Thinking Long Term: To Sell, or Not to Sell, a Masterpiece

“In the long run, we’re all dead,” John Maynard Keynes once said in defense of his brand of economics featuring an array of short-term solutions. It seems like the state legislature of Iowa feels the same way. Faced with a budgetary shortfall, the Iowa House is considering forcing the University of Iowa to sell Jackson Pollock’s Mural (detail shown above), a painting in their collection estimated to be worth $140 million USD. “That would be like selling your grandmother,” claims Sean O’Harrow, director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Lawmakers suggest that such a sale now could help pay for scholarships in the future. But are they really thinking long term in suggesting this short-term solution? Or are they selling away future generations’ enjoyment of their cultural heritage in a moment of panic? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Thinking Long Term."

Beautiful, Dark, Twisted: George Condo at the New Museum

Kanye West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came out too late to be nominated for the Grammy Awards being held tonight, so we’ll have to wait until next year to see the master provocateur in action. Those familiar with the cover artwork of West’s album won’t have to wait so long to see more of the art of George Condo, star of the exhibition George Condo: Mental States, running at the New Museum through May 8, 2011. When West specifically went looking for an artist who could stir up a controversy, he found the perfect partner in Condo, whose works fulfill the requirements of dark, twisted, and, most of all, beautiful, but in a haunting, “where have I seen this before” kind of way. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Beautiful, Dark, Twisted."

[Image: George Condo, Figures In a Garden, 2010. Acrylic, pastel, and charcoal on linen, 78 x 108 in (198.1 x 274.3 cm). Collection Laura and Stafford Broumand. © George Condo 2010]

[Many thanks to the New Museum for providing me with the image above and other press materials for the exhibition George Condo: Mental States, which runs through May 8, 2011.]

Dark Continent: Africa as Seen in American Art Museums

Two years before opening his Barnes Foundation in 1925, Dr. Albert C. Barnes vowed that in his new institution, “negro art will have a place among the great art manifestations of all times.” Such lofty goals and noble aspirations mark much of the history of American art museums in their quest to collect, display, and represent African culture through its art. Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display, edited by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, traces that long history by collecting the institutional stories of 13 museums that have played key roles in how African art is seen in the United States. Situated outside of the Western tradition, African art poses a challenge to the conventional thinking of the standard museum model. Sincere attempts to illuminate the realm once known as the “Dark Continent” sometimes led to even more obscurity and confusion, but the story of American art museums coming to terms with the fruits of Africa is ultimately a success story, still in the making. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Dark Continent."

[Many thanks to the University of Washington Press for providing me with a review copy of Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display, edited by Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke.]