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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

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Definitions: Two Experts Opine On What Museums/Directors Should Do

When Philippe de Montebello was about to retire five or so years ago, one of his rumored successors was Max Hollein (pictured), the director of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. The job went to Tom Campbell, of course, and I am  not sure if Hollein was seriously considered or if he wanted the job.

HolleinNonetheless, the two names came together in a funny way in the last few weeks, thanks to two completely different articles. In the U.S., the East Hampton Star interviewed de Montebello and in Germany, Deutsch Well interviewed Hollein.

When asked about his combination of talents, in both art and finance, Hollein responded, in part:

I think the job of a museum director is, on the one hand, to define the programmatic identity of the institution, while on the other hand also to make sure that the museum has the potential to develop and evolve – when it comes to the program and the collection as well as the financial circumstances and the culture of support that is directly linked to that. From the beginning on I saw that as one of the main tasks, and I hope I accomplished that to a certain degree.

And asked about his tactics beyond Frankfurt, he said:

We would definitely act differently in another city. However, as a cultural institution we’re generally faced with a situation in which the public authority has not been the single source of financing for a long time – and it also doesn’t want to be. That’s something you simply have to realize and you have to find creative solutions that can be different depending on the city and the cultural sphere. But what’s the same everywhere is the direction of the action and the necessity to act.

Back in the U.S., a profile of de Montebello noted a few pertinent notions:

“I think the role of the museum is to make things accessible, make it as attractive as possible, make engagement with the work as comfortable as possible, and as rewarding as possible, both intellectually and visually. Once you’ve established lighting, text, the conversations among the works, the way you place them side by side and the distance, then it’s up to the visitor. I don’t think curators should go around with bludgeons and compel people to do anything.”

And:

“Obviously you need to balance the budget if you can and be run efficiently. Yet, there is a major difference between being run in a business-like manner and being run like a business.”

Somewhat unrelated, but something I feel the same way about:

“There was never a favorite work for 31 years and there isn’t one now,” not even a shortlist when he visits now for pleasure or brings classes. “I move around. I’m not tied only to paintings, either. I go to the Islamic galleries, the Egyptian galleries. I am eager to see what the new curator will do with the European decorative arts and sculpture galleries. I’m watching it. I’m only one block away.”

Read the rest of the article here.

109 Minutes With Tom Campbell

That’s how long Carl Swanson spent with the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art* — not sure when — to deliver a short “encounter” feature in the current issue of New York magazine.

TEDtalkKeeping in mind that the article’s readership is probably not that attuned to the Met (34% of readers are 18‒34 and 31% are not New Yorkers), the write-up had only a few surprising assertions. The first surprise was this paragraph:

To this day, despite that blockbuster Alexander McQueen exhibit, his travels in the TED-talk-and-Davos circuit, the grand reopening of the redone Islamic and European Paintings galleries, the tearing up of those Fifth Avenue fountains, and the coming high-profile annexation of the Whitney Museum’s Madison Avenue building, he’s not particularly recognizable, even in that way that a New York executive-suite power-nerd can become a boldface name.

I really was under the impression that many of the those — reconfiguration of the Islamic and European galleries, talks that led to the Whitney accession — were begun under Philippe de Montebello.

Speaking of the European paintings rehang, Campbell says he counts Bruegel’s The Harvesters as one of his favorite paintings and “even had The Harvesters rehung in a better position.” He added: “Now we’ve got a space where I can really enjoy it.” I was also under the impression that Keith Christiansen, chairman of the European paintings department, masterminded the reinstallation, but maybe Campbell intervened.

Campbell also said he had “a special key” that opens every door in the museum, except “Of course, I always discover the door it doesn’t work on is the one that I really need to get through.” Interesting that such a key exists.

Here are a few more passages that surprised me, for one reason or another:

  • “Museum patrons used to flatter themselves as guardians of timeless masterpieces, but now they get most excited about the new stuff, like everybody else in the art world. Contemporary is, Campbell notes understatedly, ‘very hot right now.’ ” The part I boldfaced seems like a vast overstatement to me, maybe even wishful thinking?
  • “There is another gallery he wants to redo (the current color he dismisses as “dog vomit”).” How did he let that color get approved?
  • And sadly, in the members’-only lounge: “When we get up to leave, the cashier looks confused, not recognizing Campbell, who explains patiently, and not for the first time, ‘I’m the director.’ ”

Read the whole article here.

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met.

Dubai Ruler Orders Four New Museums

Before I was diverted yesterday to write about a Dubai auction, I was planning to share news of the Dubai subway system. It’s about to become a museum or, rather, a set of museums.

167896079-507x310The state news agency there recently reported that Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum wants themed museums in the subways as inspiration. As Gulf Business wrote:

“We want to inspire and communicate with every employee on his way to work, every student on his way to pursuing education and every tourist visiting Dubai,” said Sheikh Mohammed. “We want to transfer Dubai Metro stations to museums accompanying passengers to all destinations.”

The project starts with four stations, and each will have a theme:

Islamic arts and arabic calligraphy museum, inventions museum, contemporary art museum and visual art museum will be launched during phase one.

The Islamic art and calligraphy museum will include a collection of Islamic artworks and a display of manuscripts, ceramics and jewellery along with calligraphy paintings.

The Inventions Museum will highlight the most important human inventions in different fields such as engineering, mathematics, medicine, geography, astronomy and other fields. The Contemporary Art Museum will display paintings, design, graphic illustrations and models done by contemporary artists from around the world.

The visual arts museum will screen movies and documentaries highlighting the work of contemporary artists. It will also give visitors a chance to exhibit their work.

Gulf Business says that the Dubai subway systems handled more than 137 million passengers last year, and eventually this idea will be extended through the entire system.  It did not say who would design or implement this plan, or what artists might be involved.

But the sheikh wants it done fast: there four will be “completed within a year and will be launched during Art Dubai 2015.”

Yes, I know other subways systems have art — Paris and New York, to name two. This sounds more extensive. Could be nifty.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gulf Business

A Curator For Black Artists?

The Museum of Modern Art announced an interesting hire the other day: Darby English, who recently became the Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, will join MoMA (part-time) as a Consulting Curator (in the Department of Painting and Sculpture) for works made by black artists.

Darby EnglishWhile I perhaps understand the need for MoMA to make up for its lack interest in black artists (its term) in the past, I am not sure this is the way to go about it.

Here is where I give a hat-tip to Hyperallergic, which analyzed the move — and also worried about it — on Mar. 14 (the day of the announcement, which — for some reason — I did not receive). Hyperallergic raised several concerns, including the question of whether this ghettoizes black artists and the very definition/categorization of black artists.

With which I agree and add: Why should black artists be separated from contemporary art? It’s hard to imagine curators of women artists (look at the rightful complaints about Wikipedia categorizing authors as female authors and book stores using terms like women’s novels), or Evangelical artists, or gay artists, or for that matter white artists. Isn’t contemporary art in particular becoming ever more global, less subject to categories of nationality and race? Shouldn’t it all be judged by the same standards?

English’s initial tasks — “an analysis of the Museum’s collection of works in this area, as well as the publication of a critical reader bringing together key texts documenting black artists’ work and its historical reception” — are worthy ones that need doing, though, so I concur with some of MoMA’s goal here. He’ll also help with acquisitions.

But I worry about another: the “development of presentations within the collection galleries and the Museum’s exhibition program.”

MoMA is a universal museum for modern and contemporary art. Specialized museums like the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Jewish Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts exist to highlight such categories of art in isolation (usually). I see no reason to blur lines, as MoMA is doing here.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Clark Art Institute 

The New Stolen-Art Tracker Opens Its Doors

On Monday, Art Recovery Group PLC — the brand-new competitor to Art Loss Register — opened its offices in Kensington, London, and announced an impressive line-up of staff members.

christopher-marinello-2-630x473x80-2ARG, you’ll recall, was founded last fall after ALR came under intensified scrutiny for its heavy-handed practices. The New York Times laid them all out in an article headlined Tracking Stolen Art, for Profit, and Blurring a Few Lines, published last Sept. 20. In it, Christopher A. Marinello, who was often ALR’s spokeman, said he was quitting and would start his own firm — that happened, with the founding of ARG, last October.

Now Marinello is really open for business. I couldn’t find a website, per se, but it does have a Facebook page entitled Art Recovery International. Among its new staff are Mark Maurice, Executive Director, a corporate/wealth manager who has worked with dealers and collectors  worldwide and “has dealt with a number of high profile restitution and cultural patrimony cases involving complex cross border disputes,” and Dorit Strauss, who has been in the fine art insurance industry for more than 30 years, once as Vice President and Worldwide Specialty Fine Art Manager at Chubb & Son.

Here’s the rest of the press release, including details of the types of work ARG (or ARI?) will do — like “Location and recovery services involving stolen, missing and looted works of art” and “dispute resolution services in cases of defective title, illegal export and unclear authenticity.”

This service, as we know, is sorely needed. Let’s hope it can compete with ALR — competition is good.