The United Nations is supposed to be a forum for international diplomacy, but over the decades of its existence, it has become something of an accidental museum as well. “As a collector and custodian of art, the United Nations occupies a unique, and uniquely awkward, position. Since much of its authority rests on the sovereign equality of its member nations, it cannot comfortably refuse a gift from any of them. The objects on display are therefore of wildly uneven quality and provenance, and cannot be easily organized in terms of medium, period, style, subject, technique or geographical origin. It is a kaleidoscopic, but not overly coherent, collection.”