New York Metropolitan Museum to merge with Neue Galerie

Max Hollein, the Austrian-born director of the Met since 2018, told the DPA news agency ahead of the announcement that "for the art world, this means that one of New York's most beloved and distinctive cultural institutions - the Neue Galerie, built by Ronald Lauder - will not only be preserved, but will continue exactly as the museum it was always meant to be".

The merger will also bring the Met a collection of "icons of art history," Hollein said, including works by Egon Schiele, Gabriele Münter, Oskar Kokoschka, Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Paul Klee.

According to Hollein, the acquisition will fill "a significant gap" in the Met's collection in "an incredibly impressive way".