Module 13

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1.) Key points

• Philippe de Montebello is the eight and longest-serving Met curator
• Study of a Young Woman by Vermeer was one of De Montebello's first major acquisitions as director of the Met
• 2 million objects in the Met, and counting
• Otto Dix's modern-day portrait was urged to be purchased by De Montebello, he disliked his work at first but then found huge respect for Dix as an artist
•  Before any work of art is acquired, conserved, and put on display, it is subjected to a strenuous vetting process
•  You have to get the approval of the director first to see if they will have any interest in it
• To express, to convince, to touch us
• de Montebello states that it is hard to put aside personal taste sometimes
• de Montebello built up the photography exhibits in the Met
• Curators are writing history to an extent with what they choose to acquire
• Identifying outstanding works for the Met is the job of nearly 100 curators and curatorial assistants 
• Knowledge is the engine that makes a museum work
• The discovery process begins once the art is acquired by the museum
• Storage is largely important in museums like the Met because all 2 million pieces cannot be on display at one time
• It was important to Montebello to completely modernize and to build new facilities for conservation
• The Temple of Dender, the only Egyptian temple in the Western Hemisphere, de Montebello oversaw the installation of this piece, and the glass-enclosed Sackler wing was completed.
• Museums are running for the benefit of the public 

2.) Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibit? 

This video, in particular, taught me a lot about curation and its importance. The process of curation is tedious and takes great knowledge, you want to showcase art as art, not a decoration.

3.) This video was nice because it honed in on only one museum which made it easier to follow and understand.

LIVE Q&A with MoMA Curator Anne Umland

1.) Key points

• MoMA's main purpose is that the art of the present, the art of the now, the modern was as worthy of people's attention as the venerated art of the past.
• Curators think and argue about what modern art really is
• Umland first showed a curatorially speaking "monographic gallery", meaning all the works installed are by a single artist
• How you move through a gallery is considered when curating
• Exhibit development depends on the size of the exhibition, who has the works you want to borrow, on how difficult the loans are to obtain, but for a major historical exhibit, it can take anywhere from two to three years to develop.
• The most important skills in curation are to have an endlessly open mind to be flexible in your thinking and to be able to look at things that are different from the beliefs that you have.
• You have to ask yourself when working on an exhibit "is this the best it can be?"
• What is excluded or included in exhibits is dependant on the context of the collection, the pieces have to work together to tell a story.
• Each work of art is a word in a gallery, as you add to it you tell more of a story.
•  Umland herself wanted to be an artist, she went to college to double major studying art conservation and art history.

2.) Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibit?

The Q&A taught me more about why art museums exist and the impact they can have on people. The answer to having an open mind when curating made me think about all the different cultures, mediums, and sizes that can come together to make a cohesive gallery.

3.) I enjoyed this video because it was casual, she talked about her personal life and experiences whilst tying them into how curating is done. I also enjoyed this video because having gone to MoMA it really is a cultural standpoint in NYC and is so important to the city.

The Lockdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art

1.) Key points

• Lowbrow is reactionary towards the Highbrow attitude some pretentious upper echelons would have in the art world.
• It is art nobody knows how to categorize 
• Lowbrows are said to have no taste when it comes to art
• Robert Williams originated the term
• Lowbrow is all-inclusive if it can draw attraction and everyone else can willingly look at it and enjoy it.
• Lowbrow is based on imagery that is surreal like, naked women are featured, hot rods, and random objects.
• Lowbrow reaches out to the masses because the imagery is relatable
• With Lowbrow, there are a lot of pop-culture references as well
• Suburbia in California inspired Lowbrow art, American consumer culture did too
• Rock Posters of the 60s were pop-ish, colorful, and had psychedelia like imagery which inspired Lowbrow imagery as well
• Tiki aesthetics were used in Lowbrow art as well, this came with the 60s as well.
• There are a fascination for other lands, lands of sunshine, and desires.
• Lowbrow is compared to Andy Warhol and Roy Litchensen 
• California has more Lowbrow artists than New York City because they're more spiritual and free-thinkers there. 
• Curators don't take Lowbrow art seriously
• Lowbrow art can be seen on album covers which spreads the artwork and the artist around if a lot of copies are bought.

2.) Do the videos relate to the creation of your art exhibit?

This video showcased a relatable artist struggle of not being taken seriously. I actually agree with a lot of the points they made about Highbrows but this video also taught me what I wouldn't put in my exhibit because it is not shown in museums for a reason.

3.) This video was interesting, it didn't speak a lot about curation, more made fun of the people who are educated and work hard for their curator positions. I didn't know what Lowbrow art was before I watched this video and that makes me wonder if the art type died down a little from when this video came out.