If ever a work of art merited comparison with epic poetry, “The Battle of Issus” is it. Albrecht Altdorfer’s depiction of the moment in 333 B.C. when Alexander the Great routed Darius III for supremacy in Asia Minor is vast in ambition, sweeping in scope, vivid in imagery, rich in symbols, and obviously heroic–the Iliad of painting, as literary critic Friedrich Schlegel suggested.

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That’s how I started my article, “An Epic Poem In Paint,” that is published in tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal. It’s in the Masterpiece column, which is published every Saturday, and which I have praised here before. Coincidentally, my last Masterpiece for the Journal, published last July, described the Alexander sarcophagus in Turkey’s archaeological museum — one of whose sides also depicts the battle of Issus.

Altdorfer’s version, of course, is far more expansive — this image does not do it justice, as it’s a big picture, about 4 ft. by 5 ft.

Oddly, I barely noticed the painting the first time I saw it. It sits in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich in the same gallery as Durer’s Self-Portrait, 1500, and I was so mesmerized by that work on my first visit to the Pinakothek that I didn’t remember the Altdorfer. I wrote about the Durer for the Journal (here), too. 

If you go to Munich, don’t do what I did — they are both masterpieces, as are so many other works there — so take a long look at both. There are no paintings by Altdorfer in the United States; some museums do own drawings, though nothing of this majesty.

Photo: Courtesy Alte Pinakothek  

The signs have been there for some time, and here’s more evidence: Libraries are increasing in importance in American communities: Use is not declining because we get more and more of our information from the Internet and read fewer books and magazines.

Moreover, it’s not just the recession that’s driving people to libraries for free books, computer use, classes and advice. The trend for the last 11 years, through economic ups and downs, is rather steady growth. Libraries seem to be well on their way to becoming a “third space,” like the Starbucks on the corner (even if, or maybe because, they don’t look like this Candida Hofer image of a library in Portugal).

The latest research on this comes from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, which just published “Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007.” It says that per capita visits to libraries over the period grew 19% nationwide, from just over 4.1 per year to just over 4.9 per year. Per person visits are lower in non-metro areas than in metro areas.

The “third space” designation is reinforced by a second set of numbers — “circulations,” or the number of books, DVDs, etc. that are checked out. Those have declined. In 1997, for every 1,000 visits to the library, there were 1,600 “circulations.” That number dipped below 1,500 in 2000, but has since resumed climbing and was last recorded at 1,511 per 1,000 visits.

Instead of checking things out, people are definitely using library computers, which are growing in number — up 90% from 1.9 per 5,000 residents in a community in 1997 to 3.6 per 5,000 residents in 2007. (Where do they get these metrics? Shouldn’t they be standardized?)

Even so, spending on electronic materials remains at less that 11.5% of total expenditures for collections — so books, presumably, aren’t getting short shrift. (Which books are being bought is another matter — not subject of this study, alas.)

Becoming, and remaining, a “third space” forbodes other changes in libraries, which the report states but doesn’t explore in depth. The best libraries are offering more services — help to their constitutents in many areas, from literacy to living. They are becoming more essential, which is a big reason I was so upset earlier this year when the Seattle Public Library simply closed for a week.  

Libraries are becoming more like community centers, with the community built around getting and giving information. I think that’s a good thing, though I deplore the idea going around in some quarters that art museums should become community centers — that’s simply too far a stretch from their core mission. More about which another time.

Photo: Â© Candida Hofer, Courtesy Sonnabend Gallery  

 

Consider attendance at several arts activities: classical music concerts, jazz concerts, musical theater, non-musical plays, art museums & galleries, craft & visual arts festivals, parks & historic sites, and reading of literature.

Do they seem masculine or feminine to you?

What about these arts activities: playing a classical music instrument, painting, pottery, sewing, photography, creative writing, singing in a choir or chorale, and buying art?

Are they masculine or feminine?

According to Section 26 of the just released Census Bureau’s 2010 Statistical Abstract of the U.S., in only one of those 16 categories is a greater percentage of men involved than women.

I guess it is no surprise that the arts are patronized more by women than men, but the male gap almost across the board, even for jazz concerts and playing classical instruments, is still an eye-opener.

Only in the purchase of art did men dominate: there, 29.6% of men vs. 27.9% of women of those “who reported owning original art” said they had made a purchase in the 12 months.

The male gap looks significant in almost all categories. It is more than 1.5% in everything except attendance at jazz concerts (.2%), attendance at parks & historic sites (1%), playing a musical instrument (.2%) and creative writing (1.3%). And it’s as wide as 20.9% for sewing (ok, ok) and 16.1% for reading literature.

These numbers are drawn from research by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The male gap is a big problem, but one that lacks a single solution. Trouble is, it’s one I rarely hear discussed. I hope that changes in 2010.

 

I think this is good news, but I’m not entirely sure: Deere & Co., the tractor maker in Moline, Il., has agreed to show its large corporate art collection at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, begining in April and lasting indefinitely. The works will be shown in their own gallery.

The news came in yesterday’s Quad City Times (here), which said the official announcement would be made today — but there’s nothing on the museum’s or the company’s website yet.

Deere has been collecting art since the 1960s, and has amassed nearly 1,000 works — including Grant Woods’ Fall Plowing — nearly all of which have been unseen by the public, according to the article. The collection is broad and ecletic, ranging from American Regionalism to French Impressionism to African and Asian art.

A 1994 article in Financial Executive magazine quoted the corporate curator as saying it contains everything from primitive New Guinea artifacts to a 17th century English crewelwork piece. Here’s the explanation:

Back in 1965, then chairman William Hewitt decided to start a collection that would harmonize with the architecture of the company’s Moline, Ill., headquarters and that would enrich the employees’ environment. But his aim wasn’t just esthetics. If employees were exposed to different cultures through art, he reasoned, they might get a better handle on how cultural factors affect John Deere‘s businesses. With that in mind, Hewitt decided to buy pieces for the fledgling collection from countries in which the company did business.

 

Why wouldn’t this all be good news? The Quad City Times article doesn’t address who is in charge of what’s shown — the museum or the corporation. Those calls are always gives-and-takes, but in recent months we’ve seen far too many examples of museums’ abdicating the choses to others. (See here and here, for example.) If the Figge and Deere were able to work out the right deal, leaving the museum in charge at the end of the day, bravo.

 

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art did a smart, simple thing for the Christmas season the other day — small but smart and good for art. 

It wasn’t as brilliant as the move made by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, which as you surely know by now announced in a press release on Tuesday morning that it would open its doors, free of charge, to American and Canadian active-duty service women and service men, plus their families, starting during these holidays and lasting throughout 2010. Adult admission to the Albright-Knox is $12, so the offer can save families a lot of money.

The offer includes even free parking — so the museum has thought this out well. Bravo, and a strawberry to director Louis Grachos, trustees, and whoever thought of this brainstorm.

In Kansas City, the smaller idea was aimed at the media, which is always in search of good images. On Dec. 15 — enough time for planning — the PR department sent out an email with the subject line “Need Christmas Art?” and attaching a PDF listing of all the nativity scenes it holds in its collection for which it had high-res images: a dozen in all.

I chose one, Madonna of Humility, ca. 1410, by Don Lorenzo Monaco and assistant (Bartolomeo di Fruosino?), to illustrate what’s available (though the tiny size here, as usual, does not do it justice; it’s 44 7/16 by 26 3/16 inches).

The museum’s PR department says that, as of Tuesday, only one newspaper, The Garden City Telegram, had asked for one of them, which it plans to run on its front page on Christmas day.

What a pity!

When I edited the Sunday Business section at The New York Times, I liked using real art even though the subject matter didn’t overlap much. We certainly used a bulls and bears painting by William Holbrook Beard for one Sunday cover, and I tried at least once to use Otis Kaye’s D’-jia-vu? (The Stock Market), but … failed to convince my art director. We also looked at other trompe-l’oeil paintings that included images of money, but none was quite right.

But a nativity scene on Christmas Day? What better way to illustrate the birth of Christ than with depictions of the scene that occupied so many great artists, many of whose works can be found in the nation’s museums? Let’s spread the idea next year to other cities.

Note To Readers: I’ll be away for the next few days, not posting — back on Sunday night or Monday.  

Photo: Courtesy Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art