Full Breakdown
Metropolitan Museum of Art to Merge with Neue Galerie in 2028
5/14/2026, 10:05:09 PM
Merger Announcement and Timeline
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Neue Galerie announced on May 14, 2026 that they will merge under a single ownership structure in 2028. The Neue Galerie will close for renovations on May 27, 2026, reopen in autumn, and celebrate its 25th anniversary in November. The William Starr Miller House will be renamed the Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie.
Background, Collection and Financial Commitments
Founded in 2001 by cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder, the Neue Galerie occupies the six-storey Beaux-Arts William Starr Miller House at Fifth Avenue and 86th Street. It holds the most extensive collection of early-20th-century Austrian and German modernism outside Europe, including Gustav Klimt’s *Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I* and works by Egon Schiele and Max Beckmann. As part of the merger, the Lauder family will donate 13 Austrian and German paintings—such as Klimt’s *Die Tänzerin* and Kirchner’s *Die Russische Tänzerin Mela*—and fund a $200 million endowment to support the Neue Galerie’s long-term preservation, programming and the Café Sabarsky.
Stakeholders and Governance
Ronald S. Lauder and his daughter Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer will chair a joint advisory board overseeing the merger. Met director and chief executive Max Hollein, an Austrian art historian, will lead the combined institution. More than two dozen Met trustees, including Marina Kellen French, have pledged support.
Official Statements & Responses
Met director Max Hollein called the merger an “enormous opportunity” to fill a longstanding gap in the museum’s Austrian and German modernist holdings. Ronald S. Lauder said the agreement preserves the Neue Galerie’s “jewel-box” character for future generations. Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer noted the personal significance of the partnership, citing her father’s long relationship with the Met and the shared aim of sustaining the collection and Café Sabarsky.
Verbatim Quotes
- “This represents an enormous opportunity,” — Max Hollein, Met director and chief executive
- “It is our Mona Lisa,” — Ronald S. Lauder, founder of the Neue Galerie
- “Somehow I don’t think I’m going to live to 120,” — Ronald S. Lauder, founder and chairman
- “I want to make sure that after I’m no longer there—whatever happens—the Neue Galerie will stay the Neue Galerie.” — Ronald S. Lauder, founder and chairman
- “It’s a wonderful project that’s very dear to him,” — Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, creative director of Estée Lauder and Met trustee
- “If you look at Vienna 1900, Berlin 1920s—this was really the epicenter of the development of the avant-garde and it’s important to have a broad and deep collection there.” — Max Hollein, Met director and chief executive
What’s Next
Renovation of the William Starr Miller House will begin this summer, with the museum slated to reopen in autumn 2026. The joint advisory board, chaired by Ronald S. Lauder, will oversee integration planning, and final regulatory approvals are expected before the 2028 merger date. Afterward, the Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie will operate as a distinct branch alongside the Met Fifth Avenue and the Met Cloisters.
