On January 23, Antonin Baudry, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, conferred the insignia of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters upon Gary Tinterow, as recognition for his contribution to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.

Gary Tinterow has been the Engelard Chariman for the Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art Departments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He began working at the Met in 1983, and during his 28-year tenure, he has been awarded a host of honors, including “Best Exhibition Prize” from the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) for The Private Collection of Edgar Degas and Origins of Impressionism in 1997 and 1995 respectively. His exhibitions have garnered popular acclaim as well, with blockbusters such as Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2010).

He directed a wide range of international projects, collaborating with many national and international museums including Musée d’Orsay, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée Matisse, The Courtauld Gallery, London; The Art Institute of Chicago, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

This recognition arrived at a turning point in his career. Gary Tinterow is leaving New York for Houston, where he has just been named Director of the Museum of Fine Arts.