Our References: Raphael, John Adams, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart

Music: Allegro by Zimbalista

Our References:

Anish Kapoor

Andy Goldsworthy

Fertility Goddesses

Music by Hammurapi and Braids.

© Courtesy of the Sigg Collection

Our References:

What an absolutely wonderful and inspiring article in the Washington Post today remembering Herb Vogel, an unassuming art enthusiast who amassed a collection of works by some of the most important artists of the 20th century. This is absolutely the ethos that we are striving for with the podcast. Vogel was a postal worker with limited funds, and an unlimited passion for art. He and his wife Dorothy collected pieces that they liked and could afford, building relationships with artists in the process. He paid what he could, bartered with artists and set up payment installment plans. One of my favorite lines from the article: “Once, they received a collage from Christo in exchange for cat-sitting.” Herb and Dorothy’s example provides a perfect illustration of the idea that art can be accessible for everyone, and that you should allow yourself to be led by your own personal taste rather than by a sense of what is “supposed” to be good.

Mr. Vogel could not always articulate why he liked certain works of art more than others or what he looked for when collecting. [Megumi] Sasaki, the director of the 2008 documentary about the Vogels, ended up focusing the camera on his eyes, which instantly grew wide whenever he saw a new artwork that he admired.

“I just like art,” Mr. Vogel said in 1992.

If you’d like to learn more, there is a film about the Vogels, called Herb and Dorothy.

This, and lots of other very excellent art works, can be seen at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Our References: Dada, Equestrian Statues, Etruscan Art

Music: Bliss by SaReGaMa

Our References: Sol LeWit line drawings, Japanese Screen Prints, Olafur Eliasson, John Frederick Kensett 

Music: Tema Club Eden by Selva de Mar, Shorttime and Longtime by Reman

The Washington Post today featured an article by David Montgomery on push-back over the proposed sale of the Corcoran’s 1897 beaux arts building on 17th Street NW.

Museums today tend to follow a fairly strict set of ethical and professional collections management guidelines. One of the most basic principles is that, as public trusts, museums must not sell off their collections for financial reasons. Stated simply by Marie Malaro, “the fact that a museum desperately needs money should not dictate that collection objects must be sold…”* Through the podcast we have often indicated that we consider the museum building to be a part of the institution’s collection.

The issue becomes complicated when an institution finds itself in danger of having to shut its doors, or becomes unable to care for its collection. Personally, I can’t imagine the Corcoran’s collection in another setting, but I do wonder if those protesting against the sale are willing to dedicate themselves to finding alternate ways of raising money for the museum. What are your thoughts?

The Art Attack at the Corcoran:

Oscar Wilde by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Black Girl Dragging White Girl by Kim Dingle

Portrait of Henri Matisse by Henri Cartier-Bresson

*Malaro, Marie C. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections. Smithsonian Books, Washington DC. 1998.

Check out Noland’s website, Creative Rescue.

BEFORE
Photo by Darrow Montgomery

AFTER

Music: Quasi Motion by Kevin MacLeod, Lord Pear by Lagos Disco Machine, and Karpuzkafa 777 by Hayvanlar Alemi.

Music: Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini, performed by Rafael Villegas