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MFAH
Visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston today with my mother, who is in town. I had been away from the museum for a long time after I worked there and I hadn't ever fully explored the new building. I'd gone to special exhibits but never taken the time just look at the permanent collection in its new digs. What a doofus.
Back when I worked there, the MFAH was a day trip. You could see everything on display within a day. The bulk of the museum's collection was in storage; one perk of being an employee in my position was that I had access to art storage and could go in and actually see the artwork so rarely, if ever, got hung in galleries. Today, we spent 6 hours looking and covered a fraction of the space. The art has room to breathe; you can walk around sculpture and you're not elbow-to-elbow with the person looking at the next piece. The experience is what I expect from a world-class art museum. Love the new building.
The current curator and curatorial assistant for the ancient collections (Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Etruscan, Assyrian, Mesopotamian, etc.) are doing an amazing job. The collections are...thin...but they've done an excellent job of including interesting information on the wall tags. A few short paragraphs gave a good feeling for each piece. They paired pieces nicely. For example, a bust of Caligula with a coin showing Caligula's profile. One thing I never liked about the coin displays at the Met was it was just a sea of ancient coins and I tended to glaze over looking at them. Pairing a coin with the bust encouraged me to really look at the coin. They might not have the best quality pieces or even breadth in the collections but they've done an excellent job of presenting everything they have. I cannot praise their work enough.
The museum's holding in European and American paintings from the early Renaissance through Remington are still quite good (the addition of two amazing Rembrandt paintings since I was there was a happy surprise) but the label text is still just as wretched as it was a decade ago. Coming from galleries with engaging wall text and use of little photos of the pieces rather than numbers, it's a huge let down to see tombstone labels on pieces that *I* know are iconic and important only because I worked at the museum. Very sad. Regardless of the lack of info, the pieces themselves are amazing and they are presented well within their various galleries.
We spent 5.5 of our hours in just those areas. We didn't even finish the European/American painting and sculpture. The last half hour, I took Mom to see the gorgeous Tiffany triptych window that the museum had acquired while I was still there. They've mounted it on a light box so the light comes through and it's perfect for showing it. I remember staring at the photography when it came over my desk and loving it. It's even more mind-blowing in person. Love that window. It's installed at the end of a hall of more modern art, Klines & Pollacks & to my great joy, the Oldenburg Giant Soft Fan (Ghost Version) is hung again. It was off display for years due to condition issues. I love the whimsy of the piece.
And, of course, I had to take Mom to see Turrell's light sculpture that is the tunnel between the old building and the new.
These are NOT my photos. I've scavenged them from the internet. I plan to go back with my camera and get some photos of my own. I couldn't find any photos of the ancient installations that so captured my imagination.
Claes Oldenburg, Giant Soft Fan (Ghost Version) - you can see a little bit of the Tiffany Window installation in the corner of the photo
Turrell's Light Sculpture in the MFAH tunnel between buildings.
On the downside, the gift shop is still as frustrating as ever. It's light and airy and so much nicer than it used to be but they still carry artsy items that don't really relate to what you've just seen in the galleries. Mom and I were looking, hoping to find something resembling some of the ancient vessels we'd seen upstairs and loved, but there was nothing. But that's a quibble. I have fallen in love with the new building and can't wait to go back.
Back when I worked there, the MFAH was a day trip. You could see everything on display within a day. The bulk of the museum's collection was in storage; one perk of being an employee in my position was that I had access to art storage and could go in and actually see the artwork so rarely, if ever, got hung in galleries. Today, we spent 6 hours looking and covered a fraction of the space. The art has room to breathe; you can walk around sculpture and you're not elbow-to-elbow with the person looking at the next piece. The experience is what I expect from a world-class art museum. Love the new building.
The current curator and curatorial assistant for the ancient collections (Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Etruscan, Assyrian, Mesopotamian, etc.) are doing an amazing job. The collections are...thin...but they've done an excellent job of including interesting information on the wall tags. A few short paragraphs gave a good feeling for each piece. They paired pieces nicely. For example, a bust of Caligula with a coin showing Caligula's profile. One thing I never liked about the coin displays at the Met was it was just a sea of ancient coins and I tended to glaze over looking at them. Pairing a coin with the bust encouraged me to really look at the coin. They might not have the best quality pieces or even breadth in the collections but they've done an excellent job of presenting everything they have. I cannot praise their work enough.
The museum's holding in European and American paintings from the early Renaissance through Remington are still quite good (the addition of two amazing Rembrandt paintings since I was there was a happy surprise) but the label text is still just as wretched as it was a decade ago. Coming from galleries with engaging wall text and use of little photos of the pieces rather than numbers, it's a huge let down to see tombstone labels on pieces that *I* know are iconic and important only because I worked at the museum. Very sad. Regardless of the lack of info, the pieces themselves are amazing and they are presented well within their various galleries.
We spent 5.5 of our hours in just those areas. We didn't even finish the European/American painting and sculpture. The last half hour, I took Mom to see the gorgeous Tiffany triptych window that the museum had acquired while I was still there. They've mounted it on a light box so the light comes through and it's perfect for showing it. I remember staring at the photography when it came over my desk and loving it. It's even more mind-blowing in person. Love that window. It's installed at the end of a hall of more modern art, Klines & Pollacks & to my great joy, the Oldenburg Giant Soft Fan (Ghost Version) is hung again. It was off display for years due to condition issues. I love the whimsy of the piece.
And, of course, I had to take Mom to see Turrell's light sculpture that is the tunnel between the old building and the new.
These are NOT my photos. I've scavenged them from the internet. I plan to go back with my camera and get some photos of my own. I couldn't find any photos of the ancient installations that so captured my imagination.
Claes Oldenburg, Giant Soft Fan (Ghost Version) - you can see a little bit of the Tiffany Window installation in the corner of the photo
Turrell's Light Sculpture in the MFAH tunnel between buildings.
On the downside, the gift shop is still as frustrating as ever. It's light and airy and so much nicer than it used to be but they still carry artsy items that don't really relate to what you've just seen in the galleries. Mom and I were looking, hoping to find something resembling some of the ancient vessels we'd seen upstairs and loved, but there was nothing. But that's a quibble. I have fallen in love with the new building and can't wait to go back.
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I really need to make the effort to do so.
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It's still often B-pieces by A-artists but they're making some real strides. The Rembrandt paintings are GORGEOUS. They have an excellent collection of Remingtons that is displayed to great effect. The Tiffany window is stunning in its new home. I had an excellent time and recommend it as a "OMG, it's wicked hot outside but I'm going stir-crazy at home" activity. I think you'll really enjoy yourself.
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So, producing 5 - 10,000 of something that's not on permanent exhibit leaves us with stuff we'll never sell. Its harder than one would think to find related items. We try to stock books/dvds related to current exhibits because we aren't stuck with the inventory when an exhibit closes.
If that helps explain the logic of a gift shop. Unless you're like the Met or the Smithsonian, its hard. :(
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The new store looks great and they had some pretty glassware. They had umbrellas with Monet's Waterlillies, but it was another museum's version of the iconic paintings. Somebody else is making money off that licensing. I know because I was approached for it and tried to work out a deal but couldn't ever get our retail folks to show any interest.
As a tourist who goes to museums preferentially for vacations, I want something that reminds me of what I've seen. I'll often buy a DVD or permanent collection catalog and either something functional (say, a pewter salt cellar or Christmas ornament) or a piece of statuary so that I have something to remind me of my visit. It doesn't have to be a replica of something I've seen; just something reminiscent of it. There was nothing like that, sadly.
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We try to keep local artists and other independent artists from around the country we find through museum shop associations. Its a fine line. We have to keep things that are somehow educational yet those don't always sell and we have to pay ourselves. We also try to keep things that appeal to tourists but keep locals coming in. We do huge amounts of local business for holidays. That we take pride in. People purposefully come to us at Christmas and such because they can get quality gifts and support the foundation. We don't want to just be kitschy tourist stuff. You can get that anywhere in the Quarter.
My biggest issue is the question "is this made locally?" People want to buy it if its made here. But, it might be a local company that outsources because we're not exactly a factory town. But then when stuff is made locally and by hand it costs more and people get all OMG that's a lot for a magnet! Well...whatever people. We just can't satisfy everyone there.
Like on one hand we found these adorable beans n rice cards and buttons. So not a local company but a local theme.
In terms of licensing, we do luck out there. We own everything we exhibit and therefore everything we reproduce so we don't have to pay any fees.
I've heard some similar complaints about NoMa here. The gift shop is outdated. Same with the race track here which is over a hundred years old and has all this amazing history yet they sell gaudy handbags. I think its who is running the place and how long they've been there.
You should see some of the Grandma inventory we're still trying to dump. Like those plastic notepads with pencils for next to the phone! OMG. Meanwhile, we do have awesome stuff from locals. Like frames made from salvaged wood of blighted properties. Ceramic miniature tombs. Jewelry etc.
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It must be a fine line to walk between affordable and original. Houston is a little easier because we aren't a tourist center; you're unlikely to find cheap tourist stuff anywhere near the museum. The new museum shop IS a gorgeous retail space and they had some clever items. I spend too much money whenever I'm in the Met store and I spent quite a bit at the J.P. Morgan Library and the Art Institute of Chicago. Nothing I bought in those stores was a replica of anything I saw but they were in the style of items I saw and enjoyed. I assume they must sell enough to continue stocking those items so maybe I'm the odd shopper? It wouldn't be the first time.
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I hope that you get a chance to see it. The collections are somewhat uneven (some are deep and amazing, others are sparse) but the building is world-class and a lot of the new accessions are, too.
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It was a painting of a slightly older gentleman; he's hanging on the opposite side of the doorway as the girl. I found the girl to be a far more interesting painting but my eye is not developed ("I know what I like" is my motto) so probably he's a more important painting in the art world. I'm going back sometime soon when Amy's free so I'll look and report back with the title if you haven't already gone to see it.
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http://mfah.org/artsearch.asp?par1=1&par2=rembrandt%20%20%20%20%20%20&par3=1&par4=2280&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=4&eid=¤tPage=1
?
Supposedly they've also got http://mfah.org/artsearch.asp?par1=1&par2=rembrandt%20%20%20%20%20%20&par3=1&par4=469&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=4&eid=¤tPage=1
which I would be very keen to see.
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