11 minute read
LOOKING FORWARD History is Always Now Collections Conservation How to Move a Collection Construction Update
History is Always NOW
The inaugural exhibition will welcome long-loved masterpieces to their new home next to the Main Library in downtown Iowa City. But it will do so in ways that are informed by our present moment.
Curators have been working from home, planning the inaugural exhibition that will reunite Iowa City with the Stanley Museum of Art’s extraordinary collection. There are few academic art museums—public or private—with comparable depth and breadth. The Stanley is home to exceptional modern masterpieces, a peerless collection of African art, as well as ceramic and print collections that span the centuries with artwork from around the world.
In planning the inaugural, the curators have reflected on the history of this collection and considered the values the collection has embodied over time. The focus and quality of the artworks in the Stanley’s holdings are indebted to the University of Iowa’s commitment to art as part of its teaching and research mission. In the midst of the Great Depression and as war loomed in Europe, the UI secured the resources to build West Campus, home to the theater and fine arts buildings, and began collecting art. Just as
Sam Gilliam (American, 1933– ) Red April, 1970 Acrylic on canvas 116 1/2 x 161 x 3 in. Gift of The Longview Foundation and Museum purchase, 1971.11 © 2020 Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956) Mural, 1943 (detail) Oil and casein on canvas 95 5/8 x 237 3/4 in. Gift of Peggy Guggenheim, 1959.6
cutting-edge science cannot be conducted without labs, faculty, and access to the latest research, so transformative art cannot be created without infrastructure, expertise, and exemplary works from which to learn. In addition to hiring renowned faculty, which included Lester Longman, H. W. Janson, Grant Wood, and Phillip Guston, the UI drew upon endowments to invest in art early on in the twentieth century. The Mark Ranney Memorial Fund, for example, was established in 1907 and generated income that enabled the university to purchase masterpieces that included Max Beckmann’s Karneval (1943) and Joan Miró’s A Drop of Dew… (1939). In the last decade, this same fund
Artworks are made in their own time and place by artists concerned with the present challenges of their lives. But no artwork is wholly contained by the moment of its making.
was used to purchase important photographs by Herbert Matter, Barbara Morgan, and Carrie Mae Weems. The excellence of the collection inspired transformative gifts that led to the establishment and construction of the art museum, which opened its doors in 1969.
The inaugural exhibition will welcome long-loved masterpieces to their new home next to the Main Library in downtown Iowa City. But it will do so in ways that are informed by our present moment. Now, as then, exceptional artists stretch the parameters of their medium to contend with social, political, and economic crises. Jackson Pollock’s Mural (1943), made when victory in World War II seemed unclear, adopted the expansive scale of historic painting to convey a vision of American triumph. Pollock’s work inspired generations of abstract painters; but the history that Sam Gilliam captured in Red April(1970) is profoundly different from that of Pollock’s. Pleating, folding, and soaking his canvas with bright red, Gilliam made this work a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the spring of revolt against the exploitation and persecution of Black Americans. Stretched across the enormous beveled frame, the painting, however lyrical, however abstract, forces the viewer to contend with the blood that soaks American history.
Artworks are made in their own time and place by artists concerned with the present challenges of their lives. But no artwork is wholly contained by the moment of its making. Rather, every artwork— collected, interpreted, and shown—resonates with our present and envisions possible futures. What the inaugural exhibition will explore are the ways that every artwork we show can reveal the world of the past, sharpen our sense of the present, and allow us to envision the future.
Joan Mitchell (American, 1925–1992) Red Painting No. 2, 1954 Oil on canvas 67 5/8 x 74 x 2 1/2 in. Gift of Frederick King Shaw, 1973.34 © Joan Mitchell Foundation
Collections Conservation
Red Painting No. 2 (1954) is a spectacular work that helped earn Joan Mitchell early acclaim. Mitchell was one of the very few women who helped to cement the reputation of the Abstract Expressionists through her participation in the watershed Ninth Street Show in 1951 and, in following years, her solo exhibitions at the Stable Gallery, NYC. Red Painting no. 2 was recognized for its daring; Kyle Morris included it as part of the 1955 exhibition Vanguard at the Walker Art Center. Critics alternately described her work as lyrical or aggressive, rigorously abstract or naturalistic. Red Painting No. 2 sustains the simultaneity of these seemingly contradictory descriptions. Colorful marks accrue across the canvas, layered like sediment to create passages of thick impasto. The highly gestural, vibrant abstract painting shimmers and registers at times like landscape.
Precisely because of its experimental approach and because it is so well loved, the painting has had a few condition issues. In the past it had lost some paint because of scratches here and there, but more recently and more alarmingly, the painting had begun to flake. This was one of the most highprofile paintings in our collection that was in need of treatment. But there are others in the collection that needed care as well. When Joyce Tsai first arrived as curator in 2016, she conducted a survey of the paintings with Katherine Wilson, manager of exhibitions and collections, and Kim Datchuk, now curator of learning and engagement. As newcomers, Kim and Joyce wanted to get a sense of the collection in person, but the process also gave them an opportunity to identify artworks that should be conserved. Because the collection is in Davenport, this study had to be conducted over the course of a year on days they could devote to being in storage. It was a thrilling experience for them to go from reviewing the collection through the database to seeing the works in person.
One painting that caught their eye was Girl in Green (1937) by Nicolai Cikovsky. It was a charming picture but in an alarming state—not only was it dirty, but the painting had been folded over multiple times and there were patched nail holes along the edge from various attempts to stretch the canvas. With a little research, museum staff discovered that this painting had once been in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and came to UI by exchange for a piece by Man Ray. That in itself was a bit shocking. Why on earth would the University of Iowa have a Man Ray painting to begin with, and what would convince the UI to exchange it with MoMA for this portrait?
Above, left: Installation view of Vanguard 55, Walker Art Center, 1955 Courtesy Walker Art Center Archives
Tastes and values change over time and Girl in Green captures these shifts. This painting debuted at the renowned Downtown Gallery in 1938 to rave reviews in The New York Times and was selected as a representative painting in Three Hundred Years of American Art , the landmark show that was organized by MoMA and exhibited in Paris. That same year, MoMA acquired the painting.
This painting came to Iowa in part because of the University of Iowa’s MFA program. While early on the program was devoted to Modern art, it was also training painters to work in traditional genres like portraiture. Even Phillip Guston, who taught at the University in the forties, executed portraits that share Cikovsky’s language.
In 2017 both the Mitchell and Cikovsky were among dozens of works assessed by a paintings conservator at the Midwest Art Conservation Center. Through the generosity of retired Iowa City citizen Steven A. Hall—who also happens to be Katherine Wilson’s father—the museum was able to send both paintings to be conserved. The Mitchell was cleaned, the areas of flaking and potential loss stabilized. Conservators vacuumed the Cikovsky, removed the dirty varnish, humidified the canvas to help relax the deformations, and filled paint losses. The Stanley is thrilled to bring both these paintings to light soon in the inaugural exhibition.
Nicolai Cikovsky (American, 1894–1987) Girl in Green, 1937 Oil on canvas, 43 1/2 x 37 ½ in. Exchange with the Museum of Modern Art, 1938.2 © Estate of Nicolai Cikovsky
How to Move a Collection: When you can’t access the collection
With the temporary closing of the University of Iowa due to public health measures in response to COVID-19, the collections management team has been working from home, along with much of the country. Unable to proceed with packing up for the move to the new museum building, the first challenge was to determine what could be done without access to the art.
Many objects need extra support to ensure they are not damaged during the moving process. While some art pieces need specific reinforcements or bracing that must be made on an individualized basis, there are others that one can create reinforcements for without having the object on hand. For these a number of different-sized supports that fit most objects can be created.
Ceramic vessels with small or round bases are excellent examples of these types of objects. For these vessels supportive rings are made. When the pieces are boxed up for transportation—and eventually stored on our new building’s compacting movable shelving—these rings maintain stability and proper orientation. The rings are made out of an inert foam that is soft enough not to damage the object should it be jostled, and stiff enough to maintain its shape under the weight of the object it is placed under. In order to support small, medium, and large vessels a variety of ring sizes were made. As soon as the collections team is able to be reunited with the art, these rings will be ready to be matched with appropriately-sized objects and packed up for transportation.
Along with the rings, the team has also been making supports to protect the museum’s extensive textile collection. These soft fabric tubes will pad out any folds made when packing. Folding fabric can cause the cloth to crease, and overtime these creases will become permanent and cause the fibers of the textile to break due to prolonged stress. To create the tubes, cotton stockinette is filled with batting. This material is formed into giant snakes which will then be cut to length as each piece of fabric is folded.
The collections team is excited to put these and other newly made supports into action once they can return to working with the art. COVID-19 has prompted the team to review their packing needs, which now involves developing assembly line-like processes to meet those demands.
Steve Erickson
Right: Topping out beam
Below right: Installation of stair seen from the lightwell
Below left: From southeast of building, looking toward main entry
Far below: Looking south on first level
Photos courtesy of Russell Construction Co., Inc.
Construction update
Construction is continuing apace for the new Stanley Museum of Art. The ground works were finished over the winter months. The building is supported by 66 concrete piers socketed into bedrock with a combined total length of 3,420 feet. Concrete was poured for foundation walls, the underground parking level, elevator pits, and stairway access on the north side. Structural steel was delivered to the site in February and the new building emerged from the ground in the following four months. Thus far, 800 tons of steel and the custom public staircase have been installed. Timed to coincide with underground utility work being conducted by the city on Madison and Burlington streets, chilled water, fiber optic, and electrical connections are now complete. Construction of the exterior wall has begun, and the iconic brickwork will start in August 2020. The construction crew celebrated a traditional “topping out” ceremony on June 12 when the final, highest steel beam, signed and adorned with flags and a fir tree, was hoisted into place. The practice of including a tree originates from the ancient Scandinavian practice of placing a tree on a finished, timber-frame structure to appease tree-dwelling spirits displaced in construction. Steelworkers have adopted this custom to ensure good luck for both the workers and the future occupants of the building. You can help turn our new home into a “signed original”! Visit foriowa.org/mymuseum between September 16–30 to virtually sign the new structure. Your message will be transcribed on your behalf. Details: susan.horan@foriowa.org 319-467-3408 or
800-648-6973
