According to “The Real Thing? That’s a Big Question” , an article by Robin Pogrebin in the August 5, 2026 issue of The New York Times, the New York Historical had put several reproductions and facsimiles of light-sensitive works in the exhibit, “Democracy Matters”-- the first exhibit mounted in its new Tang Wing for American Democracy. The reason for the use of reproductions is that the galleries are flooded with light from windows placed up near the ceiling and the museum's Director felt that the effect produced by the use of blackout shades “undermined the wing’s soaring architecture”. The wing cost $175 million to construct. When it was being designed, did no one think it would be a good idea for the architect, Robert A.M. Stern to confer with the museum’s conservators?
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