Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Museum Funding-Fundraising

My Verdict On The Met’s New Fountains

I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about the new fountains at the Metropolitan Museum of Art*; sadly, most are about their funding–with money from conservative David Koch, whose name, naturally (if belately) enough, is on them.

MetFountainsI wish that was the real problem, because that can be batted away as foolish talk. Who cares who paid for them? Koch is a Met trustee. If there was a mistake here, it was the museum’s promise at the outset that the plaza was not going to be named.

But the real problem is that the fountains are ungainly, at best.

I reached that conclusion after two visits, the second only reaffirming my initial impressions.

  • For a start, they are out-of-proportion–too big for the space they occupy.
  • Second, they are misplaced–too close to the steps and too close to the street. The should have been smaller and set back a bit further, closer to the museum building.
  • Third, their minimalist style clashes with the architecture of the Met. I wasn’t expecting a Trevi fountain, but couldn’t they have nodded somehow to the Met’s Beaux-Arts facade?
  • Fourth, the water spouts are underwhelming, even pedestrian. There’s no grandeur and they aren’t entertaining either. They were supposed to dance, in a “variety of water patterns,” but that doesn’t seem to have materialized; if it has, the patterns are fairly indistinct.

Met director Tom Campbell, announcing the project in early 2012, said the project would produce “majestic” plazas. That, they certainly are not. And we are stuck with them for decades.

How could this have happened?

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met

A Museum Merger That Seems Sensible

From time to time, especially in times of economic uncertainty, the word “merger” gets bandied about as as solution to museum problems. In reality, art museum mergers are rare. I think (though I don’t have statistics on that). And they probably should be rare. But sometimes they make sense, and I was pleased recently to read of a merger that does.

Demuth_museumLast Tuesday, the Lancaster Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, which has a local-artist focus, and the Demuth Museum, dedicated to Charles Demuth (a native son) and also in Lancaster, said they are merging. The two locations will remain, but they will become “one museum with one mission.” The two have worked on this for two years, they say, which bodes well–even if it’s necessary ecomonically, it’s not a shotgun marriage. And it involved pre-announcement due diligence and discussion. Lancaster’s mayor, Rick Gray, and Sam Bressi, the president and CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, were there at the announcement, showing local support.

Anne M. Lampe, currently the Demuth’s director, will become the executive director and chief curator of both museums.

I’ve been only to the Demuth, not the Lancaster, but from afar this union makes sense economically–there should be a fair bit of savings in administrative costs.  They may sometimes collaborate on exhibitions, but they intend to remain separate identities and curatorial programs.

Both are small places–the Demuth’s annual budget is $500,000, while the Lancaster’s is $750,000, according to local news reports.  Do they need separate adminstrations? Doubtful. Should they waste effort competing for donors? No. Can there be synergy between educational and outreach programs? I think so. Joint ticketing? I hope so.

Here’s more in the press release and in last week’s article on LancasterOnline.

 

Mission Accomplished: Another Delaware Deaccessioning

calder.black.crescentYesterday, the Delaware Museum of Art said it would retire the debt it acquired imprudently (my word), for an expansion, by the end of this month.

In part, that’s because it succeeded in deaccessioning its second work of art, Calder’s Black Crescent (at right), which it sold privately. The museum did not disclose the purchase price or the purchaser, but the Wilmington News Journal estimated the take at $10.6 million “based on the auction results and [Board chair Gerrit] Copeland’s estimate of the investment fund withdrawal.”

The paper added:

As for the third work selected for sale – Winslow Homer’s “Milking Time” (1875) – the museum is holding off for now after rejecting several low bids, Copeland said.

“Basically, there’s no interest in Homers,” he added.

Huh? American art, including Homer, has obviously not seen the large leaps that contemporary art has, but there’s a market for Homer.

Just to cite one quick example, a far less interesting painting called Peach Blossoms sold at Sotheby’s in 2010 for nearly $2.9 million. Milking Time is a much better picture.

It makes one wonder whether the officials running this museum are competent. Why would they sell a Homer if there’s no interest in his works?

The same could be said for its first sale, William Holman Hunt’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil, which fetched £2.5 million, hammer price, against a £5 million to £8 million presale estimate. 

When they do retire the debt, and recruit a new director, I hope they also repair the governance of this museum.

DIA Can Play Hardball Too

As the city of Detroit goes through U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking approval of its exit strategy — which includes the “grand bargain” that will save the Detroit Institute of Arts from having sell any works of art — some creditors have been obstructing the way. One, so far, bond insurer Syncora, has cut a deal with the city, agreeing to the plan in exchange for a $50 million payoff (to be raised in a bond issue), plus leases on the tunnel linking Detroit and Windsor, Canada, and a parking garage. Another billion-dollar creditor, insurer FGIC, is still holding out — it remains to be seen if this too can be settled with a side deal or if FGIC will press ahead — and how far.

AMEricksonFGIC is the firm that last summer hired Victor Weiner Associates to assess the value of the collection.   It came with a total of $8.5 billion.

But the DIA is also showing that it, too, can be difficult. This week, DIA’s chief operating officer Annmarie Erickson (at left) told the court that the DIA will sue to protect its collection from sale, according to published reports.

The museum has been preparing for legal challenges for a long time. Last October, the International Foundation for Art Research held a panel called “Art for Sale? Bankruptcy and the Detroit Institute of Arts.,” featuring (among others) Richard Levin, partner and head of the restructuring practice at law firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moorem and lawyer for the DIA. Here’s the link to that.

If there is a suit, it could last for years — a strong deterrent to further disruptions from FGIC.

The outcome, for now, remains in the hands of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes.

 

More Dueling On the Corcoran Gallery

All this month, the National Gallery of Art announced on Sept. 5, “NGA Corcoran offers free admission and tours, Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During the month of September, several exciting exhibitions and special installations are on view at NGA Corcoran before it closes for renovation in October.”

CorcoranVisitorsAs a result, the NGA says in a press release, “Free Admission at NGA Corcoran has quadrupled attendance.” And to add to the good feelings it is trying to create, the NGA said, “Admission will remain free of charge when NGA Corcoran reopens in fall 2015, following renovations.” Who can oppose free admission? Although it does in some ways devalue the museum and the art, free admission is generally a good thing.

Meanwhile, across town, those who have opposed the deal breaking up the Corcoran and handing the art to the NGA and the school to George Washington University, are planning a wake. They’ve sent Save the Date notices about their “Public Memorial Service for the Corcoran Gallery of Art” set for Saturday, Sept. 27. It will take place at 500 17th Street, NW Washington, D.C.  In other words, it will take place at the Corcoran itself. Then: 

The service will be followed by a symbolic burial ceremony and a wake at locations to be announced.

Guests are encouraged to wear black or dress in period clothing of the Victorian era as a tribute to William Wilson Corcoran: black arm bands, men in mourning coats, women in dark veils with black umbrellas.

Among the organizers are  Linda Crocker Simmons, curator emerita of the Corcoran, Elizabeth Punsalan, an art advisor who once worked for the Smithsonian in marketing and with collectors and is the former director of corporate relations and special events at the Corcoran,  and Carolyn Campbell, a former PR and Events Director of the Corcoran. 

We will watch to see if there is a showdown on the day. Corcoran management has often muffled situations; let’s see how they react to this one.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the NGA