Rose Blows: Rosenquist Pulls Out of Brandeis Commitment
Brandeis in the fall
Brandeis University's embattled Rose Art Museum finds itself without a fall show...again.
The Boston Globe reported today that James Rosenquist suddenly had second thoughts about supplying his works for a one-man show that had been hastily scheduled at the embattled museum after three other artists---Bill Viola, Eric Fischl and April Gornik---had abruptly pulled out of an exhibition of their works that had been scheduled to open in September. Their decision had been a gesture of protest against Brandeis' refusal to renounce any future sales of works from its collection to address the university's financial shortfalls.
The Globe's Geoff Edgers writes:
Rosenquist said that complications in the aftermath of a fire last year, which destroyed his Florida home and studio, about $18 million worth of art, and personal items, have made it too difficult for him to participate in the exhibition, which was to have opened Sept. 22 featuring some of his massive paintings, along with other works.
Well, maybe the devastation of last year's fire suddenly loomed larger than it had just a couple of weeks ago (scroll down), when the show was a "definite" go. Or maybe, despite his public assertion to the contrary, Rosenquist's second thoughts also had something to do with his increased misgivings about the museum's permanent-collection controversy. He shared some of that with Edgers:
I guess the staff (what's with that Audrey Flack picture?) may just have to rely on that permanent collection that the university has been thinking of selling and is now trying (at least in part) to monetize through Sotheby's-brokered rentals. Anything that forces the university to focus on the collection's educational value to its own community could be a good thing.
For now, maybe the university's and the museum's officials should reread this statement at the end of the account of the Rose's history on its own website:
In recent weeks, ...he vacillated, particularly after talking with Jonathan Lee, one of several members of the Rose's board of overseers who is suing Brandeis to block any sale of artworks. At one point recently, Rosenquist said, he demanded a similar written promise from the university not to sell works.Brandeis insists that some kind of show will somehow go on, but two months is a paltry lead time for putting together a new loan show. It's almost a given that contemporary artists will be leery of cooperating with Brandeis after all the controversy and chaos.
I guess the staff (what's with that Audrey Flack picture?) may just have to rely on that permanent collection that the university has been thinking of selling and is now trying (at least in part) to monetize through Sotheby's-brokered rentals. Anything that forces the university to focus on the collection's educational value to its own community could be a good thing.
For now, maybe the university's and the museum's officials should reread this statement at the end of the account of the Rose's history on its own website:
The Rose has accomplished in its short life what many institutions can only dream of. The dream of the Rose is to honor its unique and inestimable collection, exhibiting it in ever new and experimental ways and enhancing it with the inexhaustible generosity of donors and the keen, experienced eyes of its caretakers.So be it.
July 30, 2010 5:46 PM
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CULTUREGRRL (Lee Rosenbaum) is the artworld's award-winning "best blog."
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LEE ROSENBAUM I'm a veteran cultural journalist with many pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and major art magazines. I have been a cultural contributor on New York Public Radio (WNYC and WQXR) and have provided arts commentary on NPR and public radio stations in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. I am a HuffPost Arts writer. I've been profiled on the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer's Art Beat and in the Chicago Reader. I've appeared as an art-market commentator on BBC-TV and have published numerous Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. I am author of The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf) and have lectured on cultural property issues at the New Acropolis Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, on deaccessioning at at Investigative Reporters and Editors 2011 Annual Meeting, Columbia Law School, the University of Iowa and a conference of the Museum Association of New York, on museum governance and cultural property issues at Seton Hall University, on arts blogging at American University and on Smithsonian exhibition controversies at Rutgers University.
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Photo © by Jill Krementz
CULTUREGRRL SPEAKS on museum issues and ethics, arts journalism.
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________________________
moreLEE ROSENBAUM I'm a veteran cultural journalist with many pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and major art magazines. I have been a cultural contributor on New York Public Radio (WNYC and WQXR) and have provided arts commentary on NPR and public radio stations in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. I am a HuffPost Arts writer. I've been profiled on the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer's Art Beat and in the Chicago Reader. I've appeared as an art-market commentator on BBC-TV and have published numerous Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. I am author of The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf) and have lectured on cultural property issues at the New Acropolis Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, on deaccessioning at at Investigative Reporters and Editors 2011 Annual Meeting, Columbia Law School, the University of Iowa and a conference of the Museum Association of New York, on museum governance and cultural property issues at Seton Hall University, on arts blogging at American University and on Smithsonian exhibition controversies at Rutgers University.
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