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THE NEW MEXICAN Friday, September 12, 2014
Art: Acquisition fund has only $750,000 Lake George barn in May. “To me that says there’s real and was sold in 1994 to a private, momentum in the market, and unnamed collector. It was later she is starting to get the recogbought by the Gerald Peters nition she deserves,” Goldberg Gallery, then acquired by the said. Burnett Foundation, which gave it to the museum in 1996. Deaccessioning The foundation’s president, John Marion, and his wife, Anne artwork can be Marion, are major art patrons controversial and founders of the O’Keeffe Museum, which opened in 1997 This is not the first time the with 30 paintings on the walls. O’Keeffe Museum has sold a Gifts from their foundation and piece from its collection to benthe transfer of assets from the efit its acquisitions endowment. Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, In 2010, Canna Red and Orange, which closed in 2006, make up a dated 1926, sold for $1.4 million major part of the collection. at an auction at Christie’s in The Burnett Foundation’s last New York. gift was in early 2000, and the It’s not uncommon for musefoundation has made it clear ums to sell art to raise funds for that this is not the direction it new acquisitions to improve the wants to continue, Kret said. quality of their collections. The The Burnett Foundation and Metropolitan Museum of Art the O’Keeffe Museum board in New York has sold millions completely support the museof dollars worth of artwork in um’s decision to sell the three recent years. paintings, he said. But permanently removing a The museum currently has a painting or other object from a somewhat paltry acquisitions museum collection — a pracendowment, about $750,000, tice called deaccessioning — is not enough to shop in the sometimes controversial. global marketplace to diversify The Association of Art a collection that doesn’t fully Museum Directors recently represent the full breadth of the sanctioned the Delaware Art artist’s work. Museum for selling Isabella and “A lot of O’Keeffes are sellthe Pot of Basil, a painting by ing for $1 million to $3.5 milWilliam Holman Hunt, at Chrislion,” said Cody Hartley, the tie’s in London for $4.9 million. museum’s director of curatorial The Delaware museum said affairs. “To be active, you need it plans to sell at least two more an endowment to play at that pieces, a painting by Winslow level.” Homer and a sculpture by A large endowment, Kret Alexander Calder, to pay off a added, can also demonstrate to $19.8 million debt for a building potential donors the museum’s expansion and to replenish its seriousness and be a factor endowment. when it is negotiating for gifts. The association did not On the downside, Kret said, return calls seeking comment “There may be people with about the O’Keeffe sale. But strong emotional connections the association’s code of the to particular paintings.” ethics says museums should The museum believes this not dispose of artwork to pay auction will be successful. “I operating expenses and other have a great deal of confidence bills, however. The only ethithat the paintings will sell cal reason to sell a painting is because there is so little of her to buy other works of art, its work out there of this quality,” guidelines say. The association Hartley said. has called on other museums to Goldberg also is optimistic. refrain from working with the She counts O’Keeffe among Delaware museum. a handful of American artists In another recent case, Michifrom pre-World War II to 1950 gan’s attorney general stopped who are recognized internathe city from selling artwork tionally. But by comparison to from the Detroit Institute of someone like Norman RockArts as the city was facing bankwell, her paintings sell for a lot ruptcy, saying the art collection less. Rockwell’s Saying Grace is a public trust. brought $46 million at auction The O’Keeffe sale at Sotheby’s last December. also includes: The record for an O’Keeffe, On The Old Santa Fe Road, on the other hand, is $6.2 mila 16-inch by 30-inch landscape lion for Calla Lilies with Red painted in 1930 or 1931, about Anemone in 2001. a year after O’Keeffe’s first full But in a possible indication summer in New Mexico. of the trend in O’Keeffes, GoldHer dealer, Doris Bry, had it in berg pointed out that three of New York. It was sold to a priher top 10 sales were in the last vate collector in 1970, and in an two years, including a pastel unknown year it was acquired of a white camellia at the end by Owings-Dewey Fine Art in of 2012 and an oil painting of a Santa Fe. The Burnett Founda-
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that would increase interest in the O’Keeffes. Kret and Hartley declined to say what exactly the museum u Calla Lilies with Red will be shopping for in the comAnemone, 1928, sold in ing years, but some O’Keeffes 2001 for $6.2 million might be coming on the market. u Autumn Leaf II, 1927, “Many collectors who bought sold in 2012 for $4.3 milO’Keeffe or her representatives lion are making decisions about u Black Petunia and White Morning Glory I, 1926, sold what to do with their collecin 2010 for $4.1 million tions,” Hartley said. “A lot is u Black Cross with Stars going to end up on the market.” and Blue, 1929, sold in The museum looked through 2001 for $4 million its entire inventory of 1,045 u From the Plains, 1919, objects by O’Keeffe before sold in 1997 for $3.6 mildeciding on the three paintings lion that will go to auction. Some u Inside Clam Shell, 1930, gifts have legal restrictions and sold in 2010 for $3.4 million were not eligible. u Ram’s Head, Blue Morn“We were looking for pieces ing Glory, 1938, sold in that would be productive to see 2012 for $3.4 million and from which the museum u A White Camelia, 1938, would see a significant gain and sold in 2007 for $3.2 milnot deplete its ability to replion resent her,” Hartley said, addu Blue I, 1916, sold in ing that the museum was also 2007 for $3 million u Lake George Barn, 1929, searching for pieces that have “a sold in 2014 for $2.9 milstrong appeal in the market.” lion Jimson Weed, he said, was Source: Artnet chosen because it is similar to another piece, Bella Donna, in the museum’s collection. It is of “significant scale” and “beautition acquired it from Owingsfully painted,” he added, and Dewey and gave it to the “there is nothing like this on the museum in 1999. The oil on canvas, which fea- market.” tures bright colors of the SouthMoreover, he believes it has west and architectural forms, is cross-over appeal, meaning it signed on the back by O’Keeffe has the potential to be of interand is expected to bring $2 mil- est to those who collect both lion to $3 million. historic American art and modUntitled (Skunk Cabbage), ern contemporary art. painted in 1927, is 12 inches Kret said the museum by 16 inches and dates from a decided to go with an auction period when O’Keeffe became over a private sale. And Sothefamous for her flower paintby’s global access to collectors ings. It was at An American — “They know everyone who Place, the gallery of O’Keeffe’s has ever bid on an O’Keeffe,” husband, Alfred Stieglitz, and in he said — made it the natural 1932 went into a private collecchoice to handle the transaction. At a later date, it was at the tions. The pieces are included Plaza Art Galleries in New York. in a sale of 75 to 100 pieces of In 1972, O’Keeffe repurchased American art. it. Hartley said the artist someThe auction, he added, will times bought back her paintings also raise visibility for New to control inventory, or simply because she was especially fond Mexico and Santa Fe and hopefully boost museum attendance, of them. which has been hovering O’Keeffe’s niece, June around 150,000 per year in O’Keeffe Sebring, who lived in recent years. Hawaii, acquired the painting Prior to the sale, there will in 1986 or 1987 and later sold be a series of public and priit to the Burnett Foundation, vate exhibits of Jimson Weed which donated the piece to the in San Francisco, Los Angeles, museum in 2001. It is expected to sell for between $500,000 and Houston and Hong Kong with dinners and cocktail parties at $750,000. private homes to woo collectors. Sotheby’s will handle the Time is ripe shipping of the artwork as part for marketing of its contract. Kret declined to say what the company’s share of O’Keeffes the proceeds would be. In addition to a reboundHopes are high. “This has the ing art market, the sale also is potential to be a record-breaktaking place around the same ing sale,” Hartley said. time as the sale of the estate Contact Anne Constable at of socialite and philanthropist 986-3022 or aconstable@ Bunny Mellon, and Kret said sfnewmexican.com. there could be a “halo effect”
TOP 10 O’KEEFFE SALES
Email: Las Cruces D.A. writes support letter Continued from Page A-1 lawyers argue that one reason Estrada should not serve prison time is that he has been responsible for caring for his ailing father and his brother, who is suffering from a liver disease. Included in the filing are letters from friends, family members and past colleagues, testifying to Estrada’s good character and asking Judge William Johnson to give Estrada probation instead of incarceration. But one former associate who did not write such a letter was the governor. In a statement Thursday, her spokesman Enrique Knell said, “Gov. Martinez was one of dozens of victims and, as such, will be asking the judge to sentence the defendant to prison time. This is a case about a fired employee who wasn’t given a state job and decided to try to get even by illegally intercepting personal emails from numerous people, including personal bank statements and the Gov.’s personal underwear orders, all of which were made public in a shameful revenge scheme.” The New Mexican was the first to publish any of the governor’s emails. The emails showed the governor and key members of her administration routinely communicating via private email rather than official government accounts in an apparent effort to sidestep public records inspections. After the practice was revealed, Mar-
The sentencing memorandum admits that Jamie Estrada took control of Susana Martinez’s campaign email domain under a false name and redirected the mail to another account. tinez signed an executive order mandating that all communication dealing with government business take place through government email. Among those writing letters in support of Estrada were Mark D’Antonio, a former federal prosecutor who is now the district attorney in Las Cruces. He described Estrada as “a good and honest man who made a very serious error.” “I have known Jamie for about two years and we communicate at least once a week. … His indictment was a shock to me and I was disappointed to hear the allegations. Instead of running away from Jamie, as a friend I confronted him about the matter. Given Jamie’s background, with absolutely no previous contact with law enforcement, he was frightened and intimidated. … He wanted to face what he had done with remorseful courage.” The 23-page sentencing memorandum tells Estrada’s life story, starting with his happy childhood in Las Cruces, where he was born in 1972.
It talks about how he earned a master’s degree in business administration at Georgetown University and worked for the re-election of President George W. Bush that year. After Bush won, Estrada was hired by Bush’s Commerce Department in Washington, D.C., where he worked until 2009. He then came back to New Mexico to take care of his ailing mother, who died in 2010. “It was also in 2009 that Mr. Estrada became the campaign manager for Susana Martinez’s gubernatorial campaign,” the document says. “Despite the many hours he spent caring for his mother, he still worked long hours for the campaign, sometimes even in the hospital at his mother’s bedside. In December of 2009, Mr. Estrada left the Martinez campaign to begin his own campaign for a seat on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.” As noted in the document, the circumstances of Estrada leaving the Martinez campaign are disputed. Martinez has said she fired
him for snooping in her email. Estrada has denied he was fired and says he left voluntarily. A footnote in the document says, “The Court need not resolve this dispute. Mr. Estrada has admitted that after he left the campaign, he did not have the authority to control the domain name or associated email addresses.” The document admits that Estrada took control of Martinez’s campaign email domain by registering the domain under a false name and redirected the mail to another account under his control. “He received emails for several months and eventually gave the emails to Gov. Martinez’ political opponents,” the document said. “When he did so, he understood that the governor’s opponents would disseminate certain emails, though he never suspected that anyone would make all or even a large number of the emails available to the public.” The document quotes a presentencing report in which Estrada said, “It was wrong to obtain emails that were not addressed to me, regardless of my reasons for doing so. Indeed, obtaining these emails and later sharing them represented serious lapses of ethics and judgment.” Contact Steve Terrell at sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at www. santafenewmexican.com/news/ blogs/politics.
Yahoo: Feds threatened fine of $250K a day WASHINGTON — Yahoo said Thursday the government threatened to fine the company $250,000 a day if it did not comply with demands to go along with an expansion of U.S. surveillance by surrendering online information, a step the company regarded as unconstitutional. The outlines of Yahoo’s secret and unsuccessful court fight against government surveillance emerged when a federal judge ordered its unsealing. In a statement, Yahoo said the government amended a law to demand user information from online services, prompting a challenge in 2007 during the George W. Bush administration. “Our challenge, and a later appeal in the case, did not succeed,” Yahoo general
counsel Ron Bell said. The new material about the case underscores “how we had to fight every step of the way to challenge the U.S. government’s surveillance efforts,” Bell added. “At one point, the U.S. government threatened the imposition of $250,000 in fines per day if we refused to comply.” Bell said the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court upheld the predecessor to Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. Section 702 refers to the program called PRISM, which gave the government access to online communications by users of Yahoo. Ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden disclosed the program. Yahoo said it is committed to protecting users’ data and that it will continue to contest requests and laws that it considers unlawful, unclear or overly broad. The Associated Press
Book: Facebook says nudity banned from advertising Continued from Page A-1 image violates site guidelines. Advertisements posted on Facebook may not “use very sexual images, suggest nudity, show a lot of skin or cleavage, or focus unnecessarily on specific body parts.” A Facebook spokeswoman told The New Mexican the image would normally be allowed on a person’s Facebook page but is banned from use in advertising. “We hold advertisers to a higher standard because ads are proactively shown to people that the advertiser is trying to reach,” the spokeswoman said. “Our advertising policy does not draw a distinction between nudity in drawings or art pieces and actual nude people.” The spokeswoman did say the company wanted to work with Walker in future advertising, “so that she can continue to raise awareness about this important cause.” Walker was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2012, and after half a year of active treatment, she found she was cancer-free by April 2013. Along the way, Walker, a former reporter with The New Mexican, chronicled her fight with the disease in The Booby Blog. Recently, Walker decided to turn those posts, along with previously unpublished private journal entries, into a book titled The Booby Blog: A Cancer Chronicle. With the book written, she set out to gather funds for its publication and promotion via the online site Kickstarter. So far, she’s raised about $10,000 of her $15,000 goal. She turned to Facebook to promote the crowdfunding campaign. The social media site gives users an option to pay a fee to promote posts to a wider audience. Walker had employed this tactic once and found it useful. But she found her second attempt railroaded by the stringent ad guidelines. Thinking that an automated filter had mistakenly blocked her content, she reached out to a Facebook customer representative, who told her that ad images cannot contain nudity, no matter what the subject matter. Walker said she and Eldridge are longtime friends, and she sought out the artist when it was time to select artwork for her book’s cover. She and Eldridge spent a day looking through the artist’s portfolio. When she found Call Upon my Blessed Passion, she was struck by the angel wings, which resemble a broken heart. Walker’s ministry is called The Cracked-Open Heart. “We both saw this one, and it seemed absolutely perfect,” Walker wrote in an email. “This vulnerable, angelic figure, its heart bro-
ON THE WEB u For more information about Hollis Walker’s campaign, visit theboobyblog.com.
ken but transformed into wings — and in a way, that exquisitely represented my experience with breast cancer.” And that makes Facebook’s policy all the more confusing, Walker said, especially given that she often sees far more sexually explicit images on Facebook in normal feeds. Walker isn’t alone in facing what she considers an overreaching Facebook policy. Time reported in July that a professional photographer was briefly banned from the site because she had posted a photo of her daughters that showed one of the children’s bare buttocks. The news outlet also reported that the American Civil Liberties Union was briefly banned from posting a photo of a statue in Kansas depicting a naked person, and that the social media site had only just begun allowing users to post pictures of women breast-feeding. Eldridge also blasted Facebook. The artist, whose work is displayed at Nuart Gallery on Canyon Road, said she created the mixed-media painting about five years ago. She has since sold the piece, and she said it’s currently on prominent display in someone’s living room. The painter said she created the ethereal being with innocence, not sexuality, in her mind. “It’s just the female body,” Eldridge said. Facebook and Web censorship is a topic also familiar to local photographer Jennifer Esperanza. She said the artwork was “tasteful” and honored women. Esperanza said she sometimes creates sensual or erotic photos of the female form but refrains from posting them on Facebook because nearly every photo she has posted that showed a nipple — or a larger portion of a breast — was taken down. “For God’s sake, we all have nipples,” Esperanza said. “Works of arts with honest depictions are taken down and censored. I feel sad that the nipples are considered pornographic. It’s very archaic.” Regardless of Facebook’s policy, Walker said, she plans to continue promoting the book and the Kickstarter campaign. She said she has asked friends to promote her efforts via email, Twitter and their Facebook accounts. Contact Chris Quintana at 986-3093 or cquintana@ sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ CquintanaSF.