Controversies
The book Rogues' Gallery by the journalist Michael Gross was published in May, 2009 focusing on the personalities behind the museum, showcasing their personal peccadilloes and charting the relationship between the public and private behavior and ambitions of its trustees and benefactors and their cultural philanthropy. A museum spokesman condemned the book as "misleading" and "insensitive", and the museum bookstore declined to sell it. The New York Times Book Review noted that the subjects of the book "form a blockbuster exhibition of human achievement and flaws," but ultimately criticized the book's focus on "lurid" matters unrelated to art.
The museum has been criticized for withdrawing images of Muhammad from public display.
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Museum Of Art