Ready for a fall road trip?

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

For the last few weeks I have been preparing for an outgoing loan to an institution that to even those of us in upstate New York seems “way up yonder.” Fenimore Art Museum is lending Crucifix by Veronica Terrillion to the Traditional Arts of Upstate New York, which is located in Canton, for their exhibition Kindred Pursuits: Folk Art in North Country Life. The exhibition runs from September 16, 2011 – May 5, 2012. The loan has gone through all of the traditional steps that are required: the request went to committee for approval, a loan agreement was signed by both parties, insurance coverage was established, the object was condition reported and packed. All that is left is for the object to be delivered. Since it is somewhat fragile, I have taken special care to pack it well and have informed TAUNY that it should be displayed on the wall, at a 40 degree angle. It has been in storage here for some time, and it is nice to know that it will be seen by new eyes; I wonder how many visitors this exhibition will reach? If you are going to be out leaf peeping this fall, you should take a drive up to the North Country to see this show!

Haida Totem Pole, One Year Later

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

When Fenimore Art Museum received its magnificent Haida Totem Pole last year, one of the first questions that many asked was, "What will it look like next year?"

This morning I snapped a few photos of what the Totem Pole looks like today. The very top of the pole has turned to a pale, weathered look, and as you work your way down the piece it changes from light to dark. This color change highlights all the detail work that went into the carving of the pole - features such as the beaver’s tail and the eyes of each character. Nature has really made the work come alive, and the Totem Pole has become a piece of art that is changing from day to day, which is very cool indeed.

Museum shipping crates

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

Over the years we have acquired many shipping crates that are specially fabricated for artwork in our collection. I am currently in the process of physically inventorying our crates in order to dispose of ones that are no longer in good enough shape to travel and making sure that the ones we keep are properly numbered and tracked. They are stacked to the ceiling at our storage facility and are hard to move around given their size and weight, so it is a project that requires some help from my colleagues in the facilities department!

Whenever something travels outside Fenimore Art Museum, such as a loan to another museum for exhibition, it requires a specially built crate. Fine art shipping companies make crates for us, often building them at their warehouse and finishing the interiors once they arrive at the museum to ensure a perfect fit. In order to save money and materials we try to reuse and retrofit crates we already have whenever possible – an accurate inventory of our crates is therefore very helpful. Precise measurements and photographs of the artwork are provided to the crate fabricators when the order is placed as it must fit like a glove. They have to be sure not to put too much pressure on the artwork, especially if it is fragile, while ensuring that it doesn’t shift during transit; it truly is an art form in and of itself when you see it in person!

Fritz Vogt sketches on view at the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

The museum world is a small one. Especially in regard to the reciprocal loan of artwork between smaller institutions the size of the Fenimore Art Museum. It is an arrangement that works wonderfully for both institutions; the sharing of artwork helps expose the public to works that they may otherwise not see, and works that may not get much exhibition time at the lending institution have the opportunity to be on view. A nearby institutions, the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, has requested the loan of four Fritz Vogt graphite pencil on paper sketches from our collection for their upcoming exhibition, Drawn to the Same Place: Rufus Grider & Fritz Vogt, 1885-1900, which will run from April 2, 2011 through August 14, 2011.

We will be lending the following works to this exhibition:

Residence of M. Van Alstine, Sharon, Schoharie County, September 25, 1890”

William Drane, Montgomery Street, Cherry Valley, Otsego County, March 8, 1893

Untitled (Cherry Valley Female Academy Teachers Residence), Cherry Valley, Otsego County, June 27, 1896

Residence of John Adam and Peter Kilts, Sharon, Schoharie County, June 15, 1899

The Arkell Museum, established in 1924 by Bartlett Arkell the founder and president of the Beech Nut Packing Company, features a remarkable collection of late 19th and early 20th century American Art, as well as artifacts from Mohawk Valley history, in a recently redesigned building on the scenic Mohawk River. The landscapes and regional stories of upstate New York and the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers were of particular fascination to Arkell, and are reflected both in their permanent collections as well as their choice in borrowed exhibitions.

To paraphrase the Drawn to the Same Place exhibition vision statement:

A Fritz Vogt exhibition at the Fenimore Art Museum in 2002 introduced Vogt as a major folk artist, and the exhibition at the Arkell with go on to place him next to a resident of Canajoharie who was drawing the same upstate New York locations at the same time - Rufus Grider. Both men came from Pennsylvania to the Mohawk Valley. Grider became a Canajoharie schoolteacher in 1883 who studied early historical accounts of the area in an effort to reconstruct the past, and Vogt an itinerant handyman and artist who created portraits of farms and homes as a way to earn a living. Both men travelled throughout the region, quickly sketching and memorizing a scene before later completing details and adding color. While creating artwork for different reasons, their works viewed together provide a picture of rural and urban landscapes of the past.

This exhibition is sure to expose these contemporaneous artists in a new and fascinating light, comparing and contrasting their artistic vision and techniques as they have never been before. If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you stop by the Arkell to see this exhibition. And make note to see our loaned artworks, of course!

Out with the old, in with the new

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

Many people ask me if this time of year is slow at the Fenimore Art Museum. It would seem as though it would be given that we are closed to the public from December 31st through April 1st and Cooperstown itself is seemingly quiet with its snowy streets and sleepy downtown. Ironically, this is actually the busiest time of year for us. As soon as January 1st hits, we are off the ground running, taking down exhibitions from last year and preparing for the exhibitions to come.

Our loaned shows from last season such as Watermark: Michele Harvey and Glimmerglass and John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women, as well as those containing our own collections such as Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion, are deinstalled simultaneously during the month of January and February. Everything has to be returned to lenders or put back in our storage vaults quickly so that we have time to repaint galleries and begin layout of the Spring exhibits; it can get pretty hectic around here!

I began return shipping plans for loans from the John Singer Sargent exhibit back in November and December; trucks book quickly since most other museums are changing out exhibitions at this time of year, too, so an early start is imperative. The Sargent show also had loans that required couriers; I have to make their travel plans as well as coordinate the deinstallation and shipping of their loan for a time convenient to them as well as our exhibitions team. This year was especially challenging, as two large snowstorms threatened courier and shipping schedules; my colleagues will agree that I am often heard proclaiming with distress “why do we always get a blizzard when I have a shipment”!? In the end it all worked out and everyone and everything made it home safe and sound.

While I was overseeing the departure of Sargent loans, I was simultaneously getting ready for our upcoming spring shows; exhibition and loan agreements are now officially signed for A Window Into Edward Hopper, Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray, and Prendergast to Pollack: American Modernism from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. Edward Hopper has loans from many individual lenders, each requiring the exchange of agreements and discussions about crating and shipping – the details of which always take us right up to opening day! Frida Kahlo and Prendergast to Pollack are travelling shows sponsored by other institutions; I really like these kinds of shows as they are one stop shopping, with one lender and one shipment – so much easier for me!

Finally, in the midst of all of this, we received a full size tractor-trailer full of crates from our American Indian travelling exhibition returning from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. On a day of record snowfall, of course! It had a very successful run there, and will stay here at the museum in storage until April when it is leaving for the Dallas Museum of Art. What a whirlwind!

We hope to see you on April 1st when the weather warms and our doors open once again to the public with new and exciting exhibitions. Until then, stay tuned for more behind the scenes reports from the registrar’s office!

While the Registrar is Away, the Curators Play

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

My three month maternity leave from the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers' Museum was a lovely escape from reality. I was due August 1st with my first child and so I decided to use my vacation time during the month of July to “nest.” Fortunately, my generous employer and coworkers thought this was a good idea and sent me off, to be seen again only after I had a babe in arms. I spent the whole month lounging around the house, and out on our boat on Otsego Lake soaking up the sun… and trying to get up and down the ladder into the water (there are some entertaining pictures of that by the way that I will keep to myself). I ate lots of ice pops, wore a flowing summer dress every day, and had no schedule. It was wonderful. Miraculously, I also didn’t think about work ….much. Being a registrar is a career for me, not just a job. I love what I do and proudly consider myself “on call” here at the museum 24/7.

Perhaps lending to this carefree attitude was the knowledge that our Assistant Curator of Collections, John Hart, would be diligently working on a list of pending projects in my absence: changing out of exhibits, arranging crating and shipping, accessioning new objects, negotiating loans and insurance. Summer is a somewhat slower time of year for me but even juggling a few projects can be overwhelming to someone who doesn’t normally do it. Additionally, it wasn’t easy for me to leave things entirely to someone else, and I may have been slightly guilty of burying poor John in the details of how to do it “Christine’s way”. Registration work isn’t for everyone and I give John a lot of credit for even attempting to take on my responsibilities (while still doing his own job might I add!).

I had our son, Shepard Franklin Olsen, on August 7th at 3:27pm after 23 hours of labor and an unplanned cesarean section delivery. I then took the next 8 weeks to recover, staying at home with the baby and learning to be a mom. Although it is cliché I dare say that being a mom is the hardest job I have ever had; but it wasn’t long before I came to the realization that I could never be a stay at home mom. I missed the challenges and demands that work provides me and I missed socializing with my coworkers (i.e. adults who spoke of things other than diaper changes and timing of naps!).

Undoubtedly knowing that I needed some socialization, John and our Curator of The Farmers’ Museum, Erin Richardson, came to visit at my home on a regular basis following the delivery. They kept me abreast of the latest curatorial department developments and occasionally solicited my advice on things registration related. During these two months exhibitions came (Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections) and went (In our Time: The World As Seen By Magnum Photographers), and our travelling exhibition, Art of the Native Americans: The Thaw Collection, was shipped to its next venue at Minneapolis Institute of Art (I found this especially hard to miss). It all went without a hitch, of course, thanks to the wonderful curatorial department at the museums, but it felt good to be in the loop none the less…and to know that I was missed by my colleagues, if even just a little.

I returned to work part time as of October 4th. I had a slow recovery from the cesarean section delivery and wasn’t quite emotionally ready to leave the baby., but, in the end it was for the best. Both the baby and I have adjusted now and everyone is doing well. John did a great job while I was gone and the transition back has been easy. I am getting ready for the end of this year’s exhibitions and preparing for the next - I am back at the job I love…only now, I get to go home at the end of the day to an awesome new baby boy that I love even more!

John Singer Sargent - one crate at a time

By Christine Olsen, Registrar

Each spring you can find the curatorial department at the Fenimore Art Museum working hard to install our blockbuster show; this year the show we are excited to share is John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women which opens on May 29^th. As you may recall from my previous blogs as registrar here at the FAM, every incoming exhibition loan must have loan agreements signed, insurance coverage in place, and packing and shipping scheduled. I have been working diligently for the last 3-4 months to get loans in place from 18 different lenders – some as far away as California, Colorado and Kansas! The shipping and installation schedules always make for a hectic few weeks, but I look forward to receiving and opening each and every crate to see the works in person for the first time; photographs just never do paintings justice, and I must say that this is especially the case with this show!

As a crate arrives, we let it acclimate for 24 hours; after that we unpack the painting and I do a condition report right away to make sure nothing has changed during transit. Tracking numbers for all of the paintings ensure that they are fully documented in the database for quick reference by myself and my colleagues; I record everything about the loan in the database including information that will be helpful when it is time to return the loan such as shipping requirements, courier needs, crate sizes, and packing images. It is amazing how blurry one’s memory is about such details, especially after 9 months!

With each new exhibition season I like to think that I have learned some tricks of the trade that make my job easier, more efficient and more FUN! So far, this exhibition has been a joy to work on and I am eager to see it all come together for our opening on May 29^th! We hope to see you then… or before the show closes on December 31^st!

Thaw Travelling Crate Construction

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

As you may already know from previous blogs, our traveling exhibition, Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection is going to be shipped to the Cleveland Museum of Art in February. It will be on exhibit there from March 7, 2010 – May 30, 2010. This week has been especially busy here at FAM with preparations for this venue. Six professional packers from a fine art shipping company have been here all week packing the objects into custom made boxes and crates for their travel across country. The skeletons for the boxes and crates were built off site at the shipping company’s production facility, and shipped here last week on a tractor trailer. These types of custom made crates and boxes are the industry (i.e. museum) standard. As you may recall, some of my previous blogs have discussed crating for paintings and sculpture in our most recent exhibits America’s Rome and Through the Eyes of Others travelling exhibit. The crates for this show are no different in design their interiors are just more elaborate to accommodate intricate three dimensional objects such as masks, headdresses, moccasins and clothing to name a few. The interiors of the crates and boxes are being customized here at FAM by the packers to fit each piece of artwork perfectly, thereby providing the necessary stability for travel. It is a long and bumpy ride, even on an air ride truck, and it doesn’t take much to cause damage to artwork. Interior supports are built from various acid-free, inert materials well known in the museum world, such as ethafoam and polyethylene foam blocks and sheets cut into various shapes and sizes and volara or Teflon film for use as barriers and over-wraps. The supports must be able to keep the work stable within the crate while touching as little of the object as possible in order to prevent undue stress. There are often instructions written on the boxes and crates that detail how to unpack and unload the object safely step by step. Many of the objects going to this venue are old and extremely fragile by design; beads fall off easily, animal hide tears, basketry fibers crumble. Crate building is an art and these packers certainly have their work cut out for them!

Farewell to America's Rome

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

As you may have read in my blog post “Making an Exhibition Happen” a lot of steps are involved in putting up and taking down an exhibit. In our exhibit, America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, we had 134 works from 24 lenders, including Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Toledo Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum of Art. In addition to some of the other projects that I am working on which I have blogged about, such as the Through the Eyes of Others Travelling show which returns from NYSM in January and preparing for the Thaw Travelling show to go to Cleveland in February, I am currently working on returning the loans for America’s Rome to their lenders since the exhibit closed on December 31st. Instead of shipping with UPS, Fed Ex or a standard moving company, I work with a handful of exclusive fine art handling companies who specialize in shipping for high value and fragile cargo. Their trucks have special air ride suspension, temperature/humidity control and dual drivers with a security system; a few more options than the standard shipper would provide! Sometimes, lenders require an exclusive use shipment, which means that their loan is the only one on the truck. For those that do not require exclusive use, I often combine shipments for lenders that are geographically near one another; they call these direct shuttles, and many lenders like to know that their artwork is on board with loans from other museums who lent to the same exhibition.

As I have discussed in detail in my blog “Making an Exhibition Happen”, each loan has specific requirements from the lenders which must be followed; for example, just as upon unpacking and installation, there are three lenders to this show that require a courier to oversee de-installation and packing. This means making flight and hotel reservations for each courier, and scheduling de-installation and shipping to coincide perfectly with their visits. It is a difficult juggling act, and it has taken me weeks to work out the details. Finally, two lenders to this exhibit require that their courier also ride on the truck for the return of their artwork; one lender will ride all the way from Cooperstown to Detroit in one day!

All of the crates for the work in this exhibit have been stored since April in a storage space with security, pest and environmental controls (you can go back and see the pictures I posted of crates stacked in the hallway in my previous blog). When it is time for de-installation, the crates will be moved into the exhibition gallery to be packed by myself and other Curatorial staff. The artwork itself is thoroughly examined again by me for condition changes and has detailed pictures taken of its packing. As anyone who has read my blogs knows, condition reporting itself takes a lot of time, and I can only do it when the museum is closed to the public.
This is the life of every loan that comes in and out of the museum; after doing this for so long I have a system down so that this process goes smoothly. But of course there are glitches along the way and unexpected things that come up that I and my colleagues must contend with. It certainly makes the winter go by quickly! I will soon be blogging about loans that will be coming in for our Spring exhibitions, such as John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women…if the technical aspects of registrarial work interest you, stay tuned!

Thaw Travelling Exhibition Condition Reporting

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

As you’ve already read on previous blogs from my colleagues, the Thaw Travelling exhibition is going to be going to the Cleveland Museum of Art in February 2010. There are many steps that are taken in advance of a travelling show, or any loan for that matter, including signing loan agreements, making packing and shipping arrangements, and condition reporting. It is the latter step, condition reporting, that the Curator of the Thaw Collection, Eva Fognell, and I have been diligently working on the last few weeks.

There are over 100 objects going on loan with this show, from goggles to totem poles, and they all have to be photographed in the round and have every detail of their condition recorded. For large or detail heavy works or those with many condition issues, condition reporting is time consuming and tedious. We use ample lighting, black lights, magnifying glasses and other “toys” to help us see minute detail. Condition reporting it is a very important step in the processing of any loan and has to be done many times along the way. If damage should happen I need to know where along the way it occurred and develop a plan to remedy it as soon as possible.
Once the objects are unpacked at CMA they will be condition reported again in case anything has changed during packing and shipping. Eva and Chris Rossi, our Associate Curator of Exhibitions, are going to be responsible for this task on that end (they are taking over my role as supervisor of condition reporting and installation for this travelling show; and as any registrar will tell you, giving up control but maintaining the responsibility is hard on the nerves!).

When the venue is ready to be de-installed in May, Eva and Chris will go and do it all over again; with a final round of reports done by me upon its’ unpacking at FAM. Travel is inevitably hard on objects and I expect there to be some changes seen on some items, particularly those that are very fragile (which our American Indian collection inherently is); however, the opportunity to share our collection with visitors far and wide makes it well worth it.

If you have good attention to detail and lots of patience, you would do well as a registrar; condition reporting is the ultimate test of these skills. I am sure Curators such as Eva and Chris would agree that it is best left to registrars; I thank them for being such great team players!

Interesting Finds in the Registrar's Office

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

As registrar, my office serves as a holding area for artwork. On the rare occasion that I get a visitor in my office, there is one particular painting from our permanent collection I am temporarily storing that nearly everyone comments on but I knew nothing about. So, I thought a blog was in order.
It is truly a unique piece with vibrant colors and, well, interesting imagery. This oil on canvas painting (framed measurements H. 44 ¾ x W. 54 ¾ x D. 1 ¾) titled The Conqueror on the White Horse Rides to Battle is by painter and evangelist preacher Reverend McKendree Robbins Long (1888-1976). The painting depicts scenes from the Book of Revelation, the last chapter of the Christian Bible in which there is a description of the catastrophic sequence of events that lead to the end of the world, also known as the Apocalypse. Labels on the painting’s reverse quote lines from Chapters 4 and 6 specifically; these are the scenes that are depicted in the painting.

In Chapter 4, John sees a vision of heaven with four living creatures standing in the presence of God at his throne along with the 24 elders and angels. In the painting, only one living being, the eagle, is depicted in the foreground. The elders and angels are in the background to the right of God. “The first of these living beings was in the form of a lion, the second looked like an ox, the second had the face of a man, and the fourth the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings and the central sections of their wings were covered with eyes. Day after day and night after night they kept saying ‘Holy Holy Holy Lord, God Almighty, the one who was, and is, and is to come’”. Revelations 4: 7-8.

In Chapter 6, the Lamb of God opens the “seals” which are divine judgments upon the world by God, with the first seal signifying (political and military) conquest of the (nations of the) world. It is in this chapter that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse ride, bringing destruction. The first rider is on a white horse with a bow and crown, representing Conquest (the other horsemen represent War, Famine and Death). In the painting, Jesus representing the Lamb of God is opening the first of the seals and the white horseman is in the foreground. “As I watched, the Lamb broke the first seal and began to unroll the scroll. Then one of the four living beings with a voice that sounded like thunder said ‘Come’! I looked and there in front of me was a white horse, its rider carried a bow and a crown was placed upon his head; he road out to conquer in many battles and win the war”. Revelation 6: 1-2.

Note the presence of Hitler, Caesar, Bonaparte, Kings of France England and Spain, and Genghis Khan standing by a lake of fire and brimstone in the right background. This is reminiscent of one of Long’s most well known paintings “Apocalyptic Scene with Philosophers and Historical Figures” in which Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler are writhing in agony in a lake of fire with Darwin, Einstein and others awaiting a similar fate. Long often combined contemporary culture and politics into his religious themed paintings so as to bring ancient prophecy into a modern context for the viewer.
Reverend McKendree Robbins Long (1888-1976) was a native of Statesville, N.C. He was an alumnus of Davidson College in N.C., and a student at the Art Students League in N.Y where he studied under painter and illustrator F. Luis Mora. He further honed his skills under the Hungarian portrait painter Sir Philip de Laszlo at Sandow’s Curative Institute in London, where he was greatly influenced by the work of John Singer Sergeant. After returning to the United States in 1913 at the age of 25, he took a relatively unsuccessful turn at being a professional artist, painting portraits, landscapes and still lifes. He finally abandoned this pursuit in 1922 in favor of a vocation in the Presbyterian ministry. His views on religion became progressively conservative over the years, however, ultimately leading him in 1935 to become an evangelist minister in the Baptist church. He became known for his literal interpretation of the scripture, preaching fiery gospels to filled assemblies at tent revivals, and writing hymns about humanity’s certain destruction and the coming of the Apocalypse.
His religious zeal fueled his return to painting in the 1950s when he began illustrating the biblical text of the Book of Revelations. Our painting is dated to 1962, fitting perfectly into this timeline. It wasn’t until after his death in 1976 that his works were properly recognized by the art world. He was tagged as a “visionary” or “outsider artist,” a name for predominantly southern (mostly self taught) artists who were outside of the larger art establishment.

I was surprised and pleased to find out so much interesting information about this painting and its artist. Now when I am asked about this painting, I have an interesting story to tell!
You can check out other articles on this unique and complex artist, his artwork, and the handful of exhibitions that have featured his works, at these websites:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/16/arts/art-in-review-mckendree-robbins-long-salvation-and-smothered-passions.html
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa457.htm
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa161.htm

Through the Eyes of Others Travelling Show Preparations

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

With the current exhibits in place for the remainder of the calendar year, the curatorial department at FAM is keeping busy behind the scenes getting travelling shows ready for the road. On August 28th our first travelling show, Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art, is being shipped from FAM to New York State Museum in Albany where it will be on exhibit from September 8, 2009 - January 6, 2010.

With the time for packing and shipping the show so close at hand, we find ourselves scrambling to make sure every detail has been accounted for. It really is an exciting yet anxious time yet I must confess that it feels good be part of an exhibition that will (hopefully) touch the lives of hundreds of museum visitors, and to know that each of us contributed our own personal skills and talents to making it all happen.

As you may recall from my previous blog, every loan incoming or outgoing must have condition reports done, insurance coverage in place, and packing and shipping scheduled. For this particular show there are 46 pieces of art (ranging from paintings and drawings to sculpture and historical documents) that have to make it from FAM to NYSM on time and without incident. This is just the kind of thing that keeps us up at night! A professional art handling company arrived on August 18th to start packing the objects, some of which are large and very fragile. We will be keeping our fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly… and that our measurements were correct! I must say that it is quite a sight to see when everything is all packed in brand new crates ready to be loaded on a tractor trailer (the crates will never be this perfect and clean again!), and even more so when the truck is packed like a intricate puzzle.
If you have the opportunity, you should definitely visit NYSM to experience this exhibition. It truly is an inspirational and visually rich show and we would love for you to see in person all of the hard work and dedication that went into its creation. And of course we welcome comments letting us know what you thought!

Making an Exhibition Happen

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

Have you ever wondered how a piece of artwork gets from a lending institution across the country onto a gallery wall at FAM? A lot of the work is done before the artwork even arrives at the museum and it takes months of planning for an exhibition and its accompanying loans to come together. Everyone on the Curatorial staff at FAM has a different role to play; my job as museum registrar is to orchestrate the legal and logistical details of loans and to make sure that the requirements of the lending institutions are met. I work closely with lenders for months leading up to an exhibition to make sure loan agreements are signed, insurance coverage is in place, necessary conservation work is done, and the artwork is crated and shipped safely.
Exhibitions may have a just few lenders or they have many, with lenders as close as the next town over or as far away as across country. For example, the current exhibition America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City consists of 24 lenders and 134 works from lenders near and far, including Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Toledo Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum of Art. In contrast, the exhibit Walker Evans: Carbon and Silver has 84 works from one exhibition organizer based in New England. From start to finish, however, both exhibits required the same amount of attention to detail and planning on the part of the registrar and other staff at FAM.
When appropriate, specific requirements of the lender must be followed during the life of the loan; for example, some lenders require a courier be sent to oversee installation and de-installation, some require particular security measures to be taken while the artwork is on exhibit, and others have condition issues that must be periodically evaluated. In other words, the work doesn’t end when the exhibition opens!
Let’s follow the path of a typical incoming exhibition loan at FAM: As soon as a shipping crate comes off the fine art shippers’ truck at our loading dock, it comes to the registrar’s office for safe keeping and to acclimate to the environment of the museum. All crates and the artwork they contain must continuously be in temperature and humidity controlled environments, and because of very slight changes during transport, it usually takes 24 hours for a safe transition from the environment of the truck to that of the museum. The crate is then moved to the exhibition gallery in which it will be unpacked. The empty crate is later stored in a holding area by the registrar’s office that has security, pest and environmental controls. During a busy exhibition season this holding area is lined to the ceiling with stacked crates and boxes! The artwork itself is thoroughly examined by the registrar for condition changes and has detailed pictures taken; each piece of artwork is given a temporary number and is entered along with all of its descriptive information into the museum’s collection database. Finally, the artwork is installed on the gallery wall along with a descriptive label. Of course, the entire process is done in reverse when it is time for the loan to go back to the lending institution.
The next time you visit an exhibition at FAM, keep in mind how much time and effort went into getting each and every piece of artwork here. It really is an amazing process. We certainly feel that it is well worth it…we hope that you agree!