Emily Fisher Landau, Photographed by Matthew Roberts, in Front of Andy Warhol’S the Shadow (1981)
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Emily Fisher Landau, photographed by Matthew Roberts, in front of Andy Warhol’s The Shadow (1981). Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection (September 28 – January 5, 2014) In 2010, Emily Fisher Landau gave her collection of contemporary art to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. This historic gift —which includes 419 artworks by eighty‐nine artists — is significant not just for its size, but also for the remarkable breadth of media and styles it encompasses. Legacy presents a selection of more than seventy artworks from that gift. Featuring painting, sculpture, photography, and prints, this exhibition reflects Mrs. Landau’ s longstanding commitment to the art and artists of her own time. Mrs. Landau began collecting art in the late 1960s, acquiring the work of modern masters from both the United States and Europe. Early purchases included pieces by Pablo Picasso, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, and Henri Matisse, among others. By 1987, the year she joined the Whitney’s Painting and Sculpture Acquisitions Committee, Mrs. Landau’s focus had turned almost exclusively toward art being made in America. This shift in attention to artists working close to home would become a trademark of Mrs. Landau’s collection. Over the last several decades, she has become personally acquainted with a number of the artists whose work she has purchased, visiting their studios to keep her finger on the pulse of what new art looks like The Landau collection is distinguished not only by its excellence, but also by a spirit of adventure and open‐mindedness: “I’ve never collected something because it was fashionable,” Mrs. Landau once said. “It was always about what I instinctively liked.” Such an approach has often required her to call prevailing tastes into question, resulting in a collection that defies the notion that a single, overriding narrative can be attached to the history of art made after 1945. Tracing many of the concepts that have been formative in American art‐making, particularly over the last fifty years, Legacy brings together seminal works by some of the most influential artists of the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries. Works by Carl Andre and Agnes Martin define and expand the confines of Minimalism; Gregory Crewdson and Lorna Simpson highlight new approaches to photography; Jenny Holzer and Glenn Ligon investigate the intersection of image and language; and Felix Gonzalez‐Torres and Nan Goldin represent a revived interest in the role of personal narrative. Also highlighted in the exhibition are several artists that Mrs. Landau has collected in‐depth, including Jasper Johns, Richard Artschwager, and Ed Ruscha. 1 Carl Andre American, born 1935 GAZETTEER, 1964 ink on paper Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.9 2 Carl Andre American, born 1935 days mind case code dust case time guns dock, 1964 ink on paper Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.10 3 Richard Artschwager American, 1923–2013 Dinner II, 1982 charcoal on paper Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.16 4 Richard Artschwager American, 1923–2013 White Table, 1988 synthetic polymer on fiberboard, Formica, and wood Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.18 After supporting himself as a furniture maker for nearly a decade, in the early 1960s Richard Artschwager began making geometric paintings and sculptures from inexpensive builder’s materials. In the wall piece White Table, what appears to be wood flooring is fashioned of Formica, and the figure seated at the table, seen from a bird’s‐eye view, is made of Celotex, a course, metallic fiberboard typically used in ceiling tiles. Artschwager, who once claimed he had grown tired of looking at “beautiful wood,” used man‐made materials to test conventional notions regarding how art objects should be created. Such an approach to artmaking reflects his interest in the consumer culture obsession with distinguishing between “real” and “fake” goods. 5 Richard Artschwager American, 1923–2013 Mirror, 1988 Melanine laminate on wood; Edition no. 5/25 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Elaine Graham Weitzen 97.120.1 6 Richard Artschwager American, 1923–2013 Untitled, 1994 wood and metal hardware Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.2 7 John Baldessari American, born 1931 What This Painting Aims to Do, 1967 synthetic polymer and oil on canvas Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.24 Reflecting on his role as an art professor, John Baldessari once commented, “I used to collect books on how to teach art.…I was intrigued by the idea that you could teach art, because I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it couldn’t be taught.” For What This Painting Aims to Do, Baldessari hired a commercial sign painter to produce the canvas based on specific instructions. Featuring excerpts from “how‐to” art manuals, this painting wittily violates the very advice that it prescribes, such as “distort shapes” and “invent forms.” With this work, Baldessari questions the relevance of painting —a “traditional” medium —at a time when most conceptually minded artists were turning to more unconventional formats for artistic expression, such as performance, musical composition, and the artist book. 8 John Baldessari American, born 1931 Two Languages (Begin), 1989 silver gelatin prints and vinyl‐based paint on three panels Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.26a–c 9 Matthew Barney American, born 1967 DRAWING RESTRAINT 9: Occidental Guest (bride), 2005 chromogenic print in self‐lubricating plastic frame; Edition no. 3/6 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of the Fisher Landau Center for Art P.2010.297a–b 10 Matthew Barney American, born 1967 DRAWING RESTRAINT 9: Occidental Guest (groom), 2005 chromogenic print in self‐lubricating plastic frame; Edition no. 3/6 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of the Fisher Landau Center for Art P.2010.298a–b 11 Nayland Blake American, born 1960 Double Feature Standards, 1991 silk flowers, aluminum, two VHS tapes in plastic cases, steel cable, and rubber Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.36a–e Nayland Blake has worked in a wide variety of media and methods for nearly three decades. Drawing on personal experiences relating to sexual identity, gender norms, race, body image, and mortality, Blake has said, “I’ve never been the sort of artist who finds one language that’s flexible enough to talk about the things I want to talk about.” In Double Feature Standards, a rubber tube connects two thin metal poles. Two video cassette cases are suspended from the tube; in one is the science fiction film Bladerunner, released in 1982, and in the other the 1988 remake of the classic 1950 crime drama, D.O.A. This sculpture was made at a time when many in the art world and beyond were experiencing the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic, and Blake’s mourning for lost loved ones is apparent. The tubing falls in a graceful curve that calls to mind an IV drip, while the white silk roses have a funerary quality. 12 Peter Cain American, 1959–1997 500 SL #1, 1992 oil on linen Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.62 The Mercedes‐Benz SL sedan was an icon of American wealth and consumer culture in the 1990s. In 500 SL #1, Peter Cain strips this familiar status symbol of its identifying features, including its elongated body and, most importantly, the shiny Mercedes‐Benz logo that should appear on its front bumper. At once compacted and inflated, the car takes on a cartoonish quality. Distorting imagery to disrupt our understanding of common objects is a signature element of Cain’s work. The surface of the car is gleaming, free of dents or scratches, yet it is also menacing, its grill resembling clenched teeth. By altering the appearance of familiar objects, Cain prevents viewers from taking images at face value and encourages us to reconsider the insatiable American desire to consume. 13 Gregory Crewdson American, born 1962 Untitled (beckoning bus driver), 2001–02 digital chromogenic print mounted on aluminum; 2/3 artist proof Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of the Fisher Landau Center for Art P.2010.300 Untitled (beckoning bus driver) belongs to Gregory Crewdson’s Twilight series, a group of forty photographs made between 1998 and 2002 in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. His images are the products of weeks of planning and collaboration with actors, art directors, costume designers, and prop managers. Rather than disguise the staged nature of his elaborate tableaux, Crewdson amplifies their theatricality using cinematic lighting and effects. In this photograph, a young girl gazes at a man calling to her from the steps of a school bus, while her family sits unaware inside the house. While the narrative unfolding here is not entirely clear, Crewdson’s dramatic style results in an image that reads as ominous, casting the girl as a potential victim in this disquieting scene. 14 Willem de Kooning American, 1904–1997 No title, 1987 oil on canvas Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Emily Fisher Landau P.2010.70 Willem de Kooning was a leader of Abstract Expressionism, America’s first cohesive art movement. Early in his career, he became known for his exploration of the qualities of oil paint, developing a style that used energetic, heavy brushstrokes to create lively, pulsating canvases.