside In,” on Wednesday, March 16 at the University Club. In this lecture, Mr. de Montebello will trace the indexical role and the vicissitudes of the classical in the origins of the museum as a building type.

Mr. de Montebello was born in Paris, and after completing his baccalauréat he attended Harvard College and the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. With the exception of four years as director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), he has spent his entire career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, first as curator in the Department of European Paintings and later as the Museum’s Chief Curator and then, from 1977 until 2008, as its Director.

In 2008, Philippe de Montebello retired after 31 years as the longest-serving director in the Metropolitan Museum’s nearly 140-year-long history. Following his retirement, he became the first scholar in residence at the Prado Museum in Madrid and launched a new academic career as the first Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (2008), Honorary Trustee of the Prado Museum in Madrid (2012), and the French Académie des Beaux Arts (2012). Mr. de Montebello also serves as the Board Chairman of The Hispanic Society of America, and he is a co-host of the Emmy Award winning WNET/PBS weekly series NYC-ARTS with Paula Zahn.

Mr. de Montebello is an Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and has honorary degrees from several universities including Harvard. In 1996, Philippe de Montebello was declared a Living Landmark by New York City’s Landmarks Commission. He is one of only four people to have received both the National Medal of Arts, awarded by President George W. Bush in 2003, and the National Medal of Humanities, awarded by President Barack Obama in 2009.

The McKim Lecture will be held in College Hall at the University Club, One West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. The cost of attendance is $75 per person for the cocktail reception and lecture only, and $150 for the cocktail reception, lecture, and dinner. To make a reservation, call (212) 730-9646 ext. 107, or register online.

The 15th Annual McKim Lecture is generously sponsored by John B. Murray Architect and is a collaboration between the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) and the One West 54th Street Foundation. The One West 54th Street Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established to preserve the architectural integrity and design of the University Club, a New York Historic Landmark building. The Foundation also provides scholarship to students, including those at the ICAA enrolled in its full array of programmatic offerings. The ICAA is the leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the practice and appreciation of the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts through education, publications, awards, and advocacy.