William Shakespeare said it very well in The Merchant of Venice, and it is no less applicable here. A gleaming wall in the soon-to-be American galleries is not gold – nor, indeed, silver – no matter how it glistens in the light. It is a wall of insulation that has been placed in front of the old tar-covered interior walls of the Nelson-Atkins Building.
This silvery insulation will prevail throughout the newly renovated spaces. On the floor in the foreground lie steel beams that will support the floor of a mechanical mezzanine in this area. The renovated American galleries will open in April 2009.