The Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City claims “one of the strongest” American art collections in the U.S., and the opening in April of new galleries for that work, art made in the U.S. from colonial days through World War II, was an occasion. The museum
spent $7 million to gut its old space, conserve and reinstall about 175 works from the 3,000-plus works it owns. It also borrowed a few works to fill gaps. Among the works on display are the marvelous Marsden Hartley, Himmel, from 1914-15, at right, a Herter bookcase, 1852-53, below left, and Raphaelle Peale’s Venus Rising From the Sea — A Deception, bottom.
Of course the museum re-thought the whole enterprise. Out went an organization based on “people, places, and things.”
Like other recent reinstallers, the Nelson-Atkins decided to integrate decorative arts with paintings (a practice I am not entirely comfortable with). And it chose to use historic themes, rather than art themes (ditto). Assessing its collection and key moments in American history, curators found six matches, and installed their works to illustrate them: 1776, 1826, 1850, 1889, 1913 and 1939. (Here’s a link to a complete explanation.)
I haven’t seen the reinstallation, though I did see the galleries in 2007, before they were gutted, when I reviewed the museum’s Stephen Holl expansion, the Bloch Building, for The Wall Street Journal. I was shown the plans at the time, and found them to be — perhaps — more sensible than other rethinkings and, probably, better than the old model, which had portraits by Copley, Sargent and Eakins hanging in the same room.
Since a long-distance review is impossible, Margaret C. Conrads, curator of American art at the Nelson-Atkins, agreed to answer Five Questions.
Other museums have reinstalled their American collections thematically, too (Brooklyn comes to mind), usually, in the view of critics, not successfully. How does yours differ from those?
I don’t consider our galleries thematic. Rather, a general chronology is at the core of the installation, punctuated by high points of American history and art history. Groupings of work from geographic regions are arranged around those key dates. It is a plan that is very flexible, reflecting the ebb and flow of the history of American art and the scope of our collection.
Why do you believe that integrating decorative arts and fine arts (for lack of a better term) leads to a better appreciation of the works of art?
Every work of art, regardless of medium, has an original context. In the case of almost all of our American collection, that context is, first and foremost, the home. Integrating fine and decorative arts connects our visitors visually and intuitively to the object’s contemporary use.
You chose to use the American art collections to “tell important stories about key moments” in American history — why is that the role of an art museum, which is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret works of art?
Our installation is very object driven. We highlight the individual objects first and foremost. Then, by understanding their many layers and interpreting them, we find the connections to important American stories.
Those six key moments in American history were chosen by what is in the museum’s collection, not by whether they’re the most important moments. Do you have any concerns that the installation is therefore misleading, overemphasizing a moment, for example?
The choice of six key dates offers a fresh look at the story of American art through the interpretation of the collection. It is not our intent or purpose to offer a comprehensive history of
The reinstalled galleries have been open for two months. What have you learned from visitor or critical reaction, or have you had any second thoughts (wish I had…), and will you be making any tweaks to the installation?
The response from all corners has been overwhelmingly positive–more than I had imagined. The biggest challenge is space, even with our expanded galleries. So, there is one gallery that I am considering whether or not it is slightly crowded. This is a real dilemma because there is more of our collection I would like to have on view. To remedy the situation, we will have opportunities to rotate works of art to give visibility to as much of the collection as possible and to keep the installation fresh. These changes will occur about every 6 months when our works on paper gallery is rotated.
Photo Credits: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art