The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has reopened its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing after an extensive four-year, $70 million renovation project. The wing houses the museum’s collections of art from sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas, including over 400 items collected by Michael Rockefeller himself during his expeditions to New Guinea in the early 1960s.
Michael C. Rockefeller, the son of former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared in 1961 at the age of 23 while on an anthropological expedition in New Guinea. His body was never found, leading to speculation and rumors about his fate, including the theory that he was killed and eaten by cannibals.
Michael Rockefeller’s legacy honored
The reopening of the Rockefeller Wing has renewed public interest in Michael’s mysterious disappearance. The official explanation is that he likely drowned while attempting to swim to shore after his boat capsized 10 miles off the coast of New Guinea.
However, the idea that he may have been captured and consumed by the Asmat tribe, known for their cannibalistic practices, has persisted over the years. Michael’s twin sister, Mary Rockefeller Morgan, believes he drowned and has described the emotional toll of his loss in her book “When Grief Calls Forth the Healing.” She sees the reopening of the wing as a fulfillment of both her father’s and Michael’s dreams. The renovated wing showcases 1,726 artifacts with the latest scholarship and technology.
Curator Alisa LaGamma said, “We have the finest surveys of art from these three areas of the world – sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas in a U.S. museum.”
While the true circumstances of Michael Rockefeller’s death remain unknown, the reopened wing at The Met serves as a tribute to his passion for art and discovery, as well as a reminder of one of the 20th century’s great unsolved mysteries.
