Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Summer 2012
DIRECTOR’S LETTER
Susan M. Taylor
SEE ARTICLE, PAGE 6
PHOTOGR A PH Y, SEQUENCE , A ND TIME
A Bouncing Ball in Diminishing Arcs, (detail), 1958–61, Berenice Abbott. Gelatin silver print, 18 1/4 x 15 1/2 in. Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 75.60
One of the primary goals of a twenty-first century museum is to engage diverse audiences within the community it serves. At this pivotal moment in New Orleans’s history, when the revitalization of our communities and neighborhoods is foremost on everyone’s minds, NOMA has a unique opportunity to do just that. To address this priority, it has been my goal for NOMA to become a locus for cultural activity, a place where art, culture, and topical issues intersect. Our Department of Interpretation and Audience Engagement (IAE), formerly the Education Department, has been responding to the growing demand for museums to maintain a participatory approach to community engagement. Their dedicated staff has designed a number of programs to keep families active during the coming hot months. StoryQuest and Studio KIDS art classes are ideal activities for stimulating creativity and critical thinking within the youngest members of our community. The Dept of IAE has also initiated programs that educate students through perhaps the most effective means: their peers. The partnership with O. Perry Walker High School was an astounding success — high school students learned about Thornton Dial and his work, and the film they created will be used to educate and connect with middle school students. As NOMA works within its community, the museum needs to be aware of and responsive to the setting in which it is located. This year we at NOMA have been thinking a lot about our city, and the ways in which it enriches and inspires all of us. Our “Inspired by New Orleans” programming is designed to highlight and celebrate those sources of inspiration. Contemporary exhibitions by Dario Robleto and Katie Holten illustrate this—two visiting artists who have responded to their time in New Orleans by creating works of art that directly reflect that influence. Ralston Crawford and Jazz displays a prominent body of work that Crawford created after 1949 after many trips to New Orleans. Although he was not from nor lived here, he chose to be buried in one of our own cemeteries. NOMA has been inspired by New Orleans in a more direct way, evident in our new graphic identity. In thinking about the city and better ways to serve our community, we have examined how the museum is presented to our public on a graphic level, and how that presentation might affect audience engagement and consumption. It is vital for a comprehensive museum to evolve and expand along with the art world in which it exists. As this museum transitions with new programming, new community collaborations, and new members, we move forward with a new layer of graphic experience. Abbott Miller explains the intentions and strategy behind this process in his interview here in the AQ. Miller has carefully studied NOMA and NOLA to create a graphic identity that evokes both the modern and traditional—descriptors that apply equally to the city of New Orleans as well. The classical motifs and historical significance of this city’s museum are not lost, but highlighted and strengthened. The intricate design within each letter of the logo is a direct reference to NOMA’s beautiful neoclassical building. It is important that as the museum continues to grow, its beginnings and rich history are not forgotten.
Susan M. Taylor The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director
CONTENTS
Summer 2012
FEATURE 14 Visiting Artists Find Local Sources of Inspiration “Inspired by New Orleans” programming series highlights the impact the Crescent City has on artists from around the globe.
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
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Lipizzaner
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Photography, Sequence, and Time
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The Great Hall Project
COLLECTION
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The Urn Restoration Project
10 Treasures of Imperial Russia 11
Alexis Rockman’s Battle Royale
12 East Meets West 13 Louisiana Landscapes
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PARTNERS IN LEARNING
Page 6
PHOTOGRAPHY, SEQUENCE, AND TIME
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
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SHAKESPEARE IN THE SCULPTURE GARDEN
Page 23
LOVE IN THE GARDEN
CAITIE M C CA B E
COMMUNITY VISIT
PARTICIPATE
18 Café NOMA Presents Cooking Demos
22 Support and Circles
19 Success of Spring Play Ensures Future Productions
23 Love in the Garden, Save the Date 24 NVC Spring Fundraisers Top Expectations
LEARN
20 Partners in Learning: Students Experience Thornton Dial Exhibition 20 Teen Docents Offer Louisiana Experience to Summer Camp Students
25 Fundraising and Learning: Volunteer for NVC 26 Dr. Isidore Cohn Jr. Honored at Annual Fellows Dinner 26 Annual Luncheon Honors Volunteers
20 NOMA Hosts VTS Workshop
27 NOMA Contemporaries
21 NOMA Seeks New Docents 21 StoryQuest featuring Alex Beard and George Rodrigue
27 In Memoriam Françoise Billion Richardson
21 Introducing Studio KIDS!
28 Trustees and Acknowledgments
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SETTING THE STAGE An Interview with Abbott Miller Abbott Miller, a partner at the international design consultancy Pentagram, has been working over the last several months to create a new graphic identity for the museum, working with NOMA’s director Susan M. Taylor and other museum staff. The new design of Arts Quarterly is just one component of this identity; look for the ways in which NOMA will utilize its new identity in the coming months. Miller and his team have designed numerous books, identities, and exhibitions, mostly focusing on the visual and performing arts, Miller is also the author of several books on design. Miller has collaborated with a number of contemporary artists, such as Matthew Barney, William Kentridge, and Yoko Ono, and has created identities for many museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, and The Whitney Museum of American Art. He has also designed inventive exhibitions for a number of museums, and is known for his work in environmental graphics for buildings designed by prominent architects including Morphosis, Renzo Piano and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Miller’s comprehensive identity, communications, and environmental graphics for the Barnes Foundation’s new home in Philadelphia debuted with the opening of the building in May.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
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Summer 2012
Obviously, NOMA isn’t the first museum you’ve created a graphic identity for. When designing a new identity, what is your brainstorming process? Where do you begin? AM It begins as a research project:
I am always interested in linking the graphic identity with the historical, geographical, and architectural context of the institution. Our research and interview process provides some of that, as well as deriving a sense of what the place feels like and people’s perceptions of the museum, both inside and out. What were some of your impressions of New Orleans, and how did the city inform the design process for you? More than any other project, the special character of this city played a huge role. I spent time understanding the visual signals of New Orleans and really fell in love with the city, especially the way it regards its own past and traditions, and all of the things that make it so unbelievably rich. It is a place unto itself: you don’t say, “New Orleans reminds me of…” because it is so distinctly its own thing. Some people might interpret this project as simply creating a new logo. As this issue of Arts Quarterly shows, it is a complex, multilayered project. Can you briefly explain to our readers what a graphic identity includes? A graphic identity provides a visual framework for how publications, the website, signage, and even more minor things like packaging are designed. It’s like you are establishing a language and an approach, but it’s a living organism because people have to work inside of it and do things in the spirit of the original proposals. That is why one of the end-products of our work are specific elements like the redesign of Arts Quarterly, but also a kind of playbook that establishes typefaces, colors, and recommendations. So we will create a number of specific elements, but in a year the program has to keep being implemented.
Why do you think it’s important for NOMA to have a graphic identity? What is the inspiration behind the logo’s design? I think Susan’s priority with this new graphic identity was to give the “NOMA” acronym a specific visual character and encourage people who use it colloquially to see that the museum wants to be called “NOMA.” To make that happen you have to give people a visual hook to hang the phrase on. That was the strategy: to give a visual signifier to support the verbal habit, which in turn gives outsiders permission to call it NOMA too. The second part was to connect the visual identity to the extraordinary building that is its home, which has such a strong connection to a moment of New Orleans history. The forms within the lettering are derived from the ornamental motifs, visual character, and palette of the Delgado building. We conducted a wide range of studies for how to capture the spirit of the building in a way that was still modern and bold. What were your goals for redesigning the Arts Quarterly? Why did you and Susan choose to use the magazine as a way to introduce the new identity to the public? The Arts Quarterly project uses the language of the new identity—the same fonts and thinking about scale and color—to create a more easily navigated editorial structure, and to emphasize the beauty of the imagery. The calendar in particular has been simplified so it’s less overwhelming to find events. I think AQ, like other aspects of what we are doing such as the packaging and the merchandise, are trying to create fewer, stronger, clearer and more memorable visual impressions. It’s like creating a more dramatic stage for what the museum does by stripping away things that don’t contribute to the story. We are looking forward to seeing more of this work as it starts to influence different parts of the visitor experience!
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
EXHIBITIONS
ON THE ROAD
Pablo Picasso Bottle and Violin on a Table Cut-and-pasted newspaper and charcoal on paper; New Orleans Museum of Art: The Murial Bultman Francis Collection, 86.275 CURRENTLY ON LOAN TO
Museo Picasso, Barcelona, Spain AS PART OF THE EXHIBITION
Economy: Picasso May 24, 2012–September 2, 2012 J U DY C O O P ER
Institutions from all over the world regularly seek out objects from NOMA’s permanent collection to include in their own exhibitions.
Lipizzaner, 1976–78, Tony Smith, fabricated and painted steel, 9x7x9 feet; New Orleans Museum of Art: Gift of Mrs. P. Roussel Norman in memory of Mr. P. Roussel Norman, 78.145
AVAILABLE IN SHOP
LIPIZ Z AN ER “I don’t make sculpture, I speculate in form.”—Tony Smith. In honor of the noted American sculptor Tony Smith’s (1912–1980) 100th birthday, NOMA will highlight the artist’s large-scale sculpture, Lipizzaner and its accompanying maquette. Considered a Minimalist, Smith captured the essence of forms without reducing them to static repetitive units. His irregular masses are locked at disjointed angles, full of kinetic potential. A mature work, Lipizzaner’s abstracted form conveys the dynamic energy of a trotting horse and refers to the famous dressage stallions of Austrian nobility. Although Smith usually painted his sculptures black or left them untreated, www.noma.org
Lipizzaner is painted white to resemble the real horses. Smith conceived of the work during the mid 1970s, and was present at its dedication on May 15, 1978. According to a 1978 letter from the artist, the sculpture “is unrelated to any previous work, [and] will be as new to me as to New Orleans.” Lipizzaner stands in front of the museum. In mid-September, the maquette (a small-scale model of cardboard and tape) for Lipizzaner will be on view in the Great Hall. To learn more about Tony Smith and Lipizzaner, take advantage of our cell phone audio tour. Simply dial 504-799-0175, ext. 120# from your cell phone and follow the prompts.
Ralston Crawford and Jazz by The Sheldon Art Galleries, St. Louis Published by the Sheldon Art Galleries and Virginia Publishing, St. Louis, 2011; 8.5 x 11 in., 164 pp. $24.95
Through nearly 150 photographs, paintings, prints, drawings and film stills, the vibrant world of post-World War II New Orleans is illuminated by artist Ralston Crawford.
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EXHIBITIONS
PHOTOGR A PH Y, SEQU ENCE , A N D TIME
“Thecons tant assembling and re-shuffling of images has become an organizing principle in our lives”
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Individual photographs are powerful but open-ended messages. The photograph gives us a single moment, ripped from the relentless march of time and stripped of its narrative context. Without the before and after, this moment is re-staged as a timeless icon: no past, no future, only an eternal present. Throughout the history of photography, photographers have sought to overcome the limitations of the single photographic image by embedding it within series of sequential photographs. These sequences return the single image to a visible timeline and attempt to fix its meaning within the context of others. This September, NOMA will present an exhibition that will examine the ways in which meaning, narrative, and time intersect in photographic sequences from the nineteenth century to the present. Professional photographers, clever amateurs, and artists alike have produced photographic sequences to address issues from the mundane to the profound. Some explore the principles of physics, capturing movements too quick for the human eye, while others were conceived of as works of art. Some are humorous examples of “trick” photography; others are serious meditations on life and death. In these works, time can be measured in fractions of a second or decades, and it can be created fictionally—for example spending an hour to fake a split second fight scene in a portrait studio—or recorded factually, as in Eadweard
Muybridge’s famous motion studies of animals and people. In all of these examples, what is not shown is just as important as what is: the empty space between each picture becomes a threshold for thought as our minds naturally seek to fill in the void, blending these discrete moments into a seamless continuum of space and time. This exhibition will consider the concept of sequential photography broadly, including multiple exposure images (sequential images made on the same negative), the role of sequencing in picture book production, and sequences that were conceived as such from the very beginning, as well as those that were gathered together after the fact. The constant assembling and re-shuffling of images has become an organizing principle in our lives, with image sequences that reach us with greater speed and frequency dictating the tenor and flow of the stories we tell. The works in this exhibition mirror this fragmented and multi-faceted nature of our increasingly visual culture. At the same time, they demonstrate that sequencing, fragmentation, and the manipulation of time have been central to photography from its origins to the present. Photography, Sequence, and Time will be on view in the Templeman Galleries from September 7-December 2, 2012. Russell Lord, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Left, above, and right Time Equals 36 Exposures, 1971; Lew Thomas; American, born 1932; Numbered 1 through 36 in pencil verso on each sheet; Gelatin silver prints; Courtesy of Ellen Johnson and Dr. Ronald Swartz Untitled [Staged fight], circa 1890, Unidentified photographer; Albumen prints, each 5 3/4 x 4 1/8 in. Museum purchase, General Acquisitions Fund, 81.50.1 & 81.50.2 Animal Locomotion #744, circa 1887, Eadweard Muybridge. Collotype print, 9 13/16 x 12 9/16 in. Museum purchase, Women’s Volunteer Committee Fund, 73.218
www.noma.org
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EXHIBITIONS
KATIE HOLTEN : DR AW N TO THE EDGE For the second annual installment of the Great Hall Project series, Katie Holten maps the ever-evolving boundaries or “edges” between land and water in southern Louisiana through a group of large-scale drawings on canvas. Made from sediment and water collected from the banks of the Mississippi River, the drawings trace shifting paths of land formation and disappearance due to coastal erosion. With some canvases extending as long as thirty-six feet, the works create corridors and passageways, encouraging visitors to navigate the Great Hall in new ways. Moving under and around these canvases, visitors are meant to consider their relationship to boundaries and the environment. The issue of time plays a significant role in Drawn to the Edge. Holten’s drawings mimic the contours of the
vanishing coast, articulating a specific moment in the ecosystem’s trajectory. In a related drawing Holten depicts the shape of her body’s shadow on the ground, capturing how it changes by the hour due to the earth’s rotation around the sun. The result simulates the appearance of a human sundial. Other drawings capture the celestial landscape of deep space, contrasting this seemingly infinite measure of time to the rapid process of erosion taking place on earth. The artist explains: “The land is literally disappearing in Louisiana. Since the 1920s oil and gas companies have been dredging access canals and the salt water has steadily moved in, claiming thousands of acres of land every year. The disaster is exacerbated by a web of interconnected geological and man-made processes. Some experts predict that within fifty years there will be no
land south of Baton Rouge. The land is riddled with water, creating islands within islands.” Holten’s research for Drawn to the Edge was developed during a six-week residency at a Studio in the Woods, operated by Tulane University. Her work will also be featured in an upcoming book titled Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas, edited by Rebecca Solnit and published by UC Press in 2013. Katie Holten: Drawn to the Edge will be on view in the Great Hall through September 9, 2012. This exhibition is made possible due to generous support from Merritt and Elly Lane, and Edwin C. Cohen and The Blessing Way Foundation. Miranda Lash, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Dessert Service of Catherine the Great: Large Oval Basket from the Imperial Order of St. Andrew First Called Dessert Service, c. 1777–1780; Hard-paste
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Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
COLLECTIONS
J U DY C O O P ER
THE U R N R E STOR ATION PROJ ECT
J U DY C O O P ER
Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architect Samuel A. Marx of Natchez, MS, the New Orleans Museum of Art is a handsome presence in City Park and a sought after destination for residents and tourists alike. Two of the most striking features of the building are the grand terracotta urns that flank the entrance portico. Repairing the urns, which were constructed specifically for the museum, ensured that the façade would remain both appealing and historically accurate. NOMA began the Urn Restoration Project in April of 2012 to mark its dedication to the museum’s past and future roles in the cultural life of New Orleans. The two urns were manufactured by the Gates Pottery Company in 1910 and www.noma.org
installed at the time the museum opened in 1911. Each urn is comprised of five separate units of terracotta, the largest of which is estimated to weigh upwards of 900 pounds. In keeping with the building’s neo-classical style, the sides of the urns are decorated with classical figures in high bas relief. In addition to age and severe weather, a number of attempts to preserve these urns over the last century had resulted in damage that had to be professionally repaired in order to save these important architectural elements. In addition, the urns’ original covers had disappeared over time and needed to be reconstructed. After a nation-wide search, NOMA contracted with Milner + Carr Conservation (MCC), LLC of Philadelphia, PA,
which has a strong reputation in both the conservation of glazed terracotta and in working with urns. This conservation firm specializes in the treatment of historic buildings, architectural components, sculpture and monuments. Coincidentally, Roy Ingraffia, the lead conservation expert has local roots and was happy to take on a project that served his community. The museum extends a heartfelt thank you to the American Express Foundation, the Libby-Dufour Fund and the Garden Study Club of New Orleans for partnering with us on this important conservation project.
Before and after photographs of one of NOMA’s urns.
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COLLECTIONS
VISITORS SHARE THEIR THORNTON DIAL EXPERIENCE Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial is a twenty-year retrospective of Thornton Dial’s work. Dial’s assemblages, drawings, and paintings address many of the social, race, gender and class politics that have affected our country since its inception. His work also represents an important missing chapter in American art history: art from the black South. The exhibition had a successful run and closed on May 20—thanks to all who visited and experienced Hard Truths. Here are just a few things NOMA visitors had to say about Hard Truths:
TR E A SU R E S OF IMPER I A L RUS SI A NOW IN SECON D FLOOR ELEVATOR LOBBY Visitors to the museum will notice a new installation, “Treasures of Imperial Russia,” in the second floor elevator lobby. Presented are over fifty objects drawn from the museum’s permanent collection and generous loans from Paul Leaman Jr., the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, and Anne Strachan. These cases include objects created for the Russian imperial family and their court by the workshop of Peter Carl Fabergé and other manufacturers of luxury goods.
Two Flat Plates, Soup Plate, and Large Oval Basket from the Imperial Order of St. Andrew First Called Dessert Service; Francis Gardner Factory, Russian, 1766–1892; Hard-paste porcelain: molded, polychrome decorated, and parcel-gilt; Gift of Jimmy and Minnie Coleman, 2011.47.1–.4
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Included are presentation vessels and trays, dinner and dessert services (including those created for Catherine the Great) and objects for personal use—jewelry, cigarette cases and nécessaire, as well as objects for the desk and dressing table. NOMA is grateful to donors both past and recent for their gifts presented here: William Thompson, Paul Leaman Jr., Caroline Ireland, Daniel Lee Hodges and family, Judith Leiber, Frayda and George Lindemann, Dinah Goldstein, and Jimmy and Minnie Coleman.
“The Thornton Dial exhibit was amazing. His work is visually arresting and dynamic. I wish we saw more works by southern artists in NY.” ““Thornton Dial’s retrospective was/is one of my favorite exhibitions I have ever seen. It has made an impact I will never forget or stop believing in.” “A fantastic show! So wise and deep and full of righteous anger. I love art that reveals more as you look more at it. I’d put Dial up against, say, Frank Stella any day and I’d bet he’d come out on top.” Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Recent Acquisition
A LEX IS ROCK M A N’S B ATTLE ROYA LE Alexis Rockman’s monumental painting Battle Royale addresses an ongoing struggle occurring in Louisiana’s ecosystem. As invasive plant and animal species have arrived in our state via ports and waterways (some species coming as stowaways, others being deliberately imported), their proliferation has had an adverse effect on many native species. Nutria, for example, were imported in the 1930s from South America for fur farms. Since then, their multiplying numbers has resulted in the widespread destruction of aquatic vegetation and marshes. In Battle Royale Rockman depicts fifty-four different species engaged in warfare set in a Louisiana swamp. Many, such as the alligator, the black bear, the pelican, and the bald eagle, are indigenous to Louisiana. Others, such as the house cat, the Formosan termite, the feral hog, and the red imported fire ant, come from other parts of the world, but are now having a significant effect on Louisiana’s environment. The fallen bridge in the
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mid-ground signifies the absence of humans from this scene, and in a sense, our powerlessness to control the situation. The inspiration for Battle Royale came directly from NOMA’s collection. While visiting New Orleans in 2009 in preparation for his inclusion in the Prospect.2 biennial, Rockman came to NOMA and noticed a painting by Harold Rudolph titled Louisiana Bayou, dated circa 1873-1877. Rudolph’s painting captures a fiery red sunset on the swamps, framed by large cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss. Similar to Rockman’s painting, in Louisiana Bayou there are only small indications of civilization in the mid-ground. Born in 1962, in New York City, Rockman grew up near the American Museum of Natural History, where his mother worked for Margaret Mead, the famed anthropologist. His fascination with animals, theories of evolution, and natural history dioramas is reflected in his paintings, which range from
fantastical scenes of prehistoric animals to bloated farm creatures shaped like the meat packages they are destined to become. Following in the tradition of naturalists such as James John Audubon and the American painters of the sublime such as Frederick Edwin Church, Rockman’s work explores how natural history is as much shaped by culture as it is by non-human forces. This work is on view and in the museum’s permanent collection thanks to the Helis Foundation, who generously funded its purchase.
Above Battle Royale, 2011, Alexis Rockman (American, born 1962); Oil on wood, 8 x 18 feet; Museum purchase with funds from the Diana Helis Henry Art Fund of the Helis Foundation, 2012.67
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COLLECTIONS
EAST MEETS WEST: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CHIN E SE EX PORT WA R E “The Dutch East India Company and other traders recognized the market potential of reproducing European forms and designs”
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The recent acquisition of two eighteenthcentury Chinese export porcelain plates bearing designs created by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759) are highlighted in a new installation on NOMA’s third floor Chinese gallery. The plates, one decorated in under-glaze blue and the other in over-glaze enamels, feature identical decoration. Known as “The Doctor’s Visit to the Emperor,” this design also adorns the large Covered Urn, also in the permanent collection (2001.222a,b). The presence of three versions of the same design in varied palettes and scale illuminates an exceptional moment in the history of Chinese export porcelain created for the Dutch market. Established in 1602, the Dutch East India Company (or VOC) dominated the seventeenth and eighteenth-century China trade, displacing the Portuguese who had controlled the trade during the previous century. Early export ware was Chinese in both form and decoration. However, European traders soon
provided examples of items better suited for their clientele, such as meat platters, sauceboats, chocolate pots, and tureens. Although Chinese decorative motifs adorned the majority of wares, the VOC and other traders recognized the market potential of reproducing European forms and designs. In 1734 the VOC commissioned Pronk to produce detailed designs from which porcelain could be made and decorated. Over the course of three years, Pronk created four known designs, “The Doctor’s Visit,” being the second. Each design, intended for Westernstyle dinner services, was to be ordered in three different color ranges, blue and white, over-glaze enamels, and an Imari-style palette of under-glaze blue and white, over-glaze red, and gilding. When Pronk’s rendering arrived in Canton in 1737, those responsible for placing the order realized that the highly detailed design was prohibitively expensive and only a small number of wares were ordered. In 1738, a second, Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Left, from left to right Blue-and-White Plate, “The Doctor’s Visit to the Emperor”, ca. 1738, Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759), designer; Porcelain, with overglaze enamels and gilding; Diameter: 9 1/8”; Museum purchase, Funds provided by the Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, 2012.73 Famille Rose Plate, “The Doctor’s Visit to the Emperor”, ca. 1738, Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759), designer; Porcelain, with overglaze enamels and gilding; Diameter: 9 1/8”; Museum purchase, Funds provided by the Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, 2012.72
slightly larger order was placed; the following year, a simplified version of the design—with only the three seated figures—was presented, and eventually manufactured in larger quantities. “The Doctor’s Visit,” as is the case for all of Pronk’s designs, reflects a Eurocentric, and somewhat eccentric, view of China and Chinese customs. Although familiar with Chinese export wares, Pronk had neither access to nor understanding of the Chinese culture. Thus, he employed various signifiers for “China,” including the yellow robe to indicate the emperor and the blue-and-white Kraak-style platter upon a (European) table. Birds, flowers and fish literally frame the scene. Unbeknownst to Pronk, Kraak wares (so named after the 16th century Portuguese carracks that exported them to Europe) were created specifically for the export market, and while obviously “Chinese” to a western eye, would never have graced the table of a Ming emperor, nor in fact had much domestic distribution at all. The symbolism of the fish, in the rim panels and in the hands of the two remaining seated figures, is unknown. The opportunity for visitors to the museum to view these rarities has been afforded through the generosity of The Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, who funded the purchase of the two plates; and the Elise M. Besthoff Fund, dedicated to the purchase of Chinese export art. www.noma.org
LOU ISI ANA L A N DSCA PE S FROM NOM A’S COLLECTION ON V IEW THIS SU MMER In conjunction with the Louisiana Bicentennial, NOMA will present a selection of late nineteenth-century landscape paintings and sketches, drawn from the permanent collections of NOMA and The Historic New Orleans Collection. The exhibition will include works by the several of the earliest and most influential practitioners of landscape painting in Louisiana: Richard Clague Jr. (1821–1873), William Henry Buck (1840–1888) and Marshall Joseph
Fisherman’s Camp, n.d.; Richard Clague, American, 1821-1873; Oil on wood panel; Gift of Mrs. Benjamin M. Harrod, 13.6
Smith Jr. (1854–1923). The exhibition will explore the contextual history of these works with regard to postCivil War Louisiana’s social and cultural climate. The exhibition, titled The Bayou School: Nineteenth-century Louisiana Landscapes, is curated by art historian Rachel Stephens, in cooperation with Judith Bonner, senior curator at The Historic New Orleans Collection. Opening August 24th, the exhibition can be seen on the museum’s second floor.
“The exhibition will explore the contextual history of these works with regard to post-Civil War Louisiana’s social and cultural climate.”
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Fertile Crescent VISITING ARTISTS FIND LOCAL SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
Joe Tillman at the Dew Drop Inn, 1952; Ralston Crawford, American, 1906–1978; Gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches; Courtesy of The Ralston Crawford Estate and Neelon Crawford
New Orleans is, in many ways, the quintessential muse. A city that is known for its unique art, architecture, literature, cuisine and music, New Orleans has been an inspiration to creative minds from all over the country and world. This year, NOMA has been exploring those forms of inspiration and the diversity of the artists they impact with programming and exhibitions designed around a central theme: Inspired by New Orleans. When Dario Robleto came to New Orleans, he was overwhelmed by the city’s sense of tradition and history. “One of the biggest influences on me was how history and lineage had a real physicality and material presence everywhere I went,” he said. “I’m instinctually drawn to this topic and was startled at how intense this feeling was every time I visited.” Robleto, a conceptual artist, often explores the personal and historical significance of music in his work, and the way those elements transfer across generations. Creating work that was inspired by New Orleans, a city so rooted in its music and history, seemed to be a perfect fit. “Of particular interest for me was the importance of upholding and protecting family and community historical lines, either through outward displays like the second line uniforms and the piling of family bones on top of each other in the crypts, or verbally and psychologically through storytelling and music,” he said. Dario Robleto: The Prelives of the Blues includes Robleto’s work from the past ten years and a new work created as a response to his time in New Orleans. This work, a collection of stage lights taken from album covers of live performances by deceased gospel, blues, and jazz musicians, is a tribute to the city’s “stars,” and questions what survives long after the artists’ deaths. Survival Does Not Lie In The Heavens is shown on the following page. Katie Holten, another artist presently exhibiting at NOMA, was also deeply influenced by New Orleans. Holten, born in Ireland, was invited by NOMA director Susan Taylor to create a new work addressing the ecosystem of New Orleans and its relationship to water. Earlier this year, Holten spent a six-week residency at A Studio in the Woods, located on the Mississippi River. Surrounded by the “gentle chatter of birdsong and gurgle of riverboats,” Holten was able to connect with the city’s relationship to the river. She noted, “It was the ideal location for me to contemplate water, the river, the city and our place within it, the relationship 15
Stirring Pot (Close Up), 2010; Gustave Blache III, American, born 1977; Oil on wood, 10 x 8 in; Collection of Richard C. Colton Jr.
“A city that is known for its unique art, architecture, literature, cuisine and music, New Orleans has been an inspiration to creative minds from all over the country and world.”
between natural and man-made, the geological history and the future.” During her time here she became fully informed of the coastal erosion that is decimating Louisiana’s landscape. Drawn to the Edge, Holten’s site-specific installation for the Great Hall is based on her experiences. “The disappearing land in southern Louisiana is alarming,” Holten said. “It’s unforgivable that it’s not widely debated and discussed at a national/international level.” (Holten is the second artist to create a site-specific work for the Great Hall—the first being Swoon, who created her sea goddess Thalassa last year. Thalassa was also inspired by New Orleans and its bond to water.) For some artists, the connection to New Orleans is more personal. In 2009, Gustave Blache III began a series of paintings of local chef and icon Leah Chase. Blache, who was born in New Orleans but lives in New York, recalled his grandparents’ first date, which was at Mrs. Chase’s famous Dooky Chase Restaurant: “My grandmother would recount how she was served all this good food and could not finish it, and this was fine dining for her at the time, and how her date, my grandfather, looked at her as if to say, ‘You had better finish this food.’ It’s a funny story, but they both finished the meal and fifty years later they’re still married, so I have to thank Mrs. Chase and her cooking.” Blache’s twenty oil paintings are currently on view in the exhibition Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III. New Orleans may be a destination for contemporary artists, but the current exhibition Ralston Crawford and Jazz illustrates that this is not a new trend. After 1949, precisionist painter and photographer Ralston Crawford created a substantial body of work inspired by New Orleans and especially jazz music. He explored the city through a variety of media, including paintings, lithographs, photographs, and films. His photographs of jazz musicians, cemeteries, and weathered buildings were often interpreted into abstract paintings that seemed to visually translate the elements of jazz. Crawford visited New Orleans many times throughout his life. He chose to be buried in a local cemetery, and even received a traditional jazz funeral. Visual artists are not the only ones finding inspiration in New Orleans; drama has taken center stage at the museum as well. Beginning with last spring’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, NOMA and the theater group the NOLA Project have collaborated on more successful productions held in the Great Hall and Besthoff Sculpture Garden, including the recent As You Like It. Visitors have agreed that the locale of these plays adds just as much to the experience as the performance itself. The “Inspired by New Orleans” programming is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.
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Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Above Survival Does Not Lie In The Heavens, 2012; Dario Robleto, American, born 1972; Digital inkjet print mounted on Sintra, a collection of stage lights taken from the album covers of live performances of now-deceased Gospel, Blues and Jazz musicians. Courtesy of the artist and Inman Gallery, Houston, TX Right Dining Room (Leah Seated With Guests), 2011; Gustave Blache III, American, born 1977; Oil on Wood; 11 x 9 inches; Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Dwight McKenna
www.noma.org
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VISIT
CA FÉ NOMA PR E SEN TS A RT YOU CAN EAT SUM M E R COOK ING SER IE S Café NOMA presents “Art You Can Eat,” a twelve-week summer series featuring the artful culinary creations of Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group chefs and special guests. Chefs from Café NOMA, Ralph’s on the Park, Red Fish Grill, café b, and Heritage Grill will lead an interactive, educational, and delicious cooking event celebrating NOMA exhibitions and the culinary arts of New Orleans. Attendees of “Art You Can Eat” will discover the tips and tricks behind classic and contemporary cooking and presentation, with special emphasis on professional techniques made easy. The events on July 13, and August 3, 10 and 24, will feature Leah Chase, the queen of New Orleans cuisine and star of the current exhibition Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III.
Café NOMA, Art You Can Eat Friday Nights, 7 p.m. Free with museum admission; RSVP Requested (cafenoma-artyoucaneat.eventbrite.com)
July 6
August 3
CHIP FLANAGAN
MICHAEL GOTTLIEB WITH LEAH CHASE
Executive Chef of Ralph’s on the Park
Summer Grilling and Chilling Gourmet rubs, sauces and accompaniments for the ultimate July BBQ
July 13
CHRIS MONTERO WITH LEAH CHASE Executive Chef of café B, and Chef/Owner of Dooky Chase Restaurant
Do it Yourself Creole Cream Cheese, Mozzarella and Ricotta ART-isan cheese traditions and tasting with special guest Leah Chase
July 20
HALEY BITTERMANN Executive Chef of Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group EU G EN IA U H L
The crossroad of Art, Science and New Orleans Cuisine Do-it-yourself molecular gastronomy meets bananas foster and other New Orleans classics
July 27 Above (clockwise from left) Chris Montero, Michael Gottlieb, Haley Bitterman, and Steven Marsella Top Cafe NOMA. Right As You Like It, performed by the NOLA Project in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden
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Executive Chef at Red Fish Grill and Chef/Owner of Dooky Chase Restaurant
“Zecrets Z’herbes” The art of roux-making and other gumbo tales
August 10
HALEY BITTERMANN WITH LEAH CHASE Executive Chef of Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, and Chef/Owner of Dooky Chase Restaurant
The Soul of New Orleans Mac & cheese and other family-friendly comfort foods
August 17
THOMAS REGISTER Beverage Specialist at Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group
Muddling and Mixing; The art of the cocktail Enhance cocktails with infusions and garden fresh fruits and vegetables
August 24
BRETT GAUTHIER
STEVEN MARSELLA WITH LEAH CHASE
Executive Pastry Chef of Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group
Executive Chef of Heritage Grill, and Chef/Owner of Dooky Chase Restaurant
Offbeat Sweet and Savory Desserts
Take a Walk on the Lite Side...
Overlooked ingredients transformed into fabulous desserts
Creole classics undergo an extreme makeover…will you miss the butter?
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
SUCCE S S OF SPR ING PROGR A MS ENSU R E S FU T U R E COLL A BOR ATIONS
EU G EN IA U H L
The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden has taken on a new role recently as a stage for film screenings and dramatic productions. NOMA’s collaboration with the New Orleans Film Society has resulted in screenings of classic movies such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and The Wizard of Oz. “Movies in the Garden has been an outstanding success,” said Brad Caldwell, NOMA’s Public Events Manager. “Having over 2,100 guests attend the spring screenings has really inspired us to keep exploring the Garden’s possibilities, and
to keep scheduling exciting programs for the community.” Caldwell noted that a fall film series is currently in the works. This past May, NOMA and the NOLA Project presented their fifth collaboration together in the Sculpture Garden. The NOLA Project performed As You Like It, which is widely regarded as Shakespeare’s smartest comedy. “At a time when many New Orleans theatre venues are in transition, we are proud to see NOMA and our Sculpture Garden as a new setting for plays,” said NOMA Director Susan M. Taylor. “The NOLA Project is becoming known for
these site-specific Shakespeare performances in our Great Hall and Sculpture Garden and it’s thrilling to see these locations become an integral part of their plays.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the last collaborative project between NOMA and the NOLA Project in the Sculpture Garden earned five nominations from the Big Easy Awards, including Best Comedy of 2011. Please visit www.noma.org for more information regarding NOMA’s collaborations and productions.
G R AC E WILS O N
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LEARN
Left ELIZ A B ET H S O L A N D
PARTNERS IN LEARNING : STUDENTS EXPERIENCE THORNTON DIAL EXHIBITION In a unique peer to peer learning experience, NOMA partnered with students from O. Perry Walker College and Career Preparatory High School to create a video to introduce middle school students to the exhibition Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial. The high school students first learned about Thornton Dial and his work during classroom lessons led by Talented in Visual Art teacher Dixie Moore and NOMA’s Curator of Education, Tracy Kennan. Before visiting the museum, students watched a documentary film about Dial, participated in class discussions about assemblage, social justice and personal expression and created an art project inspired by Dial’s work. One week later, these students visited NOMA to view the Thornton Dial exhibition. After exploring NOMA’s galleries on their own, students were led on a guided tour by Ms. Kennan and were filmed offering personal reflections on Dial’s art.
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The film, funded by the George Rodrigue Foundation for the Arts, serves as a prelude to a scheduled docent-guided tour for middle school students, and can be viewed at www.noma.org/videos or by capturing this Quick Response (QR) code with a QR reader app on your smart phone. Additionally, middle school teachers were provided with lesson plans for pre- and post-visit classroom activities, or could opt to hire a teaching artist from Young Audiences of Louisiana to visit the classroom as well. Seventh grade teacher Mary Anne Rogers remarked, “Our students enjoyed viewing the Dial exhibit along with the clips from the website. His work has sparked some lively discussions and inspiration for the art project I’ve planned.”
TEEN DOCENTS OFFER LOUISIANA EXPERIENCE TO SUMMER CAMP STUDENTS This summer, campers from across the city will learn how artists have been inspired by New Orleans when they come to NOMA for guided tours. NOMA is working with NOLA Youth Works, an initiative from the office of Mayor Mitch Landrieu, to provide summer employment and valuable job skills to teenagers. Eighteen students from the NOLA Youth Works program will work at the museum
from June 25 – August 3. Educators from NOMA’s Department of Interpretation and Audience Engagement will teach the teens how to serve as docents, and will allow them to give guided tours to small groups of summer camp students. The museum tour will feature works of art inspired by New Orleans, including selections from the exhibitions Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III and Ralston Crawford and Jazz as well as works from the permanent collection.
NOMA HOSTS VTS WORKSHOP Looking for new ways to engage students in discussions about visual art? Join us July 23-24 as NOMA hosts a Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) workshop, open to teachers, museum educators, and other professionals interested in learning how to facilitate VTS discussions. VTS is a research-based teaching method that improves critical thinking and language skills through discussions of visual images. VTS encourages participation and self-confidence, especially among students who struggle. The technique is easy to learn and offers a proven strategy for educators to meet current learning objectives. VTS Executive Director Oren Slozberg will lead the two-day beginning level practicum, as an introduction to VTS as Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Left Bad Thoughts, 2000; George Rodrigue, American, born 1944; Acrylic on linen, 36 x 24 inches, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Don A. Sanders, 2005.113
J U DY C O O P ER
well as its theoretical foundations and research. Working in NOMA’s permanent collection galleries, participants will observe, analyze and practice VTS, practicing techniques for selecting images and teaching with critique. Event space is limited and advanced registration is required. For information and registration, please visit www.noma. org and www.vtshome.org.
NOMA SEEKS NEW DOCENTS Are you interested in learning about NOMA’s collection and sharing your knowledge with others? Would you like to take an active role at NOMA and meet others with similar interests? Consider becoming a NOMA docent! A new docent-training course begins this fall. Classes meet one time per week (excluding holidays) from September through May and include information on art history, touring techniques and methods of interpretation. Upon completion of the initial training session, volunteers are expected to make a two-year commitment to giving tours at NOMA. For more information please visit NOMA’s website or call 658-4113.
STORYQUEST FEATURING ALEX BEARD AND GEORGE RODRIGUE Spark imagination, creativity, and a love of reading. Professional authors, actors and artists are bringing the world of children’s literature to NOMA in this new family program. Each month highlights a unique theme: July features storytellers from Young Audiences reading stories about museums and music. In August, actors from the NOLA Project will read fairy tales and Shakespeare. In September, artists Alex Beard and George Rodrigue will read from their own storybooks. All StoryQuest sessions will take place twice a month in the comfortable setting of the NOMA Museum Shop. Family activities will be offered after each StoryQuest to encourage museum exploration.
Saturdays, 11 a.m., Museum Shop Museum Fun July 14 All About Music July 28 Hey, Shakespeare! August 11 Fairy Tales August 25 The Princess and the Frog and other tales
Alex Beard September 8 Artist and writer Alex Beard reads from his books The Jungle Grapevine, Monkey See Monkey Draw and Crocodile’s Tears
George Rodrigue September 22
INTRODUCING STUDIO KIDS! Kids get creative in NOMA’s new Studio KIDS! art classes. Young artists will be introduced to works of art in the museum and Sculpture Garden, and then will retreat to the studio to create art projects based on NOMA’s collection. Classes meet for six consecutive Saturdays in the art studio across the courtyard from the Museum Shop. The price for the six-class series is $120 for NOMA members, and $150 for non-members. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register please call 658-4128 or email education@noma.org.
Saturdays, Sep. 8 – Oct. 12 pARTy Animals 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Learn about animals and their habitats on this safari through the galleries at NOMA. In the studio, students will work in clay, watercolor, and printmaking to make animal-inspired creations. (Ages 5–8)
Spaces and Places 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Artists can create a building or a landscape with the stroke of a brush. In NOMA’s galleries, explore the architecture of faraway lands as you learn new techniques to create space. 2-D and 3-D projects will be featured using a variety of mixed media. (Ages 9–12)
Artist George Rodrigue recounts tales of Blue Dog including Why is Blue Dog Blue? and Are you Blue Dog’s Friend?
www.noma.org
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PARTICIPATE
NOMA’s exhibitions and special programs are made possible through the generosity of our sponsors. If you would like additional information on sponsorship, please contact the museum’s Development Department at (504) 658-4107.
CIRCLES President’s Circle Mr. and Mrs. John D. Bertuzzi Mr. and Mrs. Sydney J. Besthoff III Mr. and Mrs. David F. Edwards Dr. and Mrs. Ludovico Feoli Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Hansel
Foundation and Government Support
Corporate and Individual Support
$500,000 - $600,000
$20,000 - $49,999
Patrick F. Taylor Foundation
Richard C. Colton Jr.
Mrs. Robert Nims
Zemurray Foundation
IBERIABANK
Mrs. Charles S. Reily Jr.
International Well Testers Inc.
Jolie and Robert Shelton
Liberty Bank and Trust
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Sherrill
Peoples Health
Mrs. Patrick F. Taylor
$450,000 Helis Foundation
Ms. Adrea D. Heebe and Mr. Dominick A. Russo Jr. Mrs. Paula L. Maher Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Mayer
Robert and Jolie Shelton
$300,000 Save America’s Treasures
$100,000 Collins C. Diboll Foundation
Whitney Bank
$10,000 - $19,999 Chevron DocuMart Garden Study Club of New Orleans
$50,000
Adrea D. Heebe
Edward Wisner Donation
June and Bill McArdle
$20,000 - $49,999 American Express Foundation The Bertuzzi Family Foundation Louisiana Division of the Arts Luce Foundation The Lupin Foundation National Endowment of the Arts The Selley Foundation State of Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor
$10,000 - $19,999 Libby Dufour Foundation Goldring Family Foundation GPOA Foundation Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust
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Mrs. Jack R. Aron The Booth-Bricker Fund Mr. and Mrs. Daryl G. Byrd Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Coleman Mr. Leonard A. Davis Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Favrot Jr. Mrs. Lawrence D. Garvey Mrs. JoAnn Flom Greenberg Mr. Jerry Heymann
In-Kind Corporate Donations
Mr. and Mrs. Erik F. Johnsen
$50,000 - $74,999
Mrs. Peter R. Monrose Jr.
Sheraton New Orleans Hotel
$20,000 - $49,000 The Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group Landis Construction
The RosaMary Foundation The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Director’s Circle
$5,000 - $9,999
Ms. Kay McArdle Dr. Howard and Dr. Joy D. Osofsky Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Patrick Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Rosen Ms. Debra B. Shriver Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Siegel Mr. and Mrs. Bruce L. Soltis Margaret B. and Joel J. Soniat Mrs. Harold H. Stream Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Richard L. Strub
American Aquatic Gardens
Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Taylor
Soniat House Hotel
Suzanne and Robert E. Thomas
$1,000 - $4,999
Patron’s Circle
Kentwood Spring Water
Mrs. Adele L. Adatto
Christie’s Fine Art Auctioneers Dooky Chase’s Restaurant
Dr. Ronald G. Amedee and Dr. Elisabeth H. Rareshide
Degas House
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Boh Mr. E. John Bullard III
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Carey Dr. and Mrs. Isidore Cohn Jr. Mrs. John J. Colomb Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Prescott N. Dunbar Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Francis Mr. and Mrs. James J. Frischhertz Mr. and Mrs. Edward N. George Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Heebe Ms. Allison Kendrick Mr. Henry M. Lambert and Mr. R. Carey Bond Mr. and Mrs. H. Merritt Lane III Mr. Paul J. Leaman, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Lemann Dr. Edward D. Levy, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. J. Thomas Lewis Dr. and Mrs. E. Ralph Lupin Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Masinter Mr. and Mrs. R. King Milling Mrs. Ellis Mintz The James R. Moffett Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Moffitt RI C H A RD S E X TO N
Robert and Myrtis Nims Foundation Dr. Andrew Orestano Dr. and Mrs. James F. Pierce Mr. and Mrs. James J. Reiss, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Edward F. Renwick
LOVE, Red Blue, 1966–97; Robert Indiana, American, born 1928; Aluminum and acrylic polyurethane enamel; Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 2004.119
Mr. and Mrs. R. Randolph Richmond Jr. Mr. and Mrs. George Rodrigue Mr. and Mrs. Brian A. Schneider Mr. and Mrs. Edward Shearer
Save the Date
Mr. and Mrs. Mike Siegel
LOV E IN THE GA R DEN
Mr. and Mrs. Lynes R. Sloss Ms. E. Alexandra Stafford and Mr. Raymond M. Rathle Jr. Mrs. Frederick M. Stafford Mr. Stephen F. Stumpf Jr. Mr. Hollis C. Taggart Mr. and Mrs. James L. Taylor Catherine Burns Tremaine Mrs. Hendrik Willem van Voorthuysen Mrs. John N. Weinstock Mrs. Dorothy R. Weisler Mrs. Henry H. Weldon Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Brent Wood
www.noma.org
On Friday, September 21, 2012, NOMA will usher in the fall social season with its annual LOVE in the Garden celebration. LOVE co-chairs Karen Gundlach and Margaret Jones invite you to join them and hundreds of other NOMA devotees for a pleasant and casual evening of dining and dancing in the verdant Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The celebration begins with a Patron Party at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Garden Party at 8:00 p.m. The popular event features cuisine from many of New
Orleans’s superb restaurants and caterers, an open bar, and dancing to the music of some of New Orleans’s finest musicians. Attire for the event is garden party casual. In keeping with recent tradition, this year’s LOVE in the Garden will honor five of our city’s outstanding artists at a ceremony during the party. In the event of rain, the party will be held in the Great Hall inside the museum. To purchase tickets and/or reserve a table, visit www.noma.org or contact Kristen Jochem at (504) 658-4121.
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N VC SPR ING FU N DR A ISER S TOP EX PECTATIONS
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The NOMA Volunteer Committee (NVC) organized two successful fundraisers that brought impressive crowds to NOMA this spring. Art in Bloom on March 14–18 was appropriately themed “New Orleans: Life in Color.” With financial support from sponsor Whitney Bank, Chairs Jenny Charpentier and Gwathmey Gomila organized the five-day celebration. Floral designs ranged from professional to amazing amateur as local garden clubs competed with their colorful interpretations of NOMA’s works of art. Sold out lectures by Patrick Dunne and Johnathan
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Andrew Sage and a luncheon fashion show by Saks Fifth Avenue heightened interest and enthusiasm for the event. Over 1,000 guests attended the Patron and Preview Party, chaired by Liz Sloss and Joy Grace, which served as a premier opportunity to view the floral arrangements. A successful auction included a painting donated by Elise Allen that doubled as the theme for the event’s invitation. The Fabergé Egg Hunt, which followed on March 24 in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden, succeeded thanks to the hard work of second-time co-chairs Sarah Abbott,
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
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Petra Guste and Angél Junius, joined by co-chair Elizabeth Wood, and generous sponsorship by Catherine Burns Tremaine. The lucky children enjoyed a hunt for a myriad of hidden eggs donated by Elmer’s Chocolate, as well as refreshments, art activities, a spacewalk, a petting zoo, music and more at NVC’s annual children’s event. A special $500 gift from an NVC member made it possible for children from the Good Shepherd School to receive tickets and join in the fun!
Fundraising and Learning: Volunteer for NVC The NOMA Volunteer Committee is eager for you to join! Enjoy three annual meetings featuring lectures by local artists, curators and museum directors, a delicious lunch and conversation with other art lovers; be invited to attend Studio Salons; and assist in fundraising for the museum through Art in Bloom, Fabergé Egg Hunt, LOVE in the Garden, Odyssey Ball, Home and Art Tour and more! —Laura Carman, NVC
1. Suzanne Thomas, Joseph Exnicios, Stephanie Huger 2. Caroline Calhoun, Melvin Rodriguez 3. John and Jenny Charpentier, Gwathmey and Fritz Gomila 4. King and Anne Milling, Mac and Ellen Ball 5. Elizabeth Ryan, Susan M. Taylor, John Hairston
Publications Co-chair
Membership starts at $20. Call (504) 658-4121 or see www.noma.org. (Click Support NOMA, and then the NVC tab.)
www.noma.org
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A N N UA L LU NCHEON HONOR S VOLU N TEER S
RO M A N A LO H K IN
On March 25, 2012, NOMA paid tribute to its devoted volunteers at an annual awards ceremony and luncheon. The event—which features museum staff as “volunteers” serving lunch, bartending, and bussing tables—honors docents, chamberlains, NVC members and youth volunteers in categories such as “most hours” and “special recognition.” This year’s recipient of the NOMA Volunteer of the Year Award went to Ann Duffy. An outstanding and gracious supporter of the museum, Ann has volunteered for over a decade, always with a welcoming smile on her face. In 1998 she became a docent and has toured countless school children through NOMA’s galleries. In 2000, she joined the NVC and served as president in 2004. Congratulations, Ann, and thank you for your unswerving dedication and amazing effort through the years. Thank you to all of our volunteers for their valuable contributions to NOMA.
Dr. Isidore Cohn Jr. with his wife, Marianne
DR . ISIDOR E COHN J R . HONOR ED AT A N N UA L FELLOWS DIN N ER
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also served on the Accessions Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee, the latter of which wrote the plan that was submitted for NOMA’s reaccreditation. A devoted member, he has supported every major museum event, and has attended almost every single board meeting or exhibition opening. The Fellows dinner is an annual event that honors NOMA’s Circles and Fellows members, who contribute approximately $900,000 to the museum each year. The support of these generous members ensures the museum’s financial stability, and allows NOMA to continue providing the community with first-class exhibitions and lively programs.
RO M A N A LO H K IN
Each year, NOMA honors a person whose outstanding service and contributions have had an extraordinary impact on the museum. Dr. Isidore Cohn Jr., a longtime supporter of NOMA and the local arts community, was the recipient of this year’s Isaac Delgado Memorial Award on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Dr. Cohn has been an active member of the museum since 1960, and is a founding member of both the Fellows and Circles. In 1992, he and his wife Marianne chaired the Odyssey Ball, and in 2005, they graciously loaned their collection to NOMA for an exhibition, Crystal Clear: Steuben Glass from the Collection of Isidore and Marianne Cohn. From 2005-2009 he served on the NOMA Board of Trustees and became an Honorary Life Trustee in 2010. Dr. Cohn
Volunteer of the Year Ann Duffy (second from right) with her family.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
NOMA CONTEMPOR ARIES
NOMA CONTEMPORARIES (as of May 21, 2012) Mr. and Mrs. John D. Bertuzzi Mr. and Mrs. Sydney J. Besthoff III Mr. and Mrs. Ralph O. Brennan Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Coleman Mr. and Mrs. George Denegre Jr. Ms. Anna Haudenschild Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Rosen Mr. David Workman
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art EDITOR
Taylor Murrow DESIGN CONSULTANT
Abbott Miller, Pentagram ART DIRECTOR
Aisha Champagne PRINTING
DocuMart Arts Quarterly (ISSN 0740-9214) is published by the New Orleans Museum of Art, 1 Collins Diboll Circle, New Orleans, LA 70124 © 2012, New Orleans Museum of Art. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without permission of the publisher.
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J U DY C O O P ER
Join the NOMA Contemporaries, an exciting affiliate group dedicated to supporting and learning about contemporary art. Events include studio visits, trips, and guided tours of New Orleans’s burgeoning Saint Claude Arts District. For more information please contact: nomacontemporaries@noma.org or call 504-659-4138. The cost of affiliation is $1,000 in addition to museum membership.
IN MEMOR I A M Françoise Billion Richardson The New Orleans Museum of Art was deeply saddened by the passing of longtime friend and supporter, Françoise Billion Richardson. It is through the kindness and devotion of allies like Mrs. Richardson that the museum is able to continue its mission. Mrs. Richardson was born in France to a Frenchman married to a New Orleanian. During the Second World War, the family moved to New Orleans, where they became active members of the museum. Mrs. Richardson remained involved in the cultural fabric of the community ever since. Both the museum and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra had a very special place in her heart. One of Mrs. Richardson’s most noteworthy contributions is her support of the museum’s African art collection. A collector herself, she donated numerous important works to the museum throughout the years. William Fagaly, NOMA’s Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art, has stated, “Along with Victor Kiam’s early benefaction of a core collection of superb quality and rarity, Françoise has been the most responsible for the development and ultimate success of the museum’s sub-Saharan African collection through her encouragement, support and unwavering enthusiasm over the years.”
In addition to annually supporting museum operations, she established the Françoise Billion Richardson African Art Purchase Fund and provided funds in memory of her parents Sadie Downman and Olivier Billion for the building of the present African galleries. With the purchase endowment the museum has been able to acquire nearly seventy African art works for the permanent collection. Mrs. Richardson joined NOMA’s Board of Trustees in 1990 and served as board president from 1993-1994. Named the recipient of the Isaac Delgado Memorial Award in 1996 and made an Honorary Life Trustee, the impact of her involvement and contributions will continue to be felt by the institution and city for years to come. For her work in bringing French culture to New Orleans and in recognition of her own French heritage, the French government named her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. “Françoise was instrumental in shaping our African collection and the museum’s expansion,” said NOMA Director Susan M. Taylor. “She touched so many lives and profoundly impacted the New Orleans community. I’m honored to have part of her legacy live on through the museum’s galleries.” 27
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Mrs. Jolie L. Shelton
Mrs. Charles B. Mayer President
Kitty Duncan Sherrill
Sydney Besthoff III Vice-President
Mrs. Lynes Sloss
Julie Livaudais George Vice-President
Mrs. Richard L. Strub
Mike Siegel
E. Alexandra Stafford
E. Ralph Lupin, MD Vice-President
Robert Taylor
Timothy Francis Secretary
Brent Wood
Ms. Kay McArdle Treasurer
NATIONAL TRUSTEES
Justin T. Augustine III Mrs. John Bertuzzi Dr. Siddharth K. Bhansali Susan Brennan Kia Silverman Brown Robin Burgess Daryl Byrd Mrs. Mark Carey Edgar L. Chase III Tommy Coleman Collette Creppell Leonard Davis David F. Edwards H. M. “Tim” Favrot Jr. Mrs. Ludovico Feoli John Fraiche Susan G. Guidry Councilmember District “A”
Suzanne Thomas
Joseph Baillio
The programs of the New Orleans Museum of Art are supported by grants from the Louisiana State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation.
Mrs. Carmel Cohen Mrs. Mason Granger Jerry Heymann Herbert Kaufman, MD Mrs. James Pierce Debra B. Shriver Mrs. Henry H. Weldon Mrs. Billie Milam Weisman
HONOR ARY LIFE MEMBERS H. Russell Albright, MD Mrs. Jack R. Aron Mrs. Edgar L. Chase Jr. Isidore Cohn Jr., MD Prescott N. Dunbar S. Stewart Farnet
Lee Hampton
Sandra Draughn Freeman
Stephen A. Hansel
Kurt A. Gitter, MD
Adrea D. Heebe
Mrs. Erik Johnsen
Ms. Allison Kendrick
Richard W. Levy, MD
Mayor Mitch Landrieu
J. Thomas Lewis
Mrs. Merritt Lane
Mrs. Paula L. Maher
Paul J. Masinter
Mrs. J. Frederick Muller
Mrs. R. King Milling
Mrs. Robert Nims
Michael D. Moffitt
Mrs. Charles S. Reily Jr.
Mrs. Michael D. Moffitt
R. Randolph Richmond Jr.
Howard J. Osofsky, MD, PhD
Mrs. Frederick M. Stafford
Mrs. James J. Reiss Jr.
Harry C. Stahel
Mrs. George Rodrigue
Mrs. Moise S. Steeg Jr.
Donna Perret Rosen
Mrs. Harold H. Stream
Mrs. John Ryan
Mrs. James L. Taylor
Brian Schneider
Mrs. John N. Weinstock
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