Museum Guide

New York

Glories of the Past

Through January 27, 1991

What is, in the opinion of many experts, the most extraordinary private collection of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquities in the United States can now be seen by you and me. The show is called “Glories of the Past”—and it is indeed glorious. On exhibit are over 200 pieces from the private collection of New Yorkers Shelly White and Leon Levy, who, in a mere two decades, have acquired a collection unparalleled not simply in scope but, more importantly, in quality. Here indeed is the crème de la crème. The show includes—a last-minute addition—the famous red-figure krater signed by Euphronios that Mr. Levy acquired at auction in June for $1.76 million. In an interview, Mr. Levy rejected the idea that he and Ms. White own these pieces. “We have borrowed them for a lifetime,” he said. “Afterward they will pass to institutions; then the responsibility to care for them and study them will pass to others.”