Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

A Presidential Library For Our Times

GWBustThe Founding Fathers have had better days: After reaching a zenith in popularity some years ago, historians lately are again pointing out the feet of clay on them (well, on some of them — most notably, Jefferson).

But George Washington may be a hero for our times, politically speaking. He was a man of civility, according to historians, and of course he famously declined to become king of the United States and even to run for a third term.

On this day, when the U.S. government may be shut down at midnight because of Congressional dysfunction — maybe we should look back to Washington.

But I’m not going to get preachy. I am writing this because last Friday, to not enough notice, Mount Vernon opening the latest presidential library for the first president. I visited earlier this month and wrote about it for the Wall Street Journal. My piece is in tomorrow’s paper.

GW-vaultI like the architecture. The outside is not showy; it’s appropriate (you can see a picture if you click on the link above). And the interior has many nice touches, including the use of American Sycamore, a wood they tell me is not commonly used for decorative purposes, but was here because Washington would have known the wood and it grows on Mount Vernon.

In the vault, pictured at left, is a mockup of Washington’s book plate.

Mount Vernon also commissioned six busts, in 18th century style, for the reading room — that’s Washington at right. In the reading room, on his right, appropriately, is Hamilton and then Franklin.  On his left, also appropriately are Adams, then Jefferson, then Madison. They certainly got the order right, imho.

Below is a picture of the reading room. Btw, Mount Vernon is a privately funded institution — it takes no money from the federal government (well, maybe there has been a grant or two, no big funding). It will be open tomorrow, and thereafter, even if there’s a shutdown.

LibraryGallery_05

 

One Way To Spread the Wealth Of A Successful Exhibition

Today was the last day to see the Life And Death In Pompeii And Herculaneum exhibition at the British Museum,* a blockbuster of a show that has been called “a runaway success,” “stunning,” and “majestic,” among other things. Richard Dorment’s review in the Telegraph said: “Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Archaeological Superintendency of Naples and Pompeii , the quality of much of what has come to London beggars belief.”  I haven’t seen any number yet, but the BM added hours to accommodate the crowds.

JS25694154-5918409As much as I like to hear about successes, I was equally glad to learn that the exhibition created a “huge surge of interest about the country’s Roman heritage,” and that therefore the BM has decided to send an exhibition featuring items it owns from Roman empire around the country. Brilliant, I say. In the U.S., a comparable sharing might have, say, the Museum of Modern Art sending a smaller touring exhibition of its own abstract works after the success earlier this year of Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925. Or the Art Institute of Chicago, say, sending selections from Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity to smaller museums.

I don’t see that happening. Yes, museums here — private, mostly, unlike the BM — do share in the sense that they organize and peddle touring exhibitions. But what’s happening in Britain is a little different — this is a touring exhibition based on a the interest engendered by a show in London.

According to the Coventry Telegraph,

A Roman invasion is on its way to Coventry next year – with a British Museum exhibition set to trigger a boom in visitors to the city….a touring show which will feature a host of artefacts from the Roman empire will come to the The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry city centre next year.

Billed as the largest ever UK exhibition of Roman artefacts on loan from the British Museum, it will open next May and is expected to attract visitors from all over the Midlands. Roman Empire: Power & People brings together more than 160 pieces from the British Museum [like the one at right] to explore the story of one of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen. Highlights include sculptures from the villas of the Emperors Tiberius and Hadrian, coins from the famous Hoxne treasure, beautiful jewellery and even near-perfectly preserved children’s clothing from Roman Egypt.

On this side of the Atlantic, we will soon have an opportunity to see the BM’s film version of the Pompeii exhibition, which was broadcast live in the UK. Since Aug. 29, it’s been available around the world in cinemas, and was shown in the U.S. last Wednesday. Though it is unclear when, there are supposed to be additional screenings here.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the British Museum

*I consult to a Foundation that supports the BM

 

 

Syria: ICOM Issues Red List; Loot Is Already On The Market

Today the International Council of Museums issued the Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk,  following widespread reports of looting at cultural sites there over the past two years of civil war. The Red List was presented yesterday at a meeting at the Metropolitan Museum sponsored by the State Department; it is intended for police, customs officials, museums, dealers, auction houses, collectors and everyone else who is worried that these objects will now make their way into the world of illicit selling of cultural objects.

AleppoMinaretIt joins many other Red Lists — for Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Egypt and China, to name a few.

The new list, an 8-page PDF published here, is a roster of the categories of objects most likely to be illegally bought and sold — figures, writing, vessels, architectural elements, stamps, coins, etc., with illustrations. It’s not a list of specific antiquities that have gone missing. The situation in Syria is so dangerous, and volatile, that this list was created not in Syria, as would be the ideal, but rather that several Syrians, employed by the country’s department of antiquities but acting on their own, traveled to Amman, Jordan to meet with Icom officials.

I wrote about looting in Syria here in August 2012, depending on reporting by Robert Fisk, the British journalist. This past August, UNESCO warned against horrible cultural loss, and said — according to a Reuters report I found on NDTV — that “A comparison of satellite images from before the crisis and today at Apamea, known for its extensive Hellenistic ruins, shows clearly the scale of looting and destruction…” and “Precious objects have been identified for sale in Beirut and international police agency Interpol has confiscated 18 Syrian mosaics and 73 other artefacts at the Lebanese border…”

Today, AFP had a report that expanded on the damage, listing the minaret in Aleppo (at right) and, following Fisk, the Crac des Chevaliers castle.

Unfortunately, as UNESCO said, not much can be done about it — except making people outside Syria more conscious of the problem.

Photo Credit: Courtesy AFP

 

 

 

Books To Get The Pictures Out

kipniss_cover1Too busy yesterday to post here, I missed the opportunity to provide advanced notice of a reception last night for a new and seemingly worthy non-profit called The Artist Book Foundation. The party (fundraiser or friendraiser, it’s not clear — probably both) was held at Luhring Augustine gallery in Chelsea, and the other hosts were Friedman Benda, Paula Cooper, Marian Goodman and Jack Tilton. Pretty prominent names. So what is the new foundation, a 501(c) 3 that is just barely on Guidestar (which is to say little information but the name, address and year governing its existence)?

Its mission statement says:

The Artist Book Foundation creates, shares, and preserves books about artists that offer the richest visual presentations and most informed narratives of artists’ lives and work. Committed to artists, the Foundation believes that such books, like the artwork that inspires them, serve as a vital source of knowledge and culture for current and future generations.

castlecover2-272x300A short video, posted on Vimeo, explains a bit more, but basically these are not books made by artists, but rather books documenting art and artists, primarily catalogues raisonne and monographs. The first crop, this fall, includes the catalogue raisonne of Wendell Castle, a monogaph on Robert Kipness, and Speaking of Furniture: Conversations With 14 Modern Masters.

This online booklet, 28 pages, explains a bit more and says that the foundation will donate 10% of each print run to public, art and university libraries in the U.S.

One of the founders, and now publisher, is Leslie Pell van Breen, a former publisher at Hudson Hills Press.

 

Detroit: What Do Residents Say?

The Detroit Free Press polled 400 likely Detroit voters about the city’s bankruptcy the other day, and how you read it depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist.

bildeThe poll discovered that 75% said they do not want city workers’ pensions cut at all to help pay down debt and that 78% oppose the sale of art from the Detroit Institute of Arts to help resolve the city’s fiscal crisis. Point, DIA.

On the other hand, 19% said they favored reducing pensions and 2% favored eliminating them, while 7% said they “strongly” favor selling art and 10% said they “somewhat” favor selling art. Again, point DIA.

But not by much — and both are within the margin of error, which is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Detroiters want business to take the haircut, as the graphic posted here shows.

Business are adamantly against the proposal residents favor, however. Something has to give.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Detroit Free Press