August 2014 - Philippe de Montebello, director emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Fiske Kimball Professor, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; and Martin Gayford, London critic for Artinfo and author of Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud and David Hockney: A Bigger Message. Introducing their unique and very personal new book, Rendez-vous with Art, Philippe de Montebello, past and longest-serving director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and author and art critic Martin Gayford explored what it feels like to experience pictures and sculptures in museums, galleries, and churches around the world. They offered their opinions and insightful reflections about outstanding collections and individual works of art, including those by Giotto, Poussin, Velázquez, Rubens, Titian, Vermeer, and Fragonard. Throughout their conversation, recorded on October 7, 2014, at the National Gallery of Art, Gayford and de Montebello addressed the modern challenges of seeing art: What makes up an art collection? How are works of art classified? How is art displayed, and how does that affect our perception and understanding of it?