A constellation of enterprising ideas about art and artifact collections.
We’re all in the cultural sector and the things museums remind me is that most things don’t survive. We see different civilizations and all the things they’ve left behind that don’t exist anymore. We should remember that we, too, are heading in this direction where our civilization as we know it will cease to exist. This is just what happens. I think that when things close, they make space for new things.
In summary, a prominent collector’s house caught on fire which damaged several ultra-high value pieces. Insurers claim that this specific group works did not suffer any damage after already paying out $141,000,000 in fire-related damages. Insurers further claim that damages in those works predate the 2018 fire. Check the condition report.
This week, pop artist Lizzo received a lot of attention for playing a 200-year-old crystal flute once owned by James Madison. The Library of Congress offered Lizzo the chance to play the flute when she arrived in Washington, D.C. for her performance. Classically trained Lizzo toured the collection prior to performing and later played the flute on stage to make history as the “first person to ever play the flute”. A team from the Library of Congress escorted the flute to the venue and directly into the pro’s deft hands on stage. It was historic, and it was fun.
We manage collections of cultural patrimony (art included) in deep, inefficient ruts left by the ox carts of previous generations. At that time, it made certain sense, but all things must occasionally evolve away from gills and grow feet. Failure to evolve in general (but especially now), when the industry bleeds out funds to pandemic recovery, will only further pump the brakes on returning to “normalcy”. “Now” is “normal”.
As an independent collections manager/registrar, I have this fantasy/nightmare about meeting with a new private collector client, and with the ink still wet on the NDA, I greet a famously stolen object, like the Vermeer from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, in the parlor of their Upper East Side townhouse in New York when I visit their collection for the first time. A decision confronts me: report the work and face a lawsuit for breaking my confidentiality and confidence with my client and who knows what else, versus remaining silent and, consequently, excusing the actions that led to the acquisition of the object.
