museummuseumVIEWSVIEWS A quarterly newsletter for small and mid-sized art museums New Year 2008 THE UPS AND DOWNS OF DEACCESSIONING A SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION THE DEFENSE NOT FOR $ALE While the events of October 1 attracted In response, my colleagues—the museum’s by Karol Lawson national, even international, attention and caused associate director and professors from the Art an uproar in the museum community, it should Department—and I launched an education cam- little before 5 p.m. on October 1, 2007, A be noted that the issue of selling art from the paign to better inform trustees and college lead- John Klein, the president of Randolph College (formerly Randolph-Macon Woman’s College) in Maier’s permanent collection had been a subject ers about the basic expectations of the museum Lynchburg, Virginia, arrived unannounced at the of discussion among Randolph College’s trustees community toward the issue of permanency and school’s Maier Museum of Art. He had just taken and senior staff since at least the spring of 2005. respect for donor intent. Indeed, the Maier’s own office in August, and was there to carry out Indeed, the trustees’ interest in the topic pre- collection management and ethics policies, instructions from the college’s board of trustees dated by more than a year and a half the 2006 approved by senior administrators just a few to remove four paintings from the museum’s gal- warning regarding college finances from SACS. years before, dictated that the museum staff and leries and storage: George Bellows’ Men of the In a message delivered by the dean of the college its advisers (among them the dean and the col- Docks, Edward Hicks’ to me in April 2005, the school’s strategic plan- lege president) be guided by the best practices Peaceable Kingdom, ning steering committee, a guidelines of the American Association of Ernest Martin Hennings’ body comprising trustees, Museums and its affiliated societies. In addition, Through the Arroyo, and senior administrators, profes- we sought to reinforce in their minds the remark- Rufino Tamayo’s sors, and students, had able history of the art collection, which was Troubadour. He was requested that I obtain fair emblematic of the school’s well-deserved reputa- accompanied by a coterie market value appraisals of tion for high standards and student achievement. of administrative staff, “the most significant” works The provenance of Men of the Docks, the master- personnel from a fine art in the collection. piece most at risk, was enunciated by museum shipping company, and Administrators and staff, docents, and professors whenever possible city police officers. At trustees suggested repeatedly and provided an inspiring back story for our edu- the time, I was the muse- that this was merely a fact- cational efforts: selected in 1920 by students and um’s director. As such, I finding exercise; that it was faculty from the 9th annual exhibition of con- refused to assist Klein necessary for them to assess temporary art on campus, it was bought directly but chose not to abandon the building. I learned all the college’s financial options as they from Bellows with contributions from students, later that telephone and computer lines had been explored strategic planning scenarios. Yet, my faculty, alumnae, and Lynchburg townspeople, disabled for the duration of the event and that the colleagues and I feared the worst. and became the cornerstone of Continued on page 4 museum’s driveway had been closed. The trustees had voted that day to sell the four paintings from the Maier’s permanent col- lection at Christie’s November auctions. In doing SYMPOSIUM SEEKS EVOLUTIONARY ANSWERS so, they sought to obtain an infusion of cash for means of flaunting one’s talented palette of the school’s operating endowment. Though that Natalie Angier, reporting for The New genes.” Maybe in contemporary Western cul- endowment is reported to be $153 million, the York Times, attended a symposium at the ture that theory could fly, says Dissanayake. school’s financial affairs had been under scrutiny University of Michigan on the evolutionary But in traditional cultures and throughout most from the Southern Association of Colleges and value of art, and why humans spend so much of human history “art has been a profoundly Schools (SACS) since December 2006 because time at it. communal affair, of harvest dances, religious of an unacceptably high spending rate from the The main speaker, Ellen Dissanayake, an pageants, quilting bees, the passionate town endowment and other issues having to do with independent scholar affiliated with the rivalries that gave us the spires of Chartres, financial management. University of Washington in Seattle, presented Rheims, and Amiens.” Alumnae, Lynchburg citizens, museum her thesis of the evolution of art: that the artis- Art, says Dissanayake and others, “did not professionals, and academics from across the tic impulse is so ingrained, so ancient, univer- arise to spotlight the few, but rather to summon country immediately protested the action, and sal, and persistent that it is most surely innate. the many to come join the parade.” Through an injunction halting the sales was eventually In contrast, some researchers believe that the singing, dancing, painting, people can be drawn secured (it will expire February 15, 2008 unless human penchant for “artiness” came accidental- the outstanding balance on a $1 million bond is ly, as a “byproduct of large brains that evolved Continued on back page posted in Lynchburg Circuit Court). I resigned to solve problems and were easily bored.” my position as director of the Maier on October Dissanayake, on the other hand, argues 2, 2007, less than 24 hours after the paintings that the creative drive in humans has all were taken. Associate director Ellen Schall the characteristics of an adaptation on its Agnew and Associate Professor of Art Laura own. Art making, she opines, takes huge Katzman had resigned, in August 2007 and May amounts of time and resources that are 2007 respectively, over the trustees’ evolving consistent with evolution rather than acci- plans to sell art from the permanent collection. dent. It also gives pleasure, “and activities that feel good tend to be those that evolution Top: Rabbett Before Horses, Nanaboozho & Winoah. Oil on can- vas. In “From Dreams May We Learn,”Tweed Museum of Art, MN deems too important to leave to chance.” Middle: The Maier Museum facade. Geoffrey Miller, among other theorists, Right: Lydia Herrick Hodge. Bull, c. 1941. Ceramic. proposes that art serves as a sexual display, “a In “The Living Room,” Museum of Contemporary Craft, OR ART MUSEUM PARTNERSHIP HOLDS DIRECTORS’ FORUM mation-gathering exercise. Also explain the In late October, the Art Museum difference between individual and institutional LEADERSHIP & Partnership held its second annual Directors’ ethics. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Forum in New York, gathering directors from 3. Have each participant prepare a summary of Make sure everyone is clear about who around the country to hear their colleagues and institutional ethics related to their own functions is doing what various specialists lend their expertise on a selec- at the museum (profession-specific codes enunci- The board knows it is governing tion of topics pertinent to directing and maintain- ated by the profession’s official organization). The director knows she is directing (and the ing museums. “Systems Thinking,” “Curatorial Collect internal documents relating to ethics board knows it too) Vision and the Art Museum’s Mission,” standards (the mission statement or other values The staff know they are doing everything else “Everyday Ethics,” and “Current Top Legal statements). And have it in writing Issues” were among the topics covered in the 4. Bring the participants together to present their two-day session. summaries. Discuss them thoroughly, exploring COLLECTIONS STEWARDSHIP what issues have not been addressed. Know what stuff you have ETHICS 5. Make a list of the issues that should be Know what stuff you need included in the code of ethics. Compare it with Know where it is A “Code of Ethics Exercise” was present- the existing or draft code. Record what it does Take good care of it ed on day two to help museums and their staffs not deal with and decide whether these issues Make sure someone gets some good out of it to identify ethics issues that should be addressed should be included. Especially people you care about in an institutional code. The institutional code of And your neighbors ethics generally specifies how a museum—an organization—will behave in certain circum- CHARACTERISTICS OF EDUCATION & INTERPRETATION stances and it also describes appropriate behavior EXELLENCE FOR U.S. Know who you are talking to for members of the staff, the governing authority, Ask them what they want to know and volunteers. For example: Should board mem- MUSEUMS– Know what you want to say bers or staff who are artists be able to exhibit IN PLAIN ENGLISH (and what you are talking about) work in the museum? Are board members who [For official “Characteristics” see AAM Use appropriate language (or images, or music) serve on boards of other museums subject to Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums Make sure people understood you problems of loyalty and conflict of interest? Do at www.aam-us.org. This “Plain English” version And ask them if they liked it museums that display religious or culturally sen- was presented at the Directors’ Forum by If not, change it sitive materials need to develop special policies Elizabeth Merritt during a panel discussion.] regarding access and use of the collection? FINANCIAL STABILITY An exercise presented by the speakers Put your money where your mission is focused on two common challenges museums PUBLIC TRUST Is it enough money? encounter in writing an institutional code of &ACCOUNTABILITY Will it be there next year, too? ethics: Identifying what issues should be Be good Know when you will need more $ addressed and determining which ethical issues No really–not only be legal, Know where you are going to get it from are relevant to the museum’s particular mission. but be ethical Don’t diddle the books The first step of the exercise, “Mining Your Show everyone Institutional Memory,” is based on the premise that how good and ACILITIES what you have faced in the past should serve as a ethical you are F window onto what could take place in the future: (don’t wait for & RISK 1. Select a representative group that includes them to ask) MANAGEMENT staff and members of the governing authority Do good for Don’t crowd people who have worked at the museum for a long time people Or things and have the benefit of institutional memory. And to be on Make it safe to visit 2. Explain the reason for the gathering: you are the safe side your museum preparing a code of ethics or perhaps revising an Be nice to Or work there existing one. everyone 3. Ask for participants to describe an ethical Keep it clean else, too decision they had to make in the course of work- Keep the toilet Especially if they ing at the museum—by email, memo, or in a dis- paper stocked cussion group. live next door And if all else fails, know 4. Compile the information, grouping similar Look something like the people where the exit is issues together. Then determine whether or not you are doing good for (and make sure it is clearly J there are issues that are not covered in your And maybe a bit like your marked) neighbors existing code, or use the compilation to form a Marcel Duchamp, Boite Series F, 1966. In “Marcel, Marcel,” new code. Let other people help decide what games to play Speed Art Museum, KY The second step, “Identifying Institutional And what the rules are Ethics Issues Relevant to your Museum,” Share your toys museumVIEWS involves decisions both individual (the decision Editor: Lila Sherman of an employee to take outside employment; a MISSION & PLANNING Know what you want to do Publisher: Museum Views, Ltd. board member buying a work that the museum 2 Peter Cooper Road, New York, NY 10010 might want) and institutional (should the muse- And why it makes a difference to anyone Then put it in writing Phone: 212-677-3415 FAX: 212 533-5227 um accept money from a tobacco company for a On the WEB: museumviews.org health exhibit; should the museum ensure that Stick to it deaccessioned works remain in the public Decide what you want to do next museumVIEWS is supported by grants from the domain). When you are deciding what to do, ask lots of Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation 1. Select a group that represents all departments people for their opinion and Bloomberg. of the museum, volunteers included, the director, Put it in writing museumVIEWS is published 4 times a year: a member of the governing authority, even an Then do it Winter (January 1), Spring ( April 1), Summer outside expert, if it be deemed helpful. If it didn’t work, don’t do it again (July 1), and Fall (October 1), Deadlines for 2. Explain the purpose of the exercise and dis- If it did, do listings and art work are November 15, tribute the compiled results of the previous infor- February 15, May 15, and August 15.

2 NEWSBRIEFS um’s mission to be a “museum without walls,” an at the Clark, and sculpture on the surrounding NEW BUILDING; NEW NUMBERS inviting public space offering meaningful cultural grounds. “Through the Seasons: Japanese Art in The year-old waterfront facility of the experiences. Nature”—17th-and 18th-century Japanese painted Institute of Contemporary Art (MA) reports an screens and scroll paintings, and contemporary eleven-fold increase in attendance from its for- OMMUNITY RTS ceramics—will be the inaugural exhibition (June mer Boston location on Boylston Street. A new C A 22-Oct. 13). and enhanced performance program, new acqui- ACCESS GRANTS Phase two of the expansion, scheduled for sitions to a “first-ever” permanent collection and The Freeport Arts Center (IL) was awarded completion in 2013, will include another new, expanding interest in the new, iconic structure $5750 through the Illinois Arts Council’s stand-alone building for special exhibitions, have all contributed to the happy faces on staff Community Arts Access regranting program. visitor orientation services, and education and and visitors alike. Says Director Jill Mevedow, With an additional 25 percent cash match by the conference spaces located adjacent to the current “The art, artists, and architecture all contributed center the total amount for grants came to facilities, and the renovation, upgrading, and to a rich, diverse, and emotionally satisfying $7187.50. The funds are designated to support reconfiguration of the Manton Research Center. artistic experience and sense of civic pride.” artists and not-for-profit arts organizations in surrounding counties. The success story starts with the performing AN RANCISCO UNK AT arts program, which included sold-out perform- Community Arts Access grants are available S F P BAM Acquired by the B erkeley Art Museum and ances of a multimedia theater piece, a concert, a for visual, musical, performing, literary, and Pacific Film Archive at the University of dance and video performance, the premiere per- inter-disciplinary arts projects that provide com- California, a series of 53 photographs by artist formance of a new work by a popular dance munity-based programming. Projects taking place and filmmaker Bruce Conner documents San group, and nine performances by CRASHarts, a between January 1 and December 31, 2008 Francisco’s avant-garde of the late division of World Music, among other events. should employ artists 1970s and the punk scene in the It continues with a celebrity speaker series that from the northwest city’s clubs. Called Mabuhay featured architects, critics, poets, and perform- Illinois area, and they Gardens after the punk nightclub ance artists. A variety of outdoor programs dur- should make an effort to on Broadway, the photos were ing the summer months celebrated the new loca- serve diverse and under- commissioned by the publisher of tion on Boston Harbor: free, Target-sponsored served audiences. a new magazine Search and concerts featuring faculty, students, and alumni Requests may equal 50 Destroy. The resulting photo- of a local college of music attracted some 1,000 percent of the total proj- graphs document the bands who guests every Thursday evening; You Dance (free) ect expenses up to a appeared at the club as well as the Fridays with dance lessons and performances maximum of $1000. many acts and fans who passed averaged 250 per night; a site-specific dance The Freeport Arts through. involving several dozen dancers winding inside Center and other area The acquisition of these pho- and around the building, commissioned by the arts organizations tographs enhances the BAM col- museum, attracted additional visitors. A film offered grant writing lection of Conner’s work which program presented several Boston premieres and workshops where includes his early assemblages animated films from Japan and New England. applications and guide- that addressed themes such as For the first time, a permanent collection of lines were available to Édouard Manet, Charles Baudelaire, Full Face III, 1868. consumerism and discarded beauty 21st-century art—painting, sculpture, video, participants. Etching, fourth state of four. In “Manet and Friends,” Palmer Museum of Art, PA long before he zeroed in on the photography, and text-based works—was on social commentary that figures view. In addition, the museum mounted 12 exhi- HIGHLIGHTSIN into his later work. bitions in this inaugural year. PRINT The Speed Art Museum (KY) announced the More success derived from the education and OTERO OES TO ERKELEY family programs that were offered free of charge release of its first collection guide in more than B G B Fernando Botero has decided to donate his monthly and during vacation weeks, drawing 20 years. The Speed Art Museum: Highlights entire 80-piece cycle Abu Ghraib to the Berkeley more than 10,000 people in the first year. An out- from the Collection, produced by Merrill Art Museum after previously promising only part reach and marketing initiative reached families in Publishers, a London house, is a 240-page, full of the series. The paintings and drawings includ- outlying areas by working with organizations, color volume featuring 300 key works from the ed in the gift were all inspired by the news churches, community centers, and individuals museum’s collection with commentary by Speed reports of the torture by U.S. troops of Iraqi pris- serving families in those areas. Teen programs curators and guest scholars. The book is divided oners in the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. included an advanced video production program into five sections: Art of Ancient Cultures, Berkeley was the only American museum that and classes in digital media. A Teen Arts Council African Art, Native American Art, European and was willing to display the works. hosted three Teen Night events as well as a “Fast American Art to 1950, and Contemporary Art. The format of three works on each two-page Forward” screening that, together, attracted some OCUSING ON OLLECTORS 1,000 individuals. spread shows the relationship between works in F C The Washington County Museum of Fine With the help of several grants, two for recog- the collection. Arts (MD) formed a Collector’s Society to nition of its work in teen programming (includ- support and enrich the museum through social, ing readings and performances of original writ- RURAL SETTING educational, and networking opportunities. A lec- ings), the museum succeeded in engaging the FOR ADDED BUILDING ture series was the first undertaking of the socie- communities that surround it to the tune of a 300 The Sterling and Francine Clark Art ty. The lecturer, Sumpter Priddy, III, is proprietor percent increase in household membership Institute (MA) will unveil the first phase of its of a shop with outstanding quality inventory in through its first eleven months in operation at the expansion and institutional enhancement program the decorative arts, especially American furniture new facility. in June. The new building, Stone Hill Center, is located on a wooded hillside a short walk from and artifacts of everyday life. His clients include the institute’s two existing buildings and their museums, historical societies, and the White REOPENING IN JACKSON House. The Mississippi Museum of Art opened its dramatic rural setting. Small galleries will have new home, the former Mississippi Arts Pavilion, wall-sized windows that bring natural light and ERCENT FOR RT OUNTS E ITT following a year-long renovation. Only a city the countryside into intimate conjunction with P - -A M L W The MIT List Visual Arts Center announced block away from its previous location, the new the artwork. the installation of Bars of Color within Squares facility moves the museum ahead in terms of The two-story, 32,000-square-foot wood and (MIT), the first major public work by Sol LeWitt capabilities, technology, and its relationship to glass building will host smaller-scale special to be completed since his death in April 2007. It the community. An open design by the architects, exhibitions of works from the collections, loaned is a 5,500-square-foot floor for the U-shaped doubling the available space, reflects the muse- works from periods and origins not ususally seen Continued on page 9

3 UPS & DOWNS continued from page 1 the permanent collection. was a long-time institutional member of AAM and in response a group of students, alumnae, Over the next year and a half, I enlisted the and staff held individual memberships. and museum patrons filed a motion to intervene aid of groups such as AAM, the Association of The Maier Museum of Art was a thriving in Lynchburg Circuit Court. (The college has College and University Museums and Galleries, museum, noted for the excellence of the collec- since withdrawn its suit pending the outcome of the Virginia Association of Museums, the College tion. It served college students as well as other cases.) Art Association, and the Association of Art Lynchburg neighbors with a full program of exhi- Partnership discussions came to an end in Museum Directors in my educational efforts. The bitions, publications, visiting scholars and artists, August 2007. College leaders, increasingly leaders of these groups, as well as individual and educational programs ranging from symposia focused on the warning from SACS, were eager scholars and museum administrators, were very to musical performances in the galleries. The to take concrete steps to address financial issues. helpful to me, either by providing ideas and serv- well established docent program had forged a 15- They froze salaries, laid off staff, reduced adjunct ing as sounding boards as I struggled with the year formal partnership with local public schools. faculty, and made plans to close academic depart- evolving situation, or by writing letters to Attendance and membership were growing well. ments. In this atmosphere, and despite pleas from Randolph College’s then-Interim President The student docent club and the summer intern- Maier staff and supportive faculty colleagues to Virginia Worden advising against selling art and ship program were flourishing. The Art continue to explore partnerships with other offering help to devise alternate solutions. Margo Department’s Museum Studies Program, in organizations, the trustees came to their decision Carlock, executive director of VAM, even came which Maier staff taught, was attracting an to send paintings to auction. The final vote to do so took place on October 1. to campus to speak with trustees. increasing number of students. During this time, professors in the Art and USEUMS ON AMPUS History Departments were notable in their vigor- A POSSIBLE COMPROMISE M C ous defense of the Maier’s collection, both on In December 2006, a group of Randolph Academic museums occupy a special niche campus and in the larger art world. The school’s College professors proposed to the trustees that on campus and off. All across the country they Faculty Representative Committee was also a they explore the idea of selling a share of select- hold collections both unique and remarkable and source of support. Most of the Maier Museum’s ed art works to the University of Virginia. They do immense good in their communities. They are advisory board stepped forward to try to protect also urged the trustees to exploit Lynchburg’s blessed with built-in support from alums, and they the art collection by communicating with individ- newfound interest in revitalizing downtown his- can rely on parent schools for such benefits as the ual college trustees and providing encouragement toric districts by forging an art museum to be physical plant and the expertise of a community to staff. Maier volunteers proved to be a very shared and supported by both college and city. of scholars. But they are also extremely vulnera- effective team for getting information to the com- While not wholly satisfactory (the collection was ble, especially if the parent schools anticipate still interpreted as a financial asset that would munity and student docents mounted inspiring financial trouble. A parallel situation has been fund general college operations), the plan had and energetic campus protests evolving at Fisk University since 2005, and aspects to recommend it, all the more so if the several smaller schools announced plans in 2006 THE OFFENSE alternative was outright sale: the art would stay to sell campus art in order to fund something in an educational environment to which our stu- other than new acquisitions. These are only the In the fall of 2006, still desiring to realize dents would have access and would remain avail- cash that could be used for a variety of operating most recent examples. able to the citizens of central Virginia. The crisis at the Maier Museum of Art and expenses from the sale of paintings based on The trustees accepted the concept and conclusions reached during their 2004-2006 Randolph College is neither new nor unique— early in 2007 Interim President Worden nor, for that matter, even confined to academic strategic planning research, Randolph initiated discussions with College’s trustees and administra- museums. Perhaps legal proceedings arising from UVA. She and trustees the Maier Museum of Art situation will engender tors countered our efforts by ques- would later explore the tioning whether the Maier was new law applicable to donor intent. College and partnership concept university accrediting organizations may be actually a museum since it was with the Virginia not yet accredited by AAM. prompted to turn more critical attention to safe- Museum of Fine Arts guarding curricular resources such as libraries They pointed out that the Maier and with collector was “only” and museums. The broader, still-evolving national Alice Walton when the issue of best practices standards in all non-profits a quarter of a century old (as UVA initiative stalled. opposed to the college’s 115 could also be affected. Throughout these Whatever the future holds, the Maier Museum years); suggested that no one ever discussions neither pro- visited the museum and that it was experience should serve as an alert. Museum fessors nor staff of the professionals and the groups that represent their disengaged from campus; speculat- Maier Museum of Art interests need to be vigilant and proactive in ed that vast portions of the collec- were involved in any looking after the welfare of the collections they tion were never seen; and painted the substantial way. hold in trust. Maier as a financial drag on the Sotheby’s and college as a whole. Christie’s were invited [As of this writing the four paintings remain in the In fact, these arguments did not by Worden to reap- care of Christie’s, pending decisions in legal reflect reality. The collection, praise the most sig- actions before Lynchburg Circuit Court and the begun in 1907, had been fed by nificant works in the Virginia Supreme Court. The event has been cov- 97 years of annual exhibitions collection in the ered in print media (see for example Eve Conant, that brought the best contempo- spring of 2007 “A Shot Through the Art,” Newsweek (October 15, rary art to campus. (insurance value and 2007, p. 85) and Stephanie Cash,“Stealth Moves at Approximately three quarters of fair market Randolph College,” Art in America (December the museum’s operating budget appraisals had 2007, p. 35) as well as on web sites such as Lee Sakya Lama Seated on a Throne, 18th century. already been per- was supplied by endowed funds In “Sacred India, Sacred Tibet,” Museum of Fine Arts, FL Rosenbaum’s culturegrrl blog. For up-to-date legal formed by independ- established specifically to support pleadings and news releases, see www.preserveedu- ent experts in 2005-2006). The college’s publicly its programs and acquisitions, grants, and annual cationalchoice.org, a web site established by stated desire to find a suitable partner in the aca- membership dues. Close to 99 percent of the col- Randolph-Macon Woman’s College alumnae lead- lection had been acquired through gift, bequest, demic or museum world was thus made to seem irrelevant, and the board’s perception of the art ing the efforts to save these four paintings and safe- or endowed funds. Collections were rotated regu- guard the rest of the Maier’s permanent collection.] larly in the galleries and hundreds of works were collection as a financial asset was strengthened, also on view across campus. AAM accreditation making the possibility of outright sale seem fea- [Karol Lawson served as director of the Maier had been a goal for several years but advance- sible. In August, the college filed to break a trust Museum of Art (VA) for eight years.] ment in that area had not been endorsed by the established by the school’s first professor of art college administration. Nevertheless, the Maier Louise Jordan Smith to buy art for a permanent collection. This, too, seemed an ominous step Continued on page 10

4 winterVIEWS California study; interactive website invites North Carolina by Elizabethan gen- the Edo Period, 1615-1868.” J At Berkeley Art Museum, University discussion. J “Dreaming of a tleman-artist John White; the only the Cooper-Hewitt National of California, Berkeley J “Gay Speech Without Words: The surviving visual record of England's Design Museum: “Multiple Choice: Outlaw: Black Hose Mountain” Paintings and Early Objects of H.C. first settlement venture in North From Sample to Product” (Apr. 6) (through Mar.) Monumental sculp- Westermann” (Mar 2) Paintings, America. The use of sampling formats since ture made from “unusual” materials. sculptures, and drawings from the the 18th century. J “RIP.MIX.BURN.BAM.PFA” 1950s and ‘60s, many based on the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New Guest artists rip, mix, and burn ele- artist’s experiences during WWII London J “The British are Coming: Textile Museum J Through Feb. ments from digital works in the and the Korean War. J “Private and British Art from the Lyman Allyn 17: “Ahead of His Time: The museum’s collection (with the origi- Public: Class, Personality, Politics, Art Museum” (Feb 4) Paintings, Collecting Vision of George Hewitt nal artist’s permission) to produce and Landscape in British drawings, prints and decorative arts Myers” Textiles from non-Western new creations. J “Goya: The Photography” (Apr. 6) Works by from the 17th through 20th cen- cultures collected by the museum's Disasters of War” (Mar. 2) Cameron, Emerson, Frith, and turies: Lely, Ruskin, Morris, founder; “Private Pleasures: Napoleon’s bloody conflict with Brandt. J “Frederic Church, Rossetti, Burne-Jones and others. J Collecting Contemporary Textile Spain in prints shown on the bicen- Winslow Homer, and Thomas “Tradition et Innovation: French Art Art” Lia Cook, Jon Eric Riis, Olga tennial of the invasion. J “Tomás Moran; Tourism and the American from the Lyman Allyn Art Museum” de Amaral, Ed Rossbach, and others. Saraceno: Microscale, Macroscale, Landscape” (May 4) Three artists (Dec. 31) Paintings, drawings, prints and Beyond: Large-Scale whose landscapes inspired tourists to and sculpture, 17th-20th centuries. Florida Implications of Small-Scale visit locales opened up to travel by J “At Home and Abroad: The Cummer Museum of Art & Experiments” (Feb. 17) Photos, railroad and steamship companies. Transcendental Landscapes of Gardens, Jacksonville J “A small sculptures, and site-specific Christopher Pearse Cranch” Kiowa’s Odyssey: A Sketchbook installation by Argentinian based in Colorado (Feb. 25) from Fort Marion” (Mar. 16) Frankfurt, Germany, first time Denver Art Museum J “Color as Drawings made by one of 72 Plains in the U.S. Field: American Painting, 1950- District of Columbia Indians who were captured by the 1975” (Feb. 3) Gottlieb, Hofmann, National Museum of Women in U.S. Army during the Plains Wars, Irvine Museum, Irvine J Motherwell, Rothko, Frankenthaler, the Arts J “A Living Tradition: held at Fort Marion in Florida, and “Romance of the Bells” (Mar.15) Olitski, Stella, and others. Pueblo Pottery from the Permanent forced to assimilate to Western ways. The effect of California missions on Collection” (Feb. 17) Celebrating the artistic and social fabric of the Mizel Museum, Denver J Through the achievements of several genera- Miami Art Museum J “Work in state. May 1: “Cultural Alarm” Artist tions of female potters from New Progress; Herzog & De Muron’s Tamar Hirschl. J “Evolution” Artist Mexico. “The Book as Art” (Feb 3) Miami Art Museum” (Apr. 6) Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s Debra Callan. J “Buddhist Animal Books geared to younger audiences. Preview of new museum College, Moraga J “Pinturas de Fe: Wisdom Stories” Artist Mark The Retablo Tradition in Mexico McGinnis. Smithsonian Institution J At the Museum of Fine Arts, St. and New Mexico” (Apr. 6) Home Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: Petersburg J “Sacred India, Sacred altars and religious shrines—the Museum of Outdoor Arts, “Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes: Tibet” (Feb. 24) Bronzes, wood evolution of an ancient tradition Englewood J “Sacred Water” (Mar. Edo Masters from the Price sculptures, and paintings inspired by from the Spanish Conquest to the 22) Interactive multimedia installa- Hinduism and Buddhism present day. tions feature animation and graphic and ranging from the 10th design, photography, ceramics, to 20th centuries. Mills College Art Museum, woodworking, and glass pieces. Oakland J “We Interrupt Your Hawaii Program” (Mar. 16) Group showing Connecticut Honolulu Academy of of video and new media works Bruce Museum, Greenwich J “A Arts, Honolulu J “The about war, power, science, technolo- Taste for Chocolate” (Feb 24 ) The Dragon’s Gift: The Arts of gy, and gender by emerging and natural and artistic history of choco- Bhutan” (Feb. through mid-career female artists. late from the Aztec and Maya civi- May) Buddhist art with a lizations to the 20th century. J special focus on ancient Palos Verdes Art Center J “The “Navajo Textiles from the Bruce ritual dances Circus Comes to Town” (Feb. 3) Museum” (Mar. 24) Weavings from Paintings, sculpture, photographs, the Transition Period (1865-1895) Illinois puppets, neon pieces, and more. J when technological advances moved Museum of “Wearable Expressions” (Feb. 22- production from blankets to rugs. J Contemporary Art, Apr. 13) 6th biennial international “Robotics” (Mar. 20) The impact of Chicago J “Gordon Matta- juried exhibition of wearable art— robots in science and technology. J Clark: You are the jewelry and fiber pieces. “Phenomenal Weather” (Mar. 8 -- Measure” (Feb. 2-May 4) Nov. 30) The science behind wind, Retrospective. J “Artists in Sweeney Art Gallery, University of sun, snow, and extreme events like Depth” (Apr. 7) Artists California, Riverside J “The Signs hurricanes. whose works have been Pile Up: Paintings by Pedro collected by the MCA: Alvarez” (Mar. 29) Yale Center for British Art, Yale Nauman, Sherman, Judd, University, New Haven (Feb. 7 to Koons, Lockhart, and Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Apr. 28) J “British Orientalist Marshall. J “Alexander J “Edwin Deakin: California Painters” The response of British Calder in Focus” (Apr.) Painter of the Picturesque” (Jan. 26- artists to the cultures and landscapes Mobiles, stabiles, drawings, Apr. 20) Early California architec- of the Near and Middle East in the Mark Janness, Monona, Hemlock Draw, Nature Conservancy, and paintings, 1927-1968. ture, European landscapes and still- 18th and 19th centuries: Lewis, 2005. In “Earth Water, Sky,” Charles Allis Museum, WI J “Mapping the Self” (Feb. lifes, oil on canvas, and works on Lear, Wilkie, Dadd, Hunt, and 10) Maps and artists. J paper. J “Buddha” (Jan. 30- Leighton; “Pearls to Pyramids: Collection” (Apr. 13) Japanese “Mathias Poledna: Crystal Palace” Apr.19). British Visual Culture and the paintings include screen, hanging (Feb. 23-May 14) Austrian artist Levant, 1600-1830” Intersection of scroll, and fan formats. J “Wine, films the rain forest in Papua, New Cantor Arts Center, Stanford British visual culture and countries Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Guinea, as part of a 3M consortium University, Stanford J “Bars and of the Eastern Mediterranean: Lely, Graves of Ancient Vani” (Feb. 24) project with the New Museum of Stripes” (through mid-Apr.) Prints the van de Veldes (father and son), Gold, silver, ceramic vessels, jewel- Contemporary Art (NY) and the by Johns, Scully, Stanczak, Davis, and others.J “A New World: ry, and Greek bronze sculpture, Hammer Museum (CA). Kelly, Stella, and McLaughlin from England's First View of America” coins, and glassware found at a site both the Marmor Foundation and (Mar. 6-June 1) Late 16th-century in ancient Colchis.J At the Freer Northern Illinois University Art the center's collection. J “Behind watercolors and drawings of Gallery (through Feb. 24) “The Museum, DeKalb J Through the Locked Door” (through Mar.) Algonquin Indians and flora and Potter’s Mark: Tea Ceramics and Mar.7: “Revisiting Modern Japanese Display of items kept in storage for fauna on the coast of present-day Their Makers” ; “Japanese Arts of Prints: Selected Works from the 5 winterVIEWS continued Richard F. Grott Collection”; Acquisitions 2007” (Feb. 10) (Metcalf) and later generation Minnesota “Ayomi Yoshida Installation” Site- (Lawson) of American Goldstein Museum of Design, specific installation exploring the Maryland Impressionists; “75th Annual University of Minnesota, St. Paul J woodblock printmaking process. Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis J Cumberland Valley Photographic “Tracing History Forward” (Mar. 27) Salon” Juried showing of ama- Historical works of architecture and Krannert Art Museum, teurs and pros from the region; their influence on later designers. J University of Illinois, Urbana- “New Designs in Fiber Arts” Russel Wright: Living with Good Champaign J Through Mar. 30: Contrasting the traditional and the Design” (Feb. 8-Apr. 20) An explo- “Blown Away” Works in a variety contemporary. ration of this influential designer’s of media that focus on explosions; output, from housewares, furniture “Children of Arcadia” Electronic Massachusetts and fabrics to landscape design. look into allegorical paintings Institute of Contemporary Art, from the Baroque period, relating Boston J “Bourgeois in Boston” Tweed Museum of Art, University them to the modern world. (Mar. 2) Louise’s sculptures, of Minnesota, Duluth J “Portrait, prints, and drawings over six Identity, Culture: Across Time, Space Indiana decades. J “Momentum 9: Kader and Meaning—Selections from the South Bend Regional Museum of Attia” (Mar. 2) The French artist Collection” (Mar. 4) Portraiture from Art, South Bend J “Midwestern creates a new piece, working with the 16th century to the present: Views of Impressionism” (Feb 23) students at the Massachusetts paintings, sculptures, photographs Works by artists born or raised in College of Art and Design. and works on paper. J “From the Midwest: Adams, Aldrich, Dreams May We Learn: Paintings by Ball, Chase, and more through the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Rabbett Before Horses” (Feb. 24) alphabet. J “Steven Skinner: The Cambridge J “Y Portfolio” (Feb. Figurative painter whose works nar- Little Things” (Mar. 2) 29) Mapplethorpe’s photographic rate elements of Ojibwe mythology Photorealistic paintings of small studies of flowers. and creation stories, seen through the commonplace objects. lens of the artist’s dreams. J “At Cape Cod Museum of Art, Home(s): A Window into the World Kansas Dennis J “Jon R. Friedman: of Duluth's Collectors.” (Mar. 16) Dane G. Hansen Museum, Logan William Steig, Untitled, 1992. Pen and ink and watercolor Landscapes and Portraits” (Feb. 17) Furniture, clothing, and other objects on paper. In “From the New Yorker to Shrek,” J “Kansas Art Quilters: Altered Jewish Museum, NY collected by local families from the Views” (Feb. 24)) Textile art works. DeCordova Museum, Lincoln J beginning of the 20th century. J “William Blake from the Syracuse “Beauty and Decay: Photographs of “Todd Siler—All Representations of Salina Art Center J “New University Art Gallery and Special Flowers” (Mar.) From the permanent Thoughts for Art and Science” (Mar. Narratives: Contemporary Art from Collections at E.S. Bird Library” collection. J “Collection Highlight: 30) Installations of paintings, sculp- India” (Mar. 16) Paintings, photo- (Feb. 29) Engravings in the unique Randall Thurston's Kingdom” ture and drawing that attempt to graphs, sculptures, installations, and style of a master. J “Robert (Apr. 27). show similarities of process bridging video works. Motherwell and Jasper Johns: Poetic barriers between psychology and art. Works as Metaphor” (Mar. 11-Apr. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem J W ichita Art Museum J “Bold 18) Lithographs (Motherwell) and Samuel McIntire: Carving an Missouri Expressions in Modern Art: The etchings (Johns) related to the artists’ American Style” (Feb. 24) Springfield Art Museum J “Multi- Buddy Greenberg Collection” literary collaborations with writers. Celebrating the Salem architect and Cultural Exhibition” (Mar. 9) (Feb. 17) woodcarver on his 250th birthday. Baltimore Museum of Art J Montana Kentucky “Rodin: Expression & Influence” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis Montana Museum of Art & Speed Art Museum, Louisville J (Feb. 10) Sculptures by Rodin and University, Waltham J Through Culture, University of Montana, “Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the works by Degas, Renoir, and April 13: “Empires and Missoula J Through Apr. 29: Quilt” (Mar. 23) The famous touring Picasso. J “Matisse: Painter as Environments” Works from the col- “Sordid and Sacred: the Beggars in creations of four generations of Sculptor” (Feb. 3) Sculptures, paint- lection shown with new work by Rembrandt’s Etchings” To celebrate women from the small, isolated ings, and drawings. J “Front Room: emerging artists illustrate the corre- R’s quadricentennial: works created African-American community in Ellsworth Kelly” (Feb. 13) Paintings spondences between old and new from 1629-1654; “Miracles and southwestern Alabama. J “Medieval and works on paper. J “Printed images and forms; “Broken Home: Myths: Mapping the World from and Renaissance Treasures from the Sculpture/Sculpted Prints” (Mar. 23) 1997/2007” Recreation of a 1997 1572 to 1921” Accuracies and fan- Victoria and Albert” (Jan. 22-Apr. Sculpture as represented in European gallery exhibition; “Arp to tasies in man’s developing concept 20) A notebook in Leonardo da prints from the mid-16th through the Reinhardt: Rose Geometries” of his world. Vinci's hand, among other marvels. 18th centuries. Geometric abstractions and how J “Marcel, Marcel” (Feb. 17) they came to prominence. Nevada Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise (Box in a Walters Art Museum, Baltimore J Nevada Museum of Art, Reno J Suitcase): miniature replicas of “The Repeating Image in Michigan “Margaret Whiting: Laws of the paintings and objects. Renaissance and Baroque Art” (Feb. University of Michigan Museum of Land” (Mar. 2) Works that combine 17) Copies of works of art made Arts, Ann Arbor J “Inge Morath objects from nature with discarded Louisiana between the late 14th to early 18th and Arthur Miller: China” (Mar. 23) books—an exploration of issues Hilliard University Art Museum, centuries when artists rarely thought A creative partnership between related to land use. J “The Tree: A Lafayette J Through Apr. 19: of copies as forgeries. Miller and his photographer wife that Video by Jongsuk Lee” (Mar. 21) “Balance and Power: Performance brings together photographs and Tenacious urban plants in Seoul take and Surveillance in Video Art"; Washington County Museum of journals created on trips to China in on life with computer technology “River of Gold: Precolumbian Fine Arts, Hagerstown J 1979 and 1983. and soundtrack. Treasures from Sitio Conte” J “Designing for Victory, 1914-1945: “Transforming Tradition: Pottery Posters from the United States Army Jacob Gallery, Wayne State New Hampshire from Mata Ortiz” (Apr. 30) Heritage and Education Center” University, Detroit J “Drawing in Art Gallery, University of New (Feb. 3) History and art come togeth- Space: An Installation by Sheila Hampshire, Durham J “On Gilded Maine er through Shahn, Rockwell, and Pepe” (Mar. 7) Pond: The Life and Times of the Portland Museum of Art J “Bright others. J “Making Music: Dublin Art Colony” (Apr. 9) The Common Spikes: The Sculpture of Mechanical Organs” (Feb. 10) Flint Institute of Arts J “M.C. colony and the Gilded Age that made John Bisbee” (Mar. 23) Large-scale Carved and painted instruments. J Escher: Rhythm of Illusion” it possible. (closed March 14-23) abstract sculptures: nails welded and “Moonlight and Roses” (Feb. 2-Apr. (Mar. 29) forged into organic configurations. J 20) Works inspired by nature. J New Jersey “Lola Alvarez Bravo” (Mar. 16) Six Through April 6: “Impressionist Aljira, Newark J “5 Days in July: decades of work by Mexico's first Views: The Genteel Age” A Video Installation” (Feb. 23) The woman photographer. J “New Landscapes and portraits by the early 1967 Newark civil disturbance

6 through newsreel footage and inde- English, Arabic, and Hebrew in an Years of Helvetica” (Mar. 31) 50 in an effort to encourage communi- pendent films. J “Bending the Grid: online travelogue. J “Repairing the years since its introduction, the “offi- ties to safeguard their valued sites. Rest in Peace”(Feb. 23) Photographs World: Contemporary Ritual Art:” cial typeface of the 20th century” is of spontaneous memorials to young (Mar. 16) shown in posters, signage, and more, Staten Island Museum, Staten people who were killed. demonstrating its beauty and versa- Island J “This Was Our Paradise” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New tility. J “Focus: Alexander Calder” (Mar.) Oral history and vintage pho- Hunterdon Museum of Art, York City J “Bridging East and (Apr. 14) Early mobiles and wire tos relating to Spanish Camp, estab- Clinton J Through March 30: West: The Chinese Diaspora and Lin sculptures created between the 1920s lished in 1929 by Spanish immi- “Cuba! Artists Experience Their Yutang” (Feb. 10) Paintings and cal- and 1940s. J “Projects 86: Gert & grants as an escape from hot city Country” Work by Cuban and ligraphies by leading Chinese artists Uwe Tobias” (Feb. 25) Twin brothers neighborhoods. Cuban-expatriate artists borrowed of the mid-20th century. J Through based in Germany work on large- from museums in the United States; Feb. 3: “Abstract Expressionism and scale woodcuts, typewriter drawings N orth Carolina “Nancy Moore Bess: Extraordinary Other Modern Works: The Muriel and watercolors, ceramic sculpture, Mint Museums, Charlotte J At the Baskets” Bamboo, waxed linen, cot- Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection and wood constructions, combined Mint Museum of Craft + Design: ton thread, and raffia are among the in The Metropolitan Museum of Art” in installations. J “Jan de Cock: “Fiberart International 2007” (Feb. materials used. de Kooning, Kline, Motherwell, Denkmal 11, Museum of Modern 24) Traditional and cutting-edge art Pollock, Rothko, and many more; Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, forms using fiber and fiber-related New York “Rumi and the Sufi Tradition” 2008” (Apr. 21) Floor-to-ceiling materials. J At the Mint Museum N ew York State Museum, Albany Miniature paintings, calligraphy, installation of photos and abstract of Art: “Made in China: Export J “Cast Images: American Bronze ceramics, metalwork, glass, and tex- sculptural modules made in response Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Sculpture from the Metropolitan tiles from the museum’s Islamic col- to the site. J “New Perspectives in Hodrof Collection at Winterthur” Museum of Art” (Feb. 24) Statuettes lection shown coincidental to the Latin American Art, 1930-2006: (Apr. 20) Objects made between and portrait busts. 800th anniversary of the birth of the Selections from a Decade of 1550 and 1850. J “With a Grain of Persian poet Rumi. J “Eternal Acquisitions” (Feb. 25) A diversity Salt: Salt-glazed Stoneware in Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville Ancestors: The Art of the Central of mediums and a variety of styles in England and North Carolina” J “Peach Blossom Spring: The Dr. African Reliquary” (Mar. 2) drawings, books, media, paintings, (Feb. 10) Robert and Patricia Magrill Sculptures from equatorial Africa photos, prints, and sculpture. Collection of Chinese Art” (early created to portray ancestors as inter- Nasher Museum of Art, Duke April) Chinese painting, poetry, and mediaries with the divine. J “Gifts Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, University, Durham J “Barkley L. ceramics. for the Gods: Images from Egyptian New York City J “Mallorcan Hendricks: Birth of the Cool” Temples” (Feb. 18) Statues and stat- Landscapes: The Es Baluard Museu (Feb. 7) First retrospective of this Hofstra University Museum, uettes made with precious metals d’Art Modern i Contemporani de American artist’s paintings. Hempstead J “African-American and copper alloys over more than Palma Collection” (Feb. 2) The Highlights From the Reader's Digest two millennia. J Through Apr. 27: island as a subject for painters Wa terworks Visual Art Center, Association Collection” (Mar. 20) “The Art of Time: European Clocks between 1872 and 1934. Salisbury J Through Feb. 2: “Three and Watches from the Collection” Windows” Audio and video technol- Islip Art Museum J “Wit on Wry” English, Dutch, French, German, ogy creates an installation which (Jan. 27) Artists look at human and Swiss horology dating from the changes as visitors walk through foibles. 16th through the 18th century; the space; “Visible Traces” “Tara Donovan at the Met” Wall- Paintings; “Disposable Views” Katonah Museum of Art J mounted installation. J “Depth of Photorealistic paintings and prints “Horizons” (Apr. 27) Sculpture Field: Modern Photography at the by Chinese artist. installation by Icelandic artist. Metropolitan” (Mar. 23) J Abstract Expressionist Drawings” (Feb.) Ohio Drawing Center , New York City J Pollock, de Kooning, Kline, Akr on Art Museum J “American Through Feb. 7: “Kirstine Motherwell, and Smith.J Through Chronicles: The Art of Norman Roepstorff: It's Not the Eyes of the Apr. 13: “In the Light of Poussin: Rockwell” (Feb. 3) Saturday Needle That Changed” Berlin-based The Classical Landscape Tradition” Evening Post magazine covers, artist sews, glues, pins, and weaves Drawings and prints by Poussin’s paintings, and drawings. J together photocopies, fabrics, glitter, French, Italian, and Northern con- Through Jan. 27: “Masumi paper, and images from magazines temporaries, and by later artists Hayashi, Meditations: Two and newspapers to construct a post- whom he influenced; “blog.mode: Pilgrimages” Photos of temples and feminist narrative; “Alan Saret: addressing fashion” Costumes and monuments in Southeast Asia. J Gang Drawings” Experimenting with accessories from the 18th century “Closer to Home: Watercolors by drawings, including those made with to the present; viewers are invited William Sommer and Raphael fistfuls ("gangs”) of colored pencils to comment on the museum’s web- Gleitsmann” Two Ohio artists cap- swept across the page. site where the fashions are posted. ture the look and spirit of the region in the 1930s and 1940s. Hyde Collection, Glens Falls J Museum of Arts & Design, New “Elihu Vedder and Italy” (Mar. 16) York City J Through Mar. 9: Myers School of Art, University of Paintings, drawings, a relief sculp- “Cheers! A MAD Collection of Akron J “Karen Kunc: Prints” ture, and three illustrated books. Goblets” Celebratory goblets in Saul Steinberg, I Do, I Have, I Am, 1971. Ink, marker (Mar. 1) pens, ballpoint pen, pencil, crayon, gouache, water- glass, metal, clay, fiber, wood, and color, and collage on paper. In “Saul Steinberg,” Jewish Museum, New York City J mixed media; “Pricked: Extreme Loeb Art Center, NY Toledo Museum of Art J “From The New Yorker to Shrek: Embroidery” Embroidery techniques “GlassWear: Glass in Contemporary The Art of William Steig” (Mar. 16) co-opted by contemporary artists. Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Jewelry” (Jan. 31) Celebrating the First major show of works by the Poughkeepsie J “Saul Steinberg: union of glass and jewelry. many faceted Steig: cartoonist, chil- Museum of Modern Art, New York Illuminations,” (Feb. 24) dren's book illustrator, and author. J City J Through Mar. 10: “Lucian Retrospective: drawings, collages, Zanesville Art Center J “Seeing Through Feb. 3: “Isaac Bashevis Freud: The Painter’s Etchings” Rare and sculptural assemblages. Ourselves: Masterpieces of Singer and the Lower East Side: early experiments done in the 1940s American Photography” (Feb. 9-Apr. Photographs by Bruce Davidson”; through a rediscovery of the medium George Eastman House, Rochester 6) Images dating from the 1850s to “Camille Pissarro : Impressions of in the 1980s; “Panaromas of the J “Bloom! Experiments in Color the 1980s: Adams, Bourke-White, City and Country” Paintings and Moving Image: Mechanical Slides Photography by Edward Steichen” Brady, Stieglitz, and others. works on paper drawn primarily and Dissolving Views from (Feb. 3) Views of nature and flowers, from New York City- area private Nineteenth-Century Magic Lantern and portraits of family and celebri- Oklahoma collections. J “Object of Desire: Shows” Synchronized 5-channel ties. J “Heroes of Horticulture” Gilcrease,The Museum of the Yael Kanarek's World of Awe” (Feb. video installation using original (Mar. 2) Photographs that show cul- J J Americas, Tulsa “Charles Banks 24) Animated scenes that integrate painted or printed glass slides. “50 turally significant landscapes at risk Wilson: An Oklahoma Life in Art” 7 winterVIEWS continued (Mar. 9) Works by one of Philadelphia Museum of Art J Survey, from Brownie to large mentary series of Holley's art-filled Oklahoma's premier artists. J “Frida Kahlo” (mid-Feb.-mid-May) format camera: Southern vernacular Birmingham home before it was lost “Alfredo Zalce: El Graphico J Through spring: “Designing architecture, signage, and to the bulldozer; “Forrest Moses” Popular” (Feb. 24) Prints by Modern: 1920 to the Present”; landscapes. Landscapes from Maine to Georgia Mexican artist. “Alfred Steiglitz at the Philadelphia and New Mexico in oil, monotype, Museum of Art”; “A Passion for Tennessee and watercolor. Oregon Perfection: James Galanos, Gustave Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Museum of Contemporary Craft, Tassell, Ralph Rucci”; “A Gallery, Nashville J “Of Rage and Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk Portland J Through Mar. 23: “The Conversation in Three Dimensions: Redemption: The Art of Oswaldo J “Paul Storr: Silver Gilt Breakfast Living Room” Objects from the Sculpture from the Collections”; Guayasamin” (Feb. 7-Mar. 20) Service” (Mar. 1) The work of a museum’s collection re-placed with- “Generations of Generosity: Gifts to Paintings, drawings, lithographs, leading silversmith in Regency in a contemporary domestic setting; the Library and Archives”; “Bonnin and serigraphs by this Ecuadorian London. J “Russian Paintings from “Touching Warms the Art” and Morris.” artist. the Chazen Museum of Art” (Apr. Interactive show of jewelry: viewers 27) Works created in the 1930s. J become touchers and wearers. The Print Center, Philadelphia J Frist Center for the Visual Arts, “Bare Witness: Photographs by Through Feb. 16: “Moon Studies Nashville J “Aaron Douglas: Gordon Parks” (Mar.30). Pennsylvania and Star Scratches” Artist Sharon African American Modernist” (Jan Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus Harper; “Dakar Portraits” Artist 18-Apr. 13) Paintings, works on Radford University Art Museum College, Collegeville J “Beggars Vera Viditz-Ward; “That’s Women’s paper, and book illustrations by a J “Beyond the Tartan IX: David and Choosers: Motherhood is Not a Work” Artist Laura Wagner. Harlem Renaissance artist who spent Hodge” (Feb. 12-Mar. 3) Graphic Class Privilege in America” (Mar. much of his life in Nashville. designer's work over two decades. 22) Photographs relating to the com- Frick Art & Historical Center, plexities of motherhood for disad- Pittsburgh J “From J.P. Morgan to Texas University of Richmond Museums vantaged women. Henry Clay Frick” (Feb. 3) 18th- Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, J At the Joel and Lila Harnett century French furniture, Chinese Brownsville J “37th International Print Study Center: “‘Of Human Williams Center for the Arts, porcelain, and other art pieces Art Show” (Mar. 21-April 20) Bondage’: Etchings by John Sloan Lafayette College, Easton J “John acquired by Frick from the estate of Juried. Illustrating W. Somerset Maugham's Crash’ Matos” (Mar.16) a fellow collector. Novel” (Feb. 16) J “Figures of Meadows Museum of Art, Dallas Thinking: Convergences in Westmoreland Museum of Carnegie Museum of Art, J “Coming of Age: American Art, Contemporary Cultures” (Feb. 10) American Art, Greensburg J Feb. Pittsburgh J “Designed to be Lit” 1850s to 1950s” (Feb. 24) Iconic 14 women artists explore some of paintings and sculptures from a peri- the issues linking contemporary 10-Apr. 27: “Seeing the City: (Feb.10) Lighting devices ranging J Sloan’s New York” The big city in from 18th-century candlesticks to od when artists sought to define an global society. “Building the paintings, drawings, prints, and pho- Modernist aluminum lamps. J American style: Church, Eakins, Collection: Recent Acquisitions in tographs; “Dylan Vittone: Pittsburgh “Forum 61: Lowry Burgess” (Mar. Homer, Hassam, Sargent, et al. the Harnett Print Study Center” (Mar. 30). Project” B/W panoramic photos of 23) Conceptual exploration of the J diverse neighborhoods. earth, universe, cosmology, and Dallas Museum of Art “Gabriel humankind’s relationship to these Orozco: Inner Circles” (Mar. 30) Washington Installation, photography, video, and Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga Institute of Contemporary Art, elements. J J University of Pennsylvania, sculpture. “Phil Collins, the world University, Spokane “Food for Philadelphia J Through Mar. 30: Palmer Museum of Art, won’t listen” (Mar. 23) British Thought” (Mar. 8) Prints that focus artist’s video project, filmed in on food. “The Puppet Show” Contemporary Pennsylvania State University, J art works in various media that University Park J “Resonance from Bogotá, Istanbul, and Jakarta. explore the imagery of puppets; the Past: African Sculpture from the “Indian Miniature Paintings from Wisconsin the David T. Owsley Collection” Design Gallery, University of “Beyond Kiosk” A monumental New Orleans Museum of Art” (Feb. J J kiosk of printed matter inspired by 19-May 11) Ancestral masks and (Feb. 17) “Leonora Carrington” Wisconsin, Madison “Crafting the bookstalls of Paris; audio and figures, musical instruments, ceram- (Mar. 30) British-turned-Mexican Kimono” (Feb. 3) Making and wear- video projects as well. ics, and fabric and beadwork cos- surrealist painter who turned 90 in ing them. J April 2007. tumes. “G. Charles Allis Art Museum, Daniel Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth Milwaukee J “Earth, Water, Sky: Massad: J “Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Wisconsin's Special Places” (Mar. 9) Loading the Christian Art” (Mar. 30) Artifacts Photographs that reveal the beauties Work” (Feb. principally from the 3rd and 4th of Wisconsin. J “Seed Cycles: 24-May 25) centuries: marble sarcophagi, small Works by Sally Kuzma” (Mar. 23) Pastels in care- sculptures, silver, ivories, gold glass, Images of plants such fully layered pottery, gems, coins, and scriptural as corn, soybeans, picture planes. J texts. Works on loan from Europe sunflowers, lilies and garlic, “Manet and and the U.S. uploaded to the computer and digi- Friends” (Jan. tally manipulated. 15-Apr. 6) Utah Etchings and Salt Lake Art Center J “David Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art lithographs by Kimball Anderson: To Morris Museum, Wausau Manet and the Graves:” (Feb 2) Sculptural re-cre- J “Wendell Minor: In the American artists with ations of Graves's still life paintings. Tradition” & “Denise Fleming: whom he often Painting with Paper” (Apr. 13) worked. Virginia Original artworks by two children’s University of Virginia Art book illustrators. J South Museum, Charlottesville J “The Carolina Landscape of Slavery: The Gibbes Plantation in American Art” (Apr. Museum of 20) Paintings, works on paper, pho- Art, tographs, collages, and installations, Charleston J many by African-American artists. “William Christenberry: Danville Museum of Fine Arts J Ivory plaque with Christ Bearing the Cross, and Peter Denying Christ, Rome, Photographs, Through Mar. 9: “Elijah Gowin: c. 420–30, from the Maskell Ivories. In “Picturing the Bible,” Kimbell Art Museum, 1961-2005” Lonnie Holley Series” Photo-docu- TX (Mar. 16) 8 NEWSBRIEFS continued from page 3 atrium of the Physics, DMSE, and Spectroscopy “Unmonumental: the Object in the 21st Century” Infrastructure Project that will house the Physics is a review of assemblage sculpture—low tech, DENVER/ATLANTA/LOUVRE The Louvre in Paris has entered into a new Department. The work was commissioned by modest, made with found objects and materials. partnership with yet another American museum. MIT’s Percent-for-Art Program, which is admin- Absent are expensive materials, shiny surfaces, The first was the High Museum in Atlanta, start- istered by the List Visual Arts Center. heavy machinery, computers, paintings, installa- ing in October of 2006. Under their agreement, The Percent-for-Art Program allots funds to tions, videos, and the usual roster of greats such the High was to receive 180 works for nine exhi- commission or purchase art for each new major as Koons, Viola, Barney, Bourgeois, and the oth- bitions over a period of three years; the Louvre, in renovation or building project. It was instituted in ers. As reported by Roberta Smith of wThe Ne return would receive $6.4 million, to be used for 1966, but earlier collaborations between artists York Times, “Almost nothing here needs to be restoration of its 18th-century furniture galleries. and architects can be found around the campus. plugged in and nearly all of it looks on first The Denver Art Museum, the Louvre’s new In 1985, I.M. Pei collaborated with artists Scott glance like junk or detritus. One result is a partner, will pay a fee to the High to cover shared Burton, Kenneth Noland, and Richard Fleischner strange combination of save-the-planet zeal and costs of shipping, crating, and publications, for the Wiesner Building and plaza. Artists such visual consistency….” among other expenses. Denver will also pay a as Mark di Suvero, Louise Nevelson, and many fee to the Louvre. others have taken part in these collaborations BIENNIAL PLANS UNDERWAY instituted by Percent-for-Art Program. Curators of the 74th Whitney Biennial (March NAZI CONNECTION? 6-June 1)—Henriette Huldisch, Shamim Momin, The new Grohmann Museum at the FORDHAM OPENS NEW MUSEUM and Donna De Salvo—have named the 81 artists Milwaukee School of Engineering is dedicated to Fordham University has established the they have chosen to exhibit their work. They showing “the evolution of human work,” without Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and include veterans and newcomers. More than usual the benefit of signage or literature on provenance. Roman Art to house the more than 200 antiqui- will focus on performance art and works that uti- The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, reporting on the ties collected by alumnus financier and philan- lize music; collectives will be much in evidence. opening in October 2007 posed the mystery: why thropist William D. Walsh. The December 2007 The museum’s first-time collaboration with the works that were created under the Third Reich are opening revealed the largest collection of its sort Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue and displayed without text explaining their history. held by a university in the New York area. the Art Production Fund will result in the display The more that 700 paintings and sculptures Objects dating from the 10th century B.C. to the of works such as performances, large-scale instal- that are housed here are by little known German 3rd century A.D. and valued at $5 to $6 million lations, and events that could not be shown in the and northern European artists; some are attrib- are available for viewing by students from 8:30 Madison Avenue building. uted to old masters. The subject matter is invari- A.M. to midnight, seven days a week. Regular The first New Orleans biennial Prospect.1 is ably “Men at Work.” hours for members of the general public were not scheduled to take place from November 1- German-born Eckhart G. Grohmann, the yet established at the time of publication. January 18, 2009. museum’s founder, had a three-storey brick build- Having acquired all the pieces at public Director Dan ing re-formed into his private “Kaiserdom,” a auctions, Walsh is comfortable about the Cameron has mini model of the Reichstag in Berlin, complete provenance of each. “Ive always focused on announced the names with glass turret and a phalanx of larger-than-life keeping the auction house between myself of partner institutions bronze workers parading across the rooftop. and the seller,” he commented. And Jennifer that will host exhibi- Ceiling paintings and stained glass windows Udell, Fordham’s curator of university art, tions and events, mak- show more men at work. agrees. “We’re not trying to hide anything ing it what is Many of the works on display are by artists and we’re happy to work with anyone who described as “the who were endorsed by the Third Reich and were has a legitimate claim.” While provenance largest biennial of exhibited in official Nazi exhibitions, some col- questions are important to the university, international contem- lected by Hitler. The museum labels tell only Udell believes its is also important to share porary art ever organ- their names, dates, and titles of their works. the collection with students and the public. ized in the U.S.” It’s “not going to do anybody any good Eleven venues include NEW BILL SEEKS TO sitting in a private collection,” she said. the Historic New CHANGE GIFT GIVING Orleans Collection, the A new bill has been introduced in the House NEW BUILDING National World War II of Representatives that is intended to ameliorate FOR CONTEMPORARY ART Musuem, the the 2006 changes in the tax law that governs gifts In December, the Museum of Louisiana African- of art to charity. The new law would lessen the Contemporary Art opened its first new- H. Andrew van Wyk, Eating Something, Aerican Museum, and negative effects on fractional donations—dona- 1963. Hardboard relief print. In “Food for from-scratch building on the Bowery, in a Thought,” Jundt Art Museum, WA the Ogden Museum of tions that are given over a period of years through New York City neighborhood redolent of a Southern Art. fractional interests, letting the owner retain part checkered history—the El, the seedy bars and ownership during the period of transition. flop houses, attempts at renewal and gentrifica- WARHOL FOUNDATION The law as it exists on the books as of tion, the bohemian influx. A series of seemingly CELEBRATES October 2006 holds that a fractional gift must carelessly stacked boxes clad in shimmering alu- On its 20th anniversary, the Warhol be completed within ten years, and that the minum mesh, the seven-story building makes a Foundation for the Visual Arts has published a receiving institution must have “substantial stunning statement in this recovering location. A voluminous report on its finances and philanthro- physical possession” of the work during the sheet of floor-to-ceiling glass is the only thing py, both of which are prodigious. Of three slim donation process. In addition, after the first year, that separates the street and sidewalk from the volumes, boxed in glossy black, two give stun- the gift must retain the same appraisal value, inner museum—a triumph of the attempt to bring ning evidence of the foundation’s good works, despite the fact that it might have increased in art and the museum into the stream of life on the some $200 million strong in cash grants since value, thus restricting the tax deductions avail- street. 1987 ($11 million this year for exhibitions, artist able to the owner. The architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue residencies, publications, public programming, The new bill would require that the gift be Nishizawa, creators of the 21st Century Museum and individual artists and writers); the third is a completed within nine months after the donor of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, con- collection of polaroid and black and white photo- dies. In addition, tax deductions taken by the ceived of the building as a series of unmatched graphs, examples of some 28,500 that have been owner would depend on the fair market of the work each year—as the work rises in value, so galleries, stacked one above the other. The gal- donated through the Andy Warhol Photographic would the deductions. The caveat that the muse- leries are of varied sizes and shapes, some small, Legacy Program to more than 180 college and some tall, each subtly—and differently—lighted um must have “substantial physical possession” university museums and galleries across the would remain in force. by narrow skylights that are the result of the country. asymmetric stacking of the building. Oversight would be conducted by the Art Advisory Panel of the Internal Revenue Service. The museum’s inaugural exhibition J

9 UPS & DOWNS continued from page 4 tors, phone calls from concerned citizens, and COMMUNITY newspaper stories for board and staff from the STRONG TIES OUTCRY “SAVES Chamber of Commerce and the Cedar Rapids TO THE Museum of Art to start talking seriously about THE ART”: A how to bring about a satisfactory solution for UNIVERSITY DEACCESSION both organizations. The Chamber of Commerce SPELL board reaffirmed its position that they had no A-C-Q-U-I-S-I- GONE RIGHT choice but to sell the art. However, they would by Terence Pitts concede to accepting less than they had hoped T-I-O-N-S for if a sale could be arranged so that the works by Kathleen Walsh-Piper In October 2007, the Cedar Rapids Area would go to the museum. For our part, we at the Chamber of Commerce consigned several art- museum accepted the notion that this would The Art Museum at the University of works it had owned for more than a half century require a “save the art” campaign that might Kentucky serves not only the university commu- to a New York auction house. The works by compete with our ongoing fundraising. So, with nity but is also the primary and only accredited Grant Wood, Marvin Cone, and Norman four weeks to go before the auction in New York, art museum for the region. Our collection funds Rockwell had been on long-term loan to the we all agreed to see if donors could be found for are small and most of our collecting is respon- Cedar Rapids Museum of Art for nearly 25 years. any or all of the artworks. It would take sive—accepting gifts from donors. Our donors Much to the surprise of the Chamber of $500,000 to acquire all of them for the museum are not only in the area, but in many cases are Commerce, the community reaction against the or they would go to auction. alumni whom we have not even met before. It is proposed sale was immediate and vocal: stories In the end, several community leaders and the heartening and astonishing to be presented with a and editorials (one was titled “Don’t Let the locally owned newspaper The Gazette announced gift of, say, a suite of Calder prints, by an alum- Paintings Get Away”) supporting the museum’s that they would pledge the first $150,000; the nus we did not know about and it demonstrates maintaining possession appeared in the local community was challenged to follow their lead. the strength of the university connection. newspaper. Within three weeks, more than 250 individuals, Because many alumni graduated before the The paintings, admittedly, weren’t just any businesses, and local foundations met the chal- museum was established in 1976 and may be paintings. They were local treasures dating back lenge. The artworks were pulled from the auction unaware of its existence, we advertise in the to the 1920s and 1940s: early Impressionist-style and the museum, as of this writing, expects to alumni magazine and occasionally have a brief works by Grant Wood (who lived most of his life take possession of them before the end of 2007. interview on the football game half-time radio in Cedar Rapids), a superb landscape by Wood’s With hindsight, it is easy to think that perhaps broadcasts. Of course, the museum does not close friend and fellow regionalist Marvin Cone, the Chamber of Commerce and the museum accept all gifts, but looks at the quality, condi- and a series of water- might have reached tion, maintenance requirements, relevance to colors from 1944 by this compromise solu- mission, provenance, and other factors. Norman Rockwell, tion earlier. But, in Our only designated acquisition funds are created for the fact, it took a public part of a photography endowment, which allows Saturday Evening outcry and a crisis for one or two purchases a year. Recent acquisitions Post using citizens of them to lower their include works by Elliott Erwitt, Larry Towell, Cedar Rapids as the financial hopes and for and Uta Barth (partial gift). Purchases over models. They us to ask our small $5,000 need to be ratified by our Advisory belonged in the community (pop. Board; this has never been a problem. museum’s collection. 120,000) for yet anoth- The museum has a Collectors Group which is But the Chamber er $500,000. And involved in a major collection purchase, usually was asking close to a undoubtedly the loom- every two or three years. A couple can donate million dollars, ing deadline of the auc- $500 (for one vote) or $750 (for two votes) for money which they tion prompted people Gordon Parks, Black Muslim Rally, 1963. In “Bare Witness,” Chrysler the opportunity to vote on the selection. To date, planned to Museum, VA to act immediately—and this group has purchased a Mary Cassatt print, a use for much needed generously. Deborah Butterfield sculpture, and a watercolor community projects; the price was far beyond and sculpture by William Zorach. The curator our financial capacity. Furthermore, the museum BONUS: EDUCATION During the campaign to “save the art” we works with the group to decide on a work that already had essential fundraising campaigns found that the museum needed to do some public we need for the collection, offering a choice of underway, including a capital campaign for criti- education. We discovered that people were often three options. Of course, there tends to be lobby- cal exterior preservation on the recently donated confused about the purpose and use of the collec- ing for favorites. Overall, this group benefits Grant Wood Studio. Accordingly, when the tion. If we truly wanted these artworks why had from strong leadership from the volunteer chair Chamber made its decision in April, we decided they not all been on display for the last twenty- and our curator, and from celebrating successes! not to start a “save the art” campaign. five years? In the public’s mind, ownership was The museum also has a Docent Art Fund (estab- And, to be honest, money wasn’t the only almost exclusively identified with display. Few lished 1992) which is funded by the volunteer factor in our position. Faced with a near unani- understood how museums rotate works between docent group. It is used specifically for the pur- mous vote by the Chamber board to sell their art, storage and exhibition, and even fewer under- chase of works by regional artists.We are work- did we really want to go head to head with our stood the inherent limitations in our ability to ing on a Collections Plan, and see this as a real own business community and ask them to forego show the Norman Rockwell watercolors for more opportunity for the museum to look at what we a significant sum of money that they wanted to than a few months every few years. In response, have, define our goals, and also to help donors to put to good use? It seemed like a no-win propo- we have been able to talk about our commitment understand our needs and decisions regarding sition from the beginning. to future generations and research, and about the gifts and purchases. As for the Chamber, a non-profit membership benefits of having more work in storage than can organization whose mission was “to improve our be displayed at any one time. Kathleen Walsh-Piper is director of the strong business environment through the reten- The incident as a whole has turned into an University of Kentucky Art Museum.] J tion, expansion, recruitment and creation of busi- educational experience for everyone involved. nesses, and to enhance the quality of life in the For me, it was a great pleasure to see people areas we serve,” the public outcry made life very defining the identity of their community in terms difficult. The majority of people in the communi- of art—even as, at the same time and only ty thought these artworks belonged to, well, the briefly, museum attendance actually dropped. community, and that the Chamber should donate them to the Museum of Art without further ado. [Terry Pitts is executive director of the Cedar It took less than a week of letters to the edi- Rapids Museum of Art (IA)]

10 NOTES ABOUT AN ARTIST Rochelle (NY) and setting up a studio with During WWII he produced the Four Norman Percevel Rockwell was born in cartoonist Clyde Forsythe, that he married his Freedoms series—his contribution to the war his parent’s upper west side apartment in New first wife, teacher Irene O’Connor. The mar- effort. A tour of the works in the series raised York City in 1894. Early on, he was riage ended in 1928. $139.9 million in war bonds. sketching the characters in Charles His income, by the After the war, in 1953, he moved the fami- Dickens’ novels which his father read start of WWI was ly to Stockbridge (MA), where his ailing wife, aloud to his family. He studied in New remarkable for that six years after the move, died unexpectedly. York at the Chase School of Fine and time—he never M y Adventures as an Illustrator, his autobiog- Applied Art, the National Academy of earned less than raphy, was published in 1960, after which he Design, and finally the Art Students $40,000 a year, married Mary L. “Molly” Punderson and con- League, which proved to be the defining even through tinued in Stockbridge creating his own style training that led to his initial commercial the Great of nostalgic artworks. commissions, the first of which was for Depression. Then in 1963, he commenced a ten-year four Christmas cards. Following that he In 1930, he mar- stint at Look magazine where his covers accepted a job as art director for Boys’ ried Mary Barstow, addressed social and political concerns such Life magazine, the official publication of moved to Arlington as civil rights, the country’s war on poverty, the Boy Scouts of America. That was the and the exploration of space. starting point of a sixty-year-long career In 1973 Rockwell established a trust to as magazine illus- preserve his life’s work, placing his paintings trator. He painted in the custodianship of the Old Corner House his first cover for Stockbridge Historical Society, which would the Saturday (VT), and had later become the Norman Rockwell Museum Evening Post in three sons. at Stockbridge. In 1977, a year before his 1916; for the next During these death, Rockwell received the Presidential 47 years, more than years he began Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. J 320 of his compo- his illustrations for new editions of sitions were used Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Top: Triple Self-Portrait, 1960. Oil on canvas. by the magazine. Left: The Problem We All Live With, 1964. Oil on canvas. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, traveling Right: Art Critic, 1955. Oil on canvas. It was in 1916, after moving to New All by Norman Rockwell, In “American Chronicles,” Akron Art to Hannibal (MO) for his source material. Museum, OH

It “coaxes” the paint back into place. vapor treatment. While infusions do help consol- CONSERVATION: idate and reattach ground and paint layers to ARE OTHER their supports, results will not last as long in VAPOR TREATMENT PROCEDURES NEEDED? severe cases without a new lining. Cupping, tears, and stretcher marks have a memory of [The following explanation of vapor treatment Generally, the next step is to consolidate or line the painting (as necessary) so the paint layer their own and will eventually revert back if they was written by David Yanez, a painting conser- have not been permanently stabilized. vator at the firm of Julius Lowy Frame & has a stable support. Restoring Company, Inc.] WHY NOT JUST ARE ALL PAINTINGS WHAT IS IT? LINE THE PAINTING? CANDIDATES FOR It is a procedure that uses small amounts of In order to line a work with pronounced VAPOR TREATMENTS? moisture, heat, pressure, and solvents to relax surface distortions like cupping, the painting No. Some canvases will shrink, causing surface distortions that occur on oil paintings. must be put under high levels of pressure. This even more damage to the paint layer. They may can further fracture the paint layer and especially also be sensitive to heat or solvents, even though WHAT PROBLEMS with newer paintings, flatten the impasto. we use the absolute minimum of each. Since this Another problem with lining damaged type of sensitivity can’t be discerned with the CAN IT HELP? works without naked eye, the only way to Most surface distortions such as cupping first performing know is to test each canvas (cracked layers of paint curl up), dents, buckling, a vapor treat- before any work is consid- and protrusions can be improved by the ment is weave ered. treatment. interference. A successful vapor treat- Some canvases ment means that the conser- HOW DOES IT WORK? have a weave vator has reversed the distor- A loosely woven, porous material is sprayed that is so pro- tions of the paint and ground lightly with a water-based solution. It is then nounced it liter- layers; this is one step in a placed against the verso of the canvas and laid ally imprints series toward stabilizing on a heat/vacuum table set to a low temperature. itself on the deterioration and restoring Next a large sheet of mylar is put over the entire paint surface damage to the work with the canvas and sealed completely to the table. when heavy least invasive methods. The Suction cups attached to a vacuum pump are pressure is Charles Harmon, San Luis Rey. Oil on board. In “Romance of the Bells,” job of the conservator is to placed over tiny pinpricks made in the mylar, applied. Vapor Irvine Museum, CA preserve as much and add as causing the vacuum to literally suck away the treatments make little as possible. vapor that emanates from the moist material. it possible to line a painting under mild pressure, Because of this process, moisture is directed eliminating this problem. through the canvas, gesso, and the paint layers, WHY DON’T ALL but no humidity remains on the surface or in the CONSERVATORS USE paint layer. Mild pressure created by the vacuum CAN VAPOR TREATMENTS VAPOR TREATMENTS? pump holds the various layers together so they BE USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE Many don’t know how. It takes years of cannot separate during the treatment. TO LINING? training. Being able to test a canvas, knowing This slowly administered minute amount of No. Vapor treatments are used to relax the the appropriate solution, temperature, and pres- moisture, combined with gentle heat and mild ground and paint layers back to their original sure level—if any one of these is wrong, a paint- pressure helps the paint relax into its original form, not reattach them to their support. ing can be permanently damaged. J position in the least disruptive way possible. Infusions can be performed in conjunction with 11 Non-Profit Org. museumVIEWS U.S. Postage PAID 2 Peter Cooper Road Permit No. New York, NY 10010 9513 New York, NY

Alfredo Zalce, Sandias, 1968. Relief print. In “Alfredo Zalce,” Gilcrease, OK

H.O. Hoffman,“Cheers! An Art Deco New Year,” drawing from the New Yorker magazine, 1920.

SYMPOSIUM continued from page 1 CURATORS together; the weakness of one traded for the strength artists, it’s an intimate relationship. You start of many. They travel a lot, looking for some- having this conversation that takes a lot of And what is the starting point of art as an innate thing that no one else knows about; they forms. I’m interested in that continuity.I human characteristic? According to Dissanayake in can’t know everything, although they are think you need to be worldly, but I don’t her interview with Angier, it is the universal actions very highly educated and have access to a want to go to Shanghai for six weeks and that form the bond between mother and infant. The mass of information; and they want to pres- pick three artists to do a show with, out of ent their discoveries in interesting and spontaneous visual, gestural, vocal cues and rituals context. With an artist I know,I think I can arresting ways. They are called “curators,” between mother and child are replicated in the tech- say much more…. I’ve never understood niques and constructs of much art. “These operations and what they are looking for is new, undis- covered art. why, just at the moment when artists are of ritualization, these affiliative signals between making their most refined and interesting mother and infant, are aesthetic operations too,” she They love to work with friends, artists whom they know and whose work is famil- work, that as curators we’re asked to set says. In other words, “when you are choreographing a them aside for someone more youthful.” dance or composing a piece [or painting a picture], iar and appealing to them. But, “it’s not enough just to put things up on the wall,” Yet, there are pitfalls. Limiting one’s you are formalizing, exaggerating, repeating, manipu- choice of artists to one’s own generation, lating expectation and dynamically varying your said New Museums (NY) curator Laura Hoptman to The New York Times. “You geographical region, and/or cultural context theme.” You are using the tools that mothers have can result in conflicts of interest, cronyism, used over the millennia. J want to participate in art history, to have an impact.” and provincialism. And, veering in the Question is: Can a curator have more opposite direction can lead to chaos—too impact by scanning the world scene, and much variety, too many artists, and too moving from museum to museum, jockey- much information. ing for a position at the institution that most The middle road seems to be favored by closely matches his or her goals, or is it bet- many: being familiar with what is out there ter to stay in one place, creating close ties to in the wider world community is good, tem- the board, the trustees, philanthropists in the pered with the awareness of art as a visual area, and artists? language that spans cultures, but that has A curator’s loyalty to an artist or a group specific histories. of artists is particularly appealing to the Art of the last five years, wherever it is artists and rewarding to the curator. Helen made, is still a questionable commodity. Moleworth, formerly of the Wexner Making snap judgements about it, whether it is local or international, is not something Museum (OH) and presently at the Fogg J Museum (MA) was quoted by Dorothy a curator should do. Spears of the Times, “When you work with Ganado Style Rug , c. 100-29. In “Navajo Textiles,” Bruce Museum, CT