GARY KIRCHENBAUER DAVID BRICHFORD collections 20 Previous page and Conceived as a resource for the entire right: Installers and art handlers use a community and committed to maintaining combination of brute free admission to its permanent collections, strength, mechanical assiatance, and the Cleveland Museum of Art is a place where utmost care in placing works in the visitors can explore both the art of their time and galleries of ancient the cultural achievements of distant times and art. places. Looking back on fiscal year 2009–2010, we celebrate the third chapter in the sequence of openings that have marked the return of the museum’s permanent collection to refurbished galleries, in this case on the first level of the 1916 building. As familiar works of art returned to public view in new spaces, the addition of new objects to the collection testified to the museum’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its holdings across four millennia of art history. The expansion of the collection through significant purchases and gifts remains a fundamental expression of the museum’s mission and reaffirms the primacy of collecting in the life of the institution. Selective D acquisition of works of art attests to the values of excellence, rarity, and quality that are an essential BRICHFOR D DAVI 21 Streams and part of the museum’s legacy and reputation. The Although founded as a general art museum, Mountains without End, 1100–1150. museum’s permanent collection is its core asset, with collections stretching from Asia to America China, late Northern the source of its personality, the engine of its and spanning ancient to contemporary, the Song or Jin dynasty. Handscroll, ink and visitor experience, and the source of many of its Cleveland Museum of Art cannot properly be slight color on silk; 35.1 x 1103.78 cm. Gift programs, exhibitions, and publications. called an encyclopedic collection, but rather a of the Hanna Fund In reviewing notable acquisitions of 2009– selective survey of the history of art, with an 1953.126 2010, we examine the challenges of building emphasis on works of the highest aesthetic quality a collection that remains both internationally and historical significance. Over the course of significant and locally relevant. the past several decades, especially as the art 22 market has exploded, the museum has sought to build on its traditional strengths rather than begin to collect in entirely new or significantly underrepresented areas. The fields in which the museum presently collects are already supported by its library, conservation, and curatorial resources, and the days when the museum could expect to launch new collections that match the quality of its current holdings are likely past. By matching collection strengths with core research and preservation competencies, the museum can expect to capitalize on the specialized knowledge, professional networks, and market experience that Curator of Greek and Roman art Michael Bennett tests the EY placement of Roman L bronzes as part of the reinstallation ORY M. DON of the galleries of G ancient art. GRE Conservation are critical to securing noteworthy acquisitions. In projects included deciding to focus acquisition resources on building x-raying every square inch of Monet’s upon the present strengths of the collection, the Water Lilies in preparation for a museum also acknowledges an ongoing obligation “reunion” exhibition to use special exhibitions as a means of covering bringing together the set of three large those historic periods, geographic areas, or media paintings the artist that are absent from or not adequately represented created as a suite. in the collection. The spring 2010 exhibition of EY L Native American works from the Thaw collection is a perfect example. ORY M. DON G GRE 23 should also feed the museum’s exhibition, research, and publication efforts, which collectively help to advance the museum’s reputation as one of the great collecting institutions in the country. Although we continue a long-standing practice of collecting broadly across a range of world cultures and art historical periods, we also aspire to make a significant and sustained commitment to expanding our holdings of contemporary art, defined as work produced after 1960. Even as we accept that there are major gaps in this part of the collection, the growth of the contemporary holdings should ideally mirror the geographic scope of the collection as a whole. Consequently, the acquisition of contemporary art should not be limited—as it has been in the past—largely to works of European and American origin, but rather be much broader in scope, encompassing East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Islamic Nepcetat (One- Considerations of aesthetic quality, historical world. Our efforts in these areas increasingly That-Sticks- to-the- Face) Mask, about significance, and typological importance demand an engaged, creative dialogue between 1840–60. Central are paramount. In addition, the museum our contemporary and “historic” collections. Yu’pik artist, probably lower Yukon River, remains committed to developing a broad and While the criteria of aesthetic quality, historic Alaska. Thaw Collection, Fenimore representative survey of the history of art. This significance, and typological importance should Art Museum, has historically included a commitment to the be applied with equal rigor to decisions about the Cooperstown, New York T0231. art of the region as well as art from distant times acquisition of contemporary art, we recognize that Photograph by John and places. The character of the collection, which the considerations used for judging such art may Bigelow Taylor remains selective and small relative to our peers, sometimes differ considerably from those outlined continues to serve as the guiding principle of our for other parts of the collection. Indeed, the acquisition program. Additions to the collection strategies employed by artists working today often 24 and not limit ourselves to established “blue chip” artists. This approach entails greater risk, but also ensures we actively collect in areas of the market where prices could expand beyond our reach as emerging and mid-career artists gain status. For this reason, the museum’s collectin g activities in contemporary art are generally governed by the assumption that the museum should review the collection on a regular basis and be prepared to deaccession those works that fail to meet the test of time. Given our continued emphasis on artistic excellence, and the increased competition for significant acquisitions, purchase funds could well be concentrated on a relatively small number of objects, especially in those areas where prices are set by the rarity of works available on the market. defy categorization according to traditional terms. High Rolling, 1998. The museum should also be willing to collect The choices we make regarding contemporary Monique Prieto against the grain of market trends and to seek acquisitions are guided by an understanding of (American, born acquisitions at auction, especially if significant 1962). Acrylic on contemporary art’s relationship to the art of the canvas; 182.8 x 208.2 economies can be achieved. This requires us to act past, its relationship to the salient issues of our cm. Gift of Scott decisively when such opportunities arise, which is time, and our assessment of the achievement and Cutler 2009.436 why strategic alignment between staff and trustees vision of individual artists. The criteria used in the on major acquisition priorities is so essential. selection of contemporary art for the collection are While many museums have dedicated funds also guided by a sense of the “future’s past,” which for collecting in specific areas, Cleveland has means that it is essential to anticipate the historical always used a general acquisitions fund as the significance of the art of our time. Broadly primary resource for the purchase of works of speaking, this means that we should be willing to art. This philosophy is based on the assumption acquire works by emerging and mid-career artists that competition among acquisitions proposed by 25 Albert Wolff in His curators and the ability to allocate a significant Mapa estelar en less active. The cultivation and stewardship of Study, 1881. Jules árbol, 2009. Gabriel Bastien-Lepage portion of the museum’s acquisition endowment collectors capable of making significant gifts Orozco (Mexican, (French 1848–1884). to the purchase of a relatively small number of born 1962). Calcium to the museum is especially important now, as Oil on panel; 32 x 27 cm. Bequest of objects has had a positive impact on the quality of sulfate (plaster), the museum enters the final stage of its capital Muriel Butkin 2010.22 the collection and will continue to do so in the animal glue, campaign and approaches its centennial celebration graphite, and mango future. With purchasing power limited by market tree trunk; 72.6 x 69.7 in 2016. prices, relationships with private collectors are x 40 cm. Severance This fiscal year, Paola Morsiani, curator increasingly important. Indeed, the knowledge and Greta Millikin of contemporary art, pursued acquisitions by Purchase Fund that significant gifts will eventually come to the 2009.343 established artists not represented among the museum allows the curatorial staff to concentrate museum’s holdings. Selected acquisitions were attention on areas where collectors have been made directly from artists in the wake of studio 26 visits. A more recent addition to the collection is part of a new body of work produced by the Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, whose sculptures and installations have marked a change from the pop-influenced, high-end production artworks of the 1980s in both Europe and the United States. Orozco’s Mapa estelar en árbol (2009) was created from a fallen mango tree found in the state of Morelos, in the south of Mexico, where remnants of century-old mango trees are used by indigenous inhabitants for cooking and heating.