Brettell would remain at Yale to receive his Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD degrees, completing his dissertation, "Pissarro and Pontoise," under the supervision of Anne Coffin Hanson.

He quickly developed a reputation as an ambitious, blunt, and somewhat rebellious leader[11]—D Magazine ran a lengthy article on his first two years at the museum with the heading "Art's Bad Boy.

"[9] Still, despite significant budget constraints and some controversy, Brettell's tenure at the DMA was marked by remarkable expansion: the museum hosted international exhibitions on the arts of Latin America and Africa,[2] acquired more than 3,000 objects,[10] and began construction on a 140,000 sq.

[13] The sting and the media's reporting on Brettell's arrest were criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas,[14] D Magazine,[15] and the Dallas Observer.

The MAC is a nonprofit arts organization founded by Claude Albritton III, a former DMA board member who had disagreed with Brettell's treatment in the wake of his arrest.

[11] In the mid-1990s, as the DMA experienced an extended "exhibition drought," the MAC was viewed by some as a rival of the museum, or even, as D Magazine put it at the time, "Brettell's popular government-in-exile.

Under his leadership, the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History created a new master's degree program and developed international research partnerships with Nanjing University and Museo di Capodimonte.

He was credited with helping UT Dallas, a university founded on the model of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develop a burgeoning reputation as a center for the study of the arts.

[27] Brettell told the Dallas Morning News that he was "devastated" by the decision, arguing that, "The former DMFA building cries out to be filled with works of art again.

"[27] Following Brettell's death, a tribute in D Magazine called for honoring his legacy by redoubling efforts to make his "dream of a Museum of Texas Art a reality.

Commentary on his legacy centered on his abilities as a scholar, fundraiser, and institution-builder, highlighting his stature as a "towering figure"[5] who revolutionized the arts in North Texas between the late 1980s and 2020.