Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

In Birmingham: The Power of Art

Last week, I posted here about museums that give space and exposure to regional and local artists, past and present. The Birmingham Museum of Art is, apparently, among them, although I did not know it at the time. Here, in part, is what the marketing director, Cate McCusker Boehm, wrote to me afterwards — a sweet story that energized the museum staff:BirminghamWedding

Our recent installation of Alabama artists in our contemporary gallery was in fact a response to requests from our visitors. While we boast the world’s largest museum collection of Wedgwood ceramics, an acclaimed collection of Asian art, and a burgeoning group of African ceramics, we found that our community was eager to see a display that they could really be proud of– a home-grown gallery of artists who are helping to tell the story and culture of Alabama.
…we waited with fingers crossed to see how our visitors would respond to the gallery of only Alabama artists. And then, just two weeks ago, we received the ultimate gift of validation. In the middle of the day, in the hustle and bustle of spring break activities at the Museum, a couple stood before our newest acquisition School of Beauty, School of Culture by Kerry James Marshall, and were quietly married by an officiant with a single witness looking on. Curious, we approached the couple after the brief ceremony and asked them why they chose to marry here at the Museum in front of this particular painting. They explained that they’d seen the panting on a recent date. She is a hairstylist, he is a barber, and so the work was deeply meaningful to them, as it simply represents their life.
The couple’s story quickly made it around to the Museum’s staff members and soon we were all talking about the “pop-up wedding” in the contemporary gallery. It felt wonderful to know that one local couple had been so moved by a new piece in our Museum that they’d decided to exchange vows right in front of it. …
Well, that is the power of art.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Birmingham Museum of Art

 

Stealthily, The Barnes Foundation Hikes Admission Prices

Late last month, I finally got to the New Barnes Foundation in downtown Philadelphia. It’s always a pleasure to see those paintings, but I tend to agree with the commenters who’ve found the replication of the old hanging in the new building to be jarring. Kind of old wine in new bottles — doesn’t work for me. I tried to forget where I was and just focus on the pictures. But it felt more cramped than it did in Merion, possibly because there were many more people in the galleries.

Postman-vGWhich brings me to the news: The Barnes did not put out a press release on this, but as of May 1, it is raising prices. General admission, which used to be $18 for non-members, is jumping to $22. Seniors will pay $20 instead of $15. Students will pay $10, as before. That’s steep — almost on par with the Metropolitan Museum, where the $25 admission is suggested, and which is much, much bigger. Senior admission at the Met is $17. Students should pay $12.

I learned about this from a blog item on Philly.post, which referred me to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. It said:

Officials at the gallery on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway said that the …main motive was to relieve congestion during high-traffic periods and to increase use of the Barnes audio guide, which now carries injunctions about appropriate gallery behavior.

The audio guide is included in the new ticket price.

The gallery will also extend its free admission for the first Sunday of every month to cover the entire day, not just afternoons. Tickets are still required for those days.

Well, they could have limited the tickets sold, couldn’t they have? Not quite:

“We’re seeing many more people not familiar . . . with what is proper behavior,” said Derek Gillman, the Barnes’ president and chief executive. He added that the gallery wanted those additional visitors, but with new gallerygoers “we’re seeing more transgressions of people touching things and getting too close” to the art, he said.

The audio guide now cautions visitors against touching art and standing too close to paintings and sculptures.

Ouch. Having just been there, I know that it’s difficult to stay as far away from the paintings as recommended, as marked in the flooring — it seems to me to be much further than other museums enforce, and — given the number of people in the galleries — it’s hard to avoid stepping over the line in certain spots. While I was there, the guards were quite aggressive about enforcing the space restrictions.

Presumably this is a reason Barnes limited visitors to his galleries, and another reason for leaving this collection in Merion.

I do not know what the capacity is, but back in January, the Inquirer reported that the New Barnes was exceeding expectations: “…From its May 19 public opening through the end of 2012, the gallery drew 216,953 visitors, according to Barnes records, exceeding the preopening estimate of 200,000 for the period by 8.5 percent….”

That’s great. But if the real reason for raising prices is behavioral — about 40% of visitors had been paying $5 for the audioguide, which is now included in the admission — this could have been handled better. Too, it should have been disclosed in a press release, or on the website – which I could find, except that if you’re buying a ticket for April, you’re paying a lower price than if you’re going in May.

Photo Credit: The Postman, Vincent van Gogh, Courtesy of the Barnes

 

Remember That Rediscovered LeBrun?

LeBrun-MetIt now belongs to the Metropolitan Museum.*

In January, I posted here about The Sacrifice of Polyxena by Charles Le Brun, which had been found in the Coco Chanel Suite at the Hôtel Ritz in Paris by the London-based fine art consultant Joseph Friedman. It was put up for sale on Monday, and the Met bought it, Christie’s said today.

Here’s the link to my original post, with the circumstances of its finding. It was estimated to sell for €300,000-500,000 — or $393,430 – $655,717 – and in the event, fetched $1,885,194, including the premiu. That’s a new world record price for the artist.

My January post has a before and after cleaning picture. At left is what it looks like now.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Christie’s

*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met.

 

A Maximum Blooper In Dallas?

I debated before posting this link to a video on the YouTube channel for the Dallas Museum of Art. Someone sent it to me. It’s a takeoff on Downton Abbey by the Dallas museum, called “Downton Artsy.” It stars museum director Max Anderson as lord of the manor, and includes curators and museum supporters in a little tale about the museum’s free admission policy and a museum gala.

imagesCAMHZR5BI shared it with a few people, without much comment of my own. Everyone of them was aghast. They used these words to describe it: “cringemaking,” “appalling,” “narcissistic,” “embarassing,” “sends mixed messages,” “OMG,” “hilarious,” “infantile,” and “unbelievable.”

As I write this, 809 people have viewed it, and four have given it a thumbs up. There are no thumbs down.

See for yourself here.

I’m pretty sure the museum would tell critics to “lighten up,” and they have a point. But I can’t understand why the museum would waste the time and effort and money (and did it seek permission from Masterpiece Classic to borrow the look, feel and music?) on this.  What are they trying to do? What kind of image does it create?

Carnegie Museum Bids To Become A “Living Laboratory”

Photography is big at museums of late — more exhibitions, more dedicated curators and so on – and today came an announcement from the Carnegie Museum of Art on the topic: With a gift from the William T. Hillman Foundation, it is launching the Hillman Photography Initiative — “a living laboratory for exploring the rapidly changing field of photography and its impact on the world.” Lynn Zelevansky (below), the museum’s director, said that “The Initiative positions the museum to be a leader in a subject area with broad appeal and profound relevance to contemporary society. We are deeply grateful for the [Foundation’s] support and partnership in this effort.”

LYNN2-235x300As a daughter of Rochester, home to Eastman Kodak and the George Eastman House, I have mixed emotions… but competition is good.

Let me quote from the press release –which admittedly is a little vague. Here goes:

For much of its history, photography has pervaded our world, but never more so than today, when non-stop technological innovations make it ever easier to take photographs and share them instantaneously. There are over eight billion pictures on the social media site Flickr; photographs on the Internet appear for seconds and then disappear, lost in a pictorial “newsfeed.” How does that affect their meaning? Our belief in their veracity? Our way of valuing them as keepsakes? And where in the midst of all these images and new technologies does art reside? What are the intellectual and aesthetic criteria by which we value photographs made with new means (for example, cell phones, computational photography) today? And how will we value those made by other means tomorrow?

the Hillman Photography Initiative is a special project within the photography department of Carnegie Museum of Art that will offer an adaptable framework for engaging with these provocative issues. Favoring an approach that is experimental and open to new perspectives, the Initiative will be driven by the collaboration of five “agents,” consisting of four external experts and Carnegie Museum of Art curator Tina Kukielski, who is also co-curator of the 2013 Carnegie International. The Initiative will follow a 12-month cycle, beginning with an intense three-month planning period during which the agents will work together with program manager Divya Rao Heffley to identify a key theme that will inspire a wide range of activities such as exhibitions, programs, collaborations, publications, commissioned works of art, artist residencies, and online experiences. Nathan Martin of the innovation/design studio Deeplocal will facilitate the process. Following the planning phase, Kukielski and Heffley will work with other museum staff to manage the implementation of the activities over the nine months that follow. Rollout of activities is expected in early 2014, although some may begin more quickly. Additionally, the Initiative will co-sponsor and/or collaborate on related projects at the museum and with other institutions.

See what I mean? A bit more:

The first group of agents includes, along with Tina Kukielski, Marvin Heiferman, independent curator and writer; Alex Klein, program curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Illah Nourbakhsh, professor of robotics and director of the CREATE Lab, Carnegie Mellon University; and Arthur Ou, assistant professor of photography and director, BFA photography, Parsons The New School for Design. The group will meet for the first time on April 21–22 to begin the development cycle.

I can’t post the press release because it’s not yet online, but the good news is that the initiative has a website with a few more details. I will be curious to see how this develops.

UPDATE, 5/3: the museum has now released a video update with more information on the project.