No museum courted department stores more than the Museum of Modern Art.

While some museums have courted popularity at the expense of educational considerations, an increasing number of museums are now trying to meet both challenges at once.

In 2005 the museum courted controversy by awarding the prize to a Design Council official, Hillary Cottam, rather than to an actual architect or designer.

Mrs. Dolnier said that several museums had courted her, but that "we felt it would have a more dynamic home in a university."

And the museum now courts so-called external special events aggressively, and about 200 of these corporate, social or convention-related gatherings are held at the Field each year.

The museum has been courting trouble by showing ancient loans from a major donor and trustee, Shelby White.

For a museum courting a major collection, it is always a balancing act of institutional integrity versus growth - let alone survival - and there are nightmares even among the success stories.

Unfortunately, today the French museums are courting the younger patron, trying to entice youth to culture.

More crucially, the museum, which has a well-earned reputation for shameless self-promotion, was courting the city's support for a new $900 million Guggenheim designed by Mr. Gehry.

What is troubling about the show, beyond the uneasy blend of serious connoisseurship and flagrant self-promotion, is the way the museum has been courting collectors in the last few years.