Metropolitan re-opens Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts

On 30 October, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is unveiling its newly renovated and reinstalled Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts. The renowned collection of 18th-century period rooms include the Tessé Room, the Bordeaux Room and the Crillon Room, which first opened to the public in 1969 and 1977. The renovations include new lighting throughout the galleries, conservation of objects and cleaning and re-upholstery of several important pieces. The galleries are named after oil industrialist Charles Wrightsman and his wife Jayne who put together one of the best private collections of ancien régime decorative arts in America. Ms Wrightsman, a trustee emerita, helped finance the renovation. The museum also re-opens its Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education on 23 October following a three-year renovation and reconfiguration.