New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will remove the Sackler family name from seven galleries, including the wing that houses the Temple of Dendur, the institution announced Thursday.
“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 serves,” descendants of physicians Mortimer and Raymond Sackler said in a statement.
“The earliest of these gifts were made almost fifty years ago, and now we are passing the torch to others who might wish to step forward to support the Museum.”
The Sackler family has for decades made substantial donations to the Met, as well as other cultural and academic institutions throughout the world.
The Met’s Sackler Wing is home to one of the most prized treasures in its collection: The Temple of Dendur. The family has also gifted a wing at the Louvre; a courtyard at the Victoria and Albert Museum; a center for feminist art at the Brooklyn Museum; and an arts education center at the Guggenheim Museum of Art; and donated to dozens of other institutions, including the National Gallery, the Tate, the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History.
As lawsuits in recent years have brought more information to light about the Sacklers’ role in the opioid crisis, however, several institutions have come under pressure to return gifts and remove the Sackler name from their facilities.
Source: www.cnn.com