Get ready for some guiltless Van Gogh.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — which has been subtly strong arming New Yorkers and tourists into paying for what’s actually free high culture — has finally agreed to soften their solicitation.
After a lengthy legal brawl, the famed Upper East Side institution will now refer to their $25 admission as “suggested” rather than “recommended” in signs and written materials, officials announced Friday.
The semantic switch stems from a 2013 Manhattan lawsuit that claimed flustered, guilt-ridden museum attendees were bamboozled into thinking they had to cough up the entire amount — or something close to it — in order to mingle with the masters.
A “suggestion,” museum brass concluded, is less menacing than a “recommendation” and will allow Joe Six Pack to bask in the Met’s glory without vacating his wallet and burdening his conscience.
The same applies to herds of art-loving foreign tourists who likely interpreted the $25 sign as more of a shove than a nudge.
The linguistic softening will go into effect next month and will accompany the launch of a new Met location on Madison Ave.
“The opening of The Met Breuer presented an ideal time to put this case behind us, and to refine the admission signs for our ‘Suggested Admission/Pay What You Wish’ policy, not only at The Met Breuer, but also at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters,” said CEO Thomas P. Campbell in a statement.
“All of our recent branding and marketing work has been aimed at simplifying our message of welcome to the public and emphasizing that we are accessible to the widest possible audience—now at three locations,” he said. “The new admission signs will represent another step in this effort.”
The modification is actually a reversion to the Met’s prior admission policy that used the “suggestion” terminology.
The same 2013 lawsuit asserted that the museum was actually legally barred from accepting any admission money at all according to it’s original 1878 lease.
It argued that the city did not have the authority to solicit payment for access to the Met, which has accepted admission since 1971.
The case was brought by a pair of disgruntled Czech tourists and a New Yorker who objected to the museum’s tactics.
But a Manhattan judge ruled in favor of the museum on that point and the decision was upheld on appeal last year.
Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich ruled that scrapping the admission structure completely would gut the museum’s coffers and damage its product.
Under Friday’s agreement, which is still subject to court approval, the Met will also pay $1,000 to each of the plaintiffs in the case and will agree to cough up legal fees of up to $350,000 for their attorneys.
The Met’s “suggested” admission ranges from $25 for adults to $17 for seniors and $12 for students.
In addition, the signs will be adjusted so that the words “suggested” and “admission” are the same size. The current sign has “recommended” in much smaller print than “admission.”
“It’s a huge step forward toward public access to the museum’s world class collection,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney Andrew Celli of the changes.