The Whit/Met: Holland Cotter Thinks Outside the Breuer Box

There have been some notable exceptions to the curatorial departments' traditional insularity. In my "Campbell suggestions" post, I cited the 2007-2008 Eternal Ancestors show of Central African reliquaries, which included an introductory gallery of related objects from diverse world cultures. Right now, you can see Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents, focusing on "the enduring relevance of the African mask in modern and contemporary art," evidenced by works from Africa, Europe and the U.S.

Nevertheless, barriers between the Met's intellectually and culturally rich curatorial departments still need to be more frequently breached, allowing the specialists to "network" artworks "across distance and time" (in Cotter's words). And it's not just the Met, but all "encyclopedic museums," that need to think more deeply about such in-house connections.

This came to mind again last week, during my perusal of the Met's rewarding but relatively modest Frans Hals in the Metropolitan Museum (to Oct. 10), focusing on the museum's strong collection of 11 Halses, fleshed out with a selection of related works by other Netherlandish masters.

One of two additional Halses borrowed for the show from private collections was (in the opinion of Met curator Walter Liedtke) misguidedly deaccessioned in 1967 by the Brooklyn Museum. Liedtke said he would be delighted if he could acquire it for the Met. But if it were to come to market, he said, its price would probably be prohibitive---about $15 million:


Hals, "The Fisher Girl," ca. 1630-32, private collection

Fine as it was, I felt that a much larger, more ambitious exhibition was struggling to burst free of the Hals show's confines---a challenge that Liedtke, given free reign and a generous budget, could easily have met at the Met. The first Hals that one sees on the pages of the museum's Bulletin about the exhibition is not encountered in the show itself: It's the sumptuous "Laughing Cavalier" (neither laughing nor a cavalier, according to Liedtke) from the Wallace Collection, London. This is the first of many works illustrated and discussed in the exhibition's companion publication, but not seen in the show.

These glimpses at the wider world of Hals' rich oeuvre made me wish for the full-scale retrospective that the resourceful Liedtke certainly had the ability, if not the financial support, to give us.


Walter Liedtke discussing Hals' "Paulus Verschuur," 1643, Metropolitan Museum

A different type of meaty exhibition could have been assembled from the Met's own holdings. Liedtke noted that many 19th- and 20th-century artists---Courbet, Manet, Sargent, Chase, Whistler---were influenced by Hals' loose (but not impromptu) style. To illustrate such affinities, the curator's published essay includes a reproduction of one of the Met's own Manet portraits, George Moore. But you won't find it in the show.

The only non-17th-century painting that is included in the show, illustrating Hals' influence on later artists, is this American portrait:


Robert Henri, "Dutch Girl in White," 1907, Metropolitan Museum

How easy it should have been for Liedtke to have joined forces with his colleagues specializing in 19th-century European art and early 20th-century American art, to mine the vein of Hals-ian influence.

The cross-cultural and cross-departmental fertilization that Cotter and I crave could easily be accomplished in the Met's main building, without recourse to the Breuer digs on Madison Avenue. There are, in fact, a couple of compelling reasons why the Met on Madison may prefer to concentrate on contemporary: The current Whitney-going public has come to expect that kind of art in that building. And the Met will need new temporary space for contemporary art if, as is being contemplated, it renovates its Wallace Wing. The Breuer building would provide back-up space for that displaced collection during the construction.

What's really wrong with Holland's piece, though, is the clever illustration by Matt Collins for his article, showing old masters and antiquities (including the oh-so-cute Egyptian faience hippo, "William") being lifted from the Met's roof and hoisted southeast, to be deposited into the Whitney's building. Are we to think, from this illustration, that the Met decided not to return to Amsterdam Vermeer's celebrated "Milkmaid" (who Liedtke says is actually a kitchen maid)? It was loaned to the Met for a special exhibition that closed on Nov. 29, 2009. From the looks of the Times' "Arts & Leisure" section, it never left and is about to disappear into the Whitney!

The Rijksmuseum should demand a correction (or else get its painting back!):


Detail from Matt Collins' illustration for Holland Cotter's article
(Photo taken by me from my copy of the newspaper.)

As for my above-linked "10 suggestions" for Campbell---I can't say that he's made great headway on any of them, except perhaps the last one---enlisting new financial support. I guess my agenda may not be his agenda.

But notwithstanding the recent Campbell-bashing piece by Jed Perl in The New Republic, these are early (and financially difficult) years in what could yet prove to be a long, distinguished tenure.

Speaking of enlisting financial support, that's also on my personal agenda: My warm thanks go out to CultureGrrl Donor 172, who clicked my yellow "Donate" button all the way from Florence, Italy.

Having done so well with my Send CultureGrrl to Orlando challenge, do I dare inaugurate a Canadian Challenge, to support my "work-ation" (scroll to the bottom) that will occur later this month? I suspect that after successfully seeking reader contributions for my two-nights stay at last June's Investigative Reporters and Editors national conference (where I was an invited speaker), I may be pushing my luck by trying again.

I won't be too greedy, though: I'd be grateful for two nights of my five-night, two-city journey. Deducting the five spot that I just received from my Florence friend, my goal would be $340. I'll count any ads that may come my way between now and then towards CultureGrrl's Canadian Challenge.

Let me help you to help me!