The Metropolitan Museum of Art Receives $10 Million Gift for New Ottoman Art GalleriesBy STAN PARCHIN
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| The Metropolitan Museum of Art (exterior) (2006). Photograph courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
November 6, 2009
New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that the Istanbul-based Vehbi Koç Foundation donated $10 million for the construction of two new galleries for Ottoman art in its Islamic Art Wing, scheduled for re-opening in Fall 2011.
The first room, dedicated to the Ottomans of Istanbul, will feature art produced at the royal court of Süleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566), including Iznik ceramics, calligraphy, paintings and drawings. Also on view will be woven silks, velvets and carpets from the imperial workshops. The second gallery, focusing on the greater Ottoman world, will exhibit carpets from Anatolia and other regions, textiles and arms and armor beneath an ornately carved and gilded 16th-century ceiling.
Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, said, "The Koç Family Galleries will provide the public with the first comprehensive overview of the multilayered nature of Ottoman patronage. We are delighted that we will be able to present this important message to Museum visitors in beautifully enhanced and improved new galleries, suitable for the display of splendid works of art."
On June 11, 2009, The Met announced that New York philanthropists Sharmin and Bijan Rahmani gave the museum $10 million for a new gallery dedicated to Safafid and Later Persian art (1500-1924). The couple was also instrumental in raising more than $1.5 million for an additional space devoted to artifacts and architectural fragments from the medieval city of Nishapur in northeastern Iran.