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Thomas P.F. Hoving, the controversial former director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art who died this month, is widely attributed (for good or ill) as the “Father of the Modern Blockbuster Exhibition,” thanks to undertakings like the first King Tut show in 1976. Big extravaganzas with jaw-dropping loans can be a revelation, and at least one from the past year made it onto my list. But so did small, quirky or unexpected presentations, proving once again that it isn’t always the manufactured crowd-pleasers that end up pleasing the most. Click on the photo gallery for the 10 most fascinating museum exhibitions I saw this year.
-- Christopher Knight
Also:
Architecture 2009: Christopher Hawthorne’s Top 10
Music 2009: Mark Swed’s Top 10
Theater 2009: Charles McNulty’s Top 10
