The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's great museums. How it came to be and how it came to accumulate some of the greatest works of art is often shrouded in mystery and the truth is stranger than one could possibly imagine. Rogue's Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money that Made the Metropolitan Museum, by Michael Gross, is a fascinating look into the art world and how the great industrialists like JP Morgan and his contemporaries built the institution using their own collections as a starting point.
Like many of their contemporaries at the time, the Met used every conceivable means to acquire art: buy, beg, borrow, or steal. Yet, the Met isn't exactly open about how it has operated in the past or how it operates today.
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