Opinion: the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's temporary move in to the Whitney's old unprotected Breuer building is the result of behind-the-scenes machinations of a major donor. Thank goodness, says Alan G Brake.

It might be surprising that one of New York City's best examples of publicly accessible modern architecture could be passed from one museum to another with no public oversight. Thankfully, the puppet master behind such a recent transaction appears to have been motivated by a dedication to both institutions and a love for the building in question, Marcel Breuer's 1966 home for the Whitney Museum of American Art on Manhattan?s Upper East Side.
The inverted ziggurat in somber grey granite has been rechristened The Met Breuer as the new home for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's modern and contemporary exhibitions. It as if New Yorkers have a major new museum almost overnight. Its as if New Yorkers have a major new museum almost overnight
The wizard behind the curtain here was Leonard Lauder, the cosmetics magnate and art collector, who brokered the deal between the two museums as the Whitney prepared to move downtown to its new Renzo Piano-designed home, leaving the iconic Breuer edifice hanging in the balance. A major donor to both institutions, Lauder had considerable leverage with the Met ? a cache of 81 Picassos, Braques, and Légers that he pledged to the museum.
In the particular ecosystem of New York's prominent cultural institutions, a few dozen wealthy...