Rogues’ Gallery

Tuesday, February 9, Bal Harbour Shops “Behind almost every painting is a fortune and behind that a sin or a crime.” With these words as a starting point, Michael Gross, leading chronicler of the American rich, begins the first independent, unauthorized look at the saga of the nation’s greatest museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan, Gross writes, “is a huge alchemical experiment, turning the worst of man’s attributes—extravagance, lust, gluttony, acquisitiveness, envy, avarice, greed, egotism, and pride—into the very best, transmuting deadly sins into priceless treasure.” Rogues’ Gallery (Broadway, $29.95) covers the entire 138-year history of the Met, focusing on the museum’s most colorful characters. It’s a rich, satisfying, alternately hilarious and horrifying look at America’s upper class, and what is perhaps its greatest creation. Wine reception, beginning at 7pm, presented by the Hebrew Free Loan Association. Donations welcome. 7:30pm

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