New York art official Chapin dead at 86

Schuyler Chapin, known for his work with New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Columbia University, has died at the age of 86, his son Theodore says.

Chapin was a master at the politics of the art world, serving as the Metropolitan’s general manager and heading up Columbia’s school of the arts for a decade, The New York Times noted Sunday.

There is nothing simple in the world of the arts, Chapin said in a 1995 Times interview. Politics are at their worst in the arts world and the academic world.

Chapin, who died Saturday of unspecified causes, also served as cultural affairs commissioner for New York from 1994 to 2001 under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Earlier in the arts official’s career, he enjoyed stints as the Lincoln Center’s vice president for programming and as a Columbia Artists Management tour manager.

Yes, the problems and responsibilities are great, Chapin said in 1995, but the arts are the mark of a civilization, as much as that may sound like a cliche.

Chapin is survived by his wife, Catia Z. Mortimer, four sons, eight grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and one great-grandson.