NYC Metropolitan Museum Of Art Drops Sackler Name In Landmark Move
Image via The Met
New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has made a landmark decision to drop the Sackler name from its building.
This could be one of the most public instances of an institution cutting ties with the family since they pleaded guilty to criminal charges regarding their pharmacy company in 2019.
Seven sites at the museum bore the family’s name, including the Sackler Wing, the Sackler Gallery for Egyptian Art, the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing, and the Sackler Wing Galleries.
The decision was finalized after a review by the museum that took over a year, and was reportedly a mutual decision allowing “the Met to further its core mission,” according to a joint statement by the Sackler family and the museum.
“Our families have always strongly supported the Met, and we believe this to be in the best interest of the museum and the important mission that it services,” the family said.
“The earliest of these gifts were made almost 50 years ago, and now we are passing the torch to others who might wish to step forward to support the museum.”
According to Artnet News, organizations have faced pressure to end relations with the Sackler family ever since Purdue Pharma’s marketing was found to be complicit in the addiction of painkiller OxyContin. Other firms that have come under fire include weapons dealers and oil companies.
Protests against the Sacklers were led by Sackler PAIN, an organization founded by artist Nan Goldin after she recovered from painkiller addiction. The group had staged campaigns at other museums globally, including the Louvre, which also removed the family’s moniker from its wing of Oriental antiquities in 2019.
“We’re so happy that the Met has listened to PAIN and to their own moral conscious. We’re grateful to the Met for leading the charge and wait for all of the other museums who bear their name to follow suit,” Goldin told Artnet News.
“The Met has been built by the philanthropy of generations of donors — and the Sacklers have been among our most generous supporters. This gracious gesture by the Sacklers aids the museum in continuing to serve this and future generations. We greatly appreciate it,” said Dan Weiss, the Met’s President.
[via Artnet News, cover image via The Met]
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