Do the California Museum Raids Change the Race to Succeed Philippe?

Is there really no such thing as bad publicity? Michael Govan’s about to find out! The director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was tipped just weeks ago by the Times as a dark-horse candidate to succeed Philippe de Montebello as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now he’s in the Times again, as his museum was one of four in Southern California raided Thursday by federal agents in a continuing investigation into stolen and misappropriated antiquities.

How badly will Govan’s press conference, in which he was forced to defend his institution, hurt his chances to land the biggest job in the museum world? (After all, while many museums, including the Met, have faced scrutiny over the provenance of the antiquities in their collections, it’s pretty rare to have the Feds rush in, guns a-metaphorically-blazin’.) There’s only one way to know for sure: Recalibrate the Snootometer™!

How badly will Govan’s press conference, in which he was forced to defend his institution, hurt his chances to land the biggest job in the museum world? (After all, while many museums, including the Met, have faced scrutiny over the provenance of the antiquities in their collections, it’s pretty rare to have the Feds rush in, guns a-metaphorically-blazin’.) There’s only one way to know for sure: Recalibrate the Snootometer™!

Four California Museums Are Raided [NYT]

Earlier: Who’s Snooty Enough to Replace Philippe de Montebello?