Is the continuing spread of blockbuster traveling exhibitions distracting museums from what should be their primary focus? Art Institute of Chicago president James Cuno thinks so, and he’s raising eyebrows by saying so in public at a time when many museums view high-profile exhibits and big, fancy in-house gift shops and restaurants as the only things keeping them afloat. In his years at Harvard, Cuno “came to espouse what has been called an ‘essentialist’ view. It’s a view that seeks to refocus attention on the acquisition, preservation and presentation of research of museums’ permanent collections.” The theory works in academia, but can it fly in the open market?