WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM of ART Annual Report 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM of ART
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WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART Annual Report 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2018 WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART Contents 2 Report from the President and the Director & CEO 6 The Changing Role of the Public Art Museum 10 The Future American Art Museum 12 Exhibitions & Acquisitions 24 Program Highlights 42 Governance, Philanthropy & Professional Staff 64 Financials Cover: Sculpture on Main Street, Summer 2018. Left to right: Enoch Smith Woods, Nathan Hale (American, 1755–1776), 1889, Bronze, Gift of James J. Goodwin, 1892.1; Conrad Shawcross, Monolith (Optic), 2016, Galvanized steel and stainless steel, Private Collection; Sean Scully, 30, 2018, Aluminum and automotive paint, Courtesy of the artist; Tony Smith, Amaryllis, 1965, Painted steel, Purchased by exchange and with funds contributed by Joseph L. Shulman, 1967.2 Report from the So much of the Wadsworth Atheneum’s success this Street entrance hall, Gray Court, through a focused of the museum’s docent corps, our partners in serving past year can be attributed to the stronger relationship installation of David Smith’s work (“Dwelling and Figure,” over a half million guided visits to the Wadsworth President & Director the museum enjoys with its audiences, both here in on view from late January to July) followed by Ai since 1968. It was with deep sadness that we learned Connecticut and across the world. We welcomed visitors Weiwei’s Grapes on view August to the present. of the sudden death on New Year’s Day of our longtime of every kind — from over 12,000 school children to senior preparator, Steve Winot. There was no one more professional colleagues, and every audience in between. A dynamic series of programs and exhibitions drew passionate about the collection, and as open-hearted Simultaneously, we served numerous communities by critical attention and a growing audience to the as Steve among us, and hardly a day goes by without a lending works of art to special exhibitions, continuing Wadsworth. Last autumn’s Morgan: Mind of the Collector reminder of his good natured spirit and wit. Preceding our collaboration with prominent international received national press and was the impetus for even Steve’s tenure was one of our greatest champions: and regional institutions. Caravaggio’s undisputed convening an important symposium focused on Pierpont long time trustee and Goodwin Medal recipient Joan masterpiece, Saint Francis in Ecstasy was on view in Morgan’s 22-year career as the world’s most voracious Kohn, who passed on October 4th. Milan last winter in a major exhibition of his work and and remarkably discerning collector. Important here in Connecticut; three works by Winslow Homer gatherings in the fall included our hosting of the French In the realm of facilities upgrades, we continued our were loaned to the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury as American Museum Exchange (FRAME) consortium— multi-year effort to convert our gallery lamps to LED part of their Homer project. Looking back, there is every leaders from the 15 North American and 15 French technology. Enabled by substantial gifts made through reason to think of the past year as one in which we institutions came together at our invitation over three the Neighborhood Assistance Act and a grant from squarely met our mission: Holding our collection in trust days in October. The public flocked to Gorey’s Worlds, the Avangrid Foundation, our early work in the Avery Henry R. Martin Thomas J. Loughman, Ph.D. for all people, we create meaningful experiences with which captivated the press and the imagination of many Memorial has expanded to a plan to re-lamp the Morgan art for everyone. from across the state and beyond in late winter and Memorial spaces systematically through the year and spring. The spring brought a strong lineup of lectures, into 2019. We also capitalized on the opportunity to Among the greatest moments of the past year was the activity-based experiences, films, and performances remove many decades of gallery modifications (and celebration on June 21st of our latest installation of including a new balletic work by Yvonne Rainer and at least 80 coats of paint!) in the ground floor gallery major outdoor sculpture, reenergizing our presence Emily Coates. Among the more memorable events of the Avery Memorial used for our MATRIX series of and building on the Wadsworth’s 100-year history of was an evening spent in the theater with renowned exhibitions. The walls were stripped of several layers of presenting sculpture on Main Street. The accompanying artist Mierle Ukeles (MATRIX 137) who returned to drywall, revealing the original finishes and architectural displays inside (MATRIX 179: Conrad Shawcross and the Wadsworth, the site of her first labor-conscious logic of the space. Much of that 1933 character has a retrospective look at the neighborhood’s important performance piece in 1973, to deliver the 2018 Tremaine been recovered and, in the process of this refit, we have history of embracing contemporary sculpture since the Lecture as a summary of her public career. Visitors learned the materials and techniques of this 85-year- 1970s) helped remind us of the power of the medium. were inspired by Frederic Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage old building. That knowledge will prove valuable when These were among the most visible incarnations of the which also received critical acclaim including reviews in refreshing the rest of the building in the future. museum’s commitment to our role as both a catalyst national outlets such as The Wall Street Journal. of public conversation about art and as a beacon for We commenced in earnest on our master planning sculpture. Indeed, this was a year in which we turned We are grateful to the talented staff and passionate activities for the future of American art. More than particular attention to sculpture and design. We supporters for efforts this past year. In November 2017 a strategy for the reinstallation of collections, the showcased the art of Herbert Ferber as both painter we welcomed two new trustees and five electors, all Masterplan starts with a questioning of what kinds and sculptor and increased the presence of design and of whom reflect the museum’s commitment to arts of storytelling and experiences our museum will sculpture in our galleries with a new installation of our advocacy and excellence. They hail from points around endeavor to create over the coming decade. Over the Dutch gallery featuring newly-acquired delftware at its the state. Staff leadership participated in a variety of past months we received major grants from the Henry center. We celebrated the museum’s holdings of work advanced training and a number of key roles—from Luce Foundation and The William and Alice Mortensen by mid-twentieth century sculptors such as Barbara marketing to facilities to education and development— Foundation to support a fundamental rethinking and Hepworth and Harry Bertoia, and instigated marvelous attracted new talent from across New England. This presentation of our famed collection of silver, to be conversations about recent sculpture within the Main year also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding completed in the next two years. We have reinstalled 2 3 four galleries around key themes—Becoming America, Other projects—from the largest presentation in memory 1740-1790s; Closing of the West and Nostalgia after of our extraordinary collection of textiles related to the the Civil War; American Belle Epoque; Leisure in early American bedchamber, to the return of MATRIX the Countryside, and Work in the City—sensitively to its usual spaces, and to projects next summer that integrating collections of all kinds and materials. This recognize the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall work is at the heart of our identity as America’s oldest riots—deepen our appreciation across a broad cultural art museum, founded by one of the great patrons of spectrum and through a variety of perspectives. It is our contemporary art and architecture of his day, Daniel ambition to serve that special role of the art museum in Wadsworth himself. both the regional and international dimensions, a calling which is informed by our history, shaped by our own Autumn 2018 brings into focus a different moment times, and has the power to inspire the future. in the history of art, that of the emergence of the Surrealists’ reaction to the spread of Fascism and the We are looking forward to welcoming you on your next coming of the Second World War. Their art became visit to the Wadsworth, and thank you for all you do to known on these shores at the Wadsworth, and Hartford ensure the healthy future of this community, has been a place for engagement with the masterworks of Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, and other Europeans as well as their American counterparts whose work they inspired: Henry R. Martin Thomas J. Loughman, Ph.D. Roberto Matta, Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage, Alexander President, Board of Trustees Director & C.E.O. Calder, Isamu Noguchi, and David Smith among them. Every generation faces the pressures and crises of their day, and the Surrealists cleverly encoded their anxiety and fears in the monsters and myths of antiquity. Our joint project with the Baltimore Museum of Art, Monsters and Myths (opened October 20) is a major new contribution to the public appreciation of Surrealism. This exhibition prompted a revision of one of our most visible spaces, Avery Court, which hadn’t significantly changed in more than 20 years. In February, we open Sean Scully’s Landlines, the first museum presentation of his recent body of work abstracted from nature, though we have had the benefit of his newest and largest outdoor metal sculpture in the landline series, Stack 30 (2018), designed for the Main Street façade and installed on the turf since July.