The Art of Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas

Only recently have the arts of Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas received the serious attention that they deserve, although the Metropolitan acquired its first holdings in these fields, Aztec stone reliefs, in the late nineteenth century. Despite the fact that the Museum did not establish a separate department to study and exhibit this art until 1969, several generous gifts in the 1960s and 1970s greatly enriched the collection: Nathan Cummings's group of about 600 Peruvian ceramics; Mrs. Alice K. Bache's Pre-Columbian gold objects, including some of the most important in the country…