Manchester, NH – On October 2 the Currier Museum of
Art launches
The Secret Life of Art: Mysteries of the Museum
Revealed, an exploration of the life of an art museum. The
exhibition gives a glimpse into the world of museums, unlocking secrets from the
Currier’s own collection of art along the
way.
Imagine following the journey of a painting beginning from its first
showing at a gallery in the 1930’s, as it travels around the country to
its final home at the Currier. Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cross by the
Sea, 1932, has 22 paper labels attached to back of the painting that
document its exhibition and ownership history from its first presentation at
Alfred Stieglitz’s gallery An American Place in 1935. The labels serve as
a visual record of the painting’s growing acceptance as a major work by
one of America’s most important modernist artists. The painting will be
mounted so that both front and back will be visible and text accompanying the
painting will “decode” the labels to give a complete picture of its
history.
A simple childhood memory can lead to an extraordinary gift of art to a
museum. Such is the case with Mark Rothko’s Untitled, Red over
Brown, 1967. This painting was inscribed on the reverse, “To my
friend Dr. Albert Grokoest with gratitude Mark Rothko 1967” by the
artist when he gave the painting to his physician and friend Dr. Albert
Grokoest. Grokoest was a New Hampshire native, and he bequeathed the
picture to the Currier in appreciation of the role the museum played in his
childhood. Without Dr. Grokoest’s generosity, the Currier might not
have a work by this renowned Abstract Expressionist painter of the mid twentieth
century.
Often the artist’s original concept and the final work of art change
during the creative process. The Secret Life lets you
take a look under the paint using scientific analysis, like infrared photos.
Such photos of the seventeenth-century Dutch panel painting Card
Players, about 1635, by Jan Molenaer, reveals the artist’s
under-drawing and changes he made to the composition as he created it. Card
Players will be displayed with a full-sized enlargement of the infrared
image and text that will help visitors understand how technology has aided
curators and conservators in understanding this object’s history and the
artist’s working
methods.
It’s widely known that the Currier borrows art for special
exhibitions, but did you realize the museum also loans art from its own
collections to other museums? Jan Gossart’s Self Portrait will be
on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery, London for
the exhibition Man, Myth and Sensual Pleasures: Jan Gossaart’s
Renaissance from October, 2010 through May, 2011 which overlaps with
The Secret Life of Art. We
will document the packing of the painting in preparation for its shipment and a
regular blog post will chronicle the painting’s travels and update
visitors on the how and why of object
travel.
These and many more stories in The Secret Life of Art:
Mysteries of the Museum Revealed comprise an exhibition unlike any
other at the Currier, integrating public input in the planning and throughout
the exhibition, while giving visitors a behind-the-scenes view of the museum.
It’s not a secret
anymore!
The Secret Life of Art is generously supported by Public Service of New
Hampshire, Putnam Foundation, and TD Charitable
Foundation.
About the Currier:
The Currier Museum of Art (www.currier.org) is home to an
internationally respected collection of European and American paintings,
decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. New galleries showcase the
collection of over 11,000 objects, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet,
O'Keeffe, and Warhol. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the engaging traveling
exhibitions, a series of dynamic programs ranging from music to lectures to
hands-on art-making, an expanded gift shop and an airy café filled with
light and equipped with Wi-Fi. The associated Art Center offers studio classes,
art camps and intensive workshops for all
ages.
The Currier is located at 150 Ash Street, Manchester, New Hampshire and is
wheelchair accessible. Museum hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and
Sunday, 11-5; Saturday, 10-5. Closed Tuesday. Open 11-8 the first Thursday of
each month. Museum admission: adults $10; seniors $9; students $8; children
under 18 free. Free to all on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. To get more
information, visit www.currier.org or call 603.669.6144
x108.
###
