Philippe de Montebello, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, doesn’t exactly need another job.
He is chairman of the Hispanic Society of America; a professor at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts; an honorary trustee of the Prado Museum; and a host of the PBS TV program “NYC-ARTS.”
But now Mr. de Montebello has decided to add yet one more, becoming a director of Acquavella Galleries, effective immediately, where he will focus on the curation of special exhibitions and the development of publications.
“I think it’s one of the great art galleries,” Mr. de Montebello said in a telephone interview. “We have been talking over the last few years since I left the Met about how I could use some of my academic and other experience with the gallery.”
Mr. de Montebello and Bill Acquavella, who runs the gallery with his children, have been friends for some 50 years.
“I just thought it was a good idea to see if he’d be interested in coming in as a director and helping us out,” Mr. Acquavella said in a telephone interview. “It’s great to have someone like that in the firm you can bounce things off of and discuss deals and art history — how can you not like that?”