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Nira Pereg, Five Calls (Sun Clock), 2015. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta who is above, in the left background/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Lobbyist Tony Podesta wants all his art eventually to be up in museums for the public to see, and we the people applaud opportunities to see it! Thank you, Mr. Podesta.
For decades he has given his art to D.C. museums, and on January 26 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Mr. Podesta was the star, surrounded by curators, artists, and a moderator on stage who came with several hundred to recognize the donations and the opening of a new exhibition, The Gifts of Tony Podesta.
Gyan Panchal, qqlos, 2009, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie
It is the first major exhibition of Mr. Podesta's donations to the Katzen which are drawn from the museum's Corcoran Legacy Collection.
Curators Klaus Ottmann, chief curator and deputy director for academic affairs at the Phillips Collection, and Jennifer Sakai, an instructor in the department of photography at George Washington University, talked informally with Mr. Podesta at the event moderated by Jack Rasmussen, the Katzen director.
Let's discuss Katja Strunz' Form & Mal (in 7 parts)/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Katja Strunz, Form & Mal (in 7 parts), 2004. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie
"I
talk with many people about art," Mr. Podesta said at the beginning of
the presentation. "It's not a formal process," and he uses no advisor.
"I read a lot and travel around the globe looking for art." (He was
headed to the art fair at Bologna and then to meet an Australian artist in Copenhagen for an opening.)
"I
feel like I'm a steward of the works, and the most important thing is
for people to see [the art] within a public institution. Every year I
give away a lot of things."
Jake and Dinos Chapman, Rape of Creativity, 1999, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie
When
the Corcoran Gallery of Art closed in 2014 and the National Gallery of
Art took over its collection, the Gallery curators decided to keep half
of Mr. Podesta's gifts to the Corcoran and left it up to him to find
museums for the rest.
He
contacted the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian
American Art Museum, and the Katzen, which enjoys "the lion's share."
"I
thought the [Katzen] would be a good house for them," Mr. Podesta
said, and he recruited Dr. Ottmann and Ms. Sakai as curators.
At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Ann-Sofi Sidén, Fideicommissum, 2000, American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Said Ms. Sakai: "It was an exuberance of riches to go through." She curated the photographs, and Dr. Ottmann, the sculptures.
Said Dr. Ottmann: "Tony
is one of these very rare collectors, someone who is really not a
trophy collector. He's in a private position where he can see so many
wonderful works."
Dr.
Ottmann said he had known Mr. Podesta about 20 years: "Tony is an
extremely generous donor. He likes to connect people, likes to connect
artists. He does dinners at his house. [It's] an ongoing repertoire.
"It's a remarkable collection.
"Every time I come to Tony's house and I see things on the wall and I don't know what they are, I ask him.
"Museums today would be in a very bad place without Tony and collectors like him."
From left, Tony Podesta, Klaus Ottman, and Jennifer Sakai at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie
From left, Tony Podesta and Klaus Ottman at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/
Photo by Patricia Leslie
Brothers John, left, and Tony Podesta at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Most of the works in the show are by artists Mr. Podesta knows, "some [who] have become my friends," including sculptor Barbara Liotta, who with Ottonella Mocellin were the artists on stage. Ms. Liotta said she met the collector 20 years ago when she was doing a show in Italy and Mr. Podesta swooped in and bought every piece.
"It gave me security," she said, and they kept in touch. "He kept on buying works from me and other Italian artists."
When she and her husband visited Mr. Podesta, "we were astounded by all the works. He's not afraid of buying the wrong thing."
Installing the sculptures at the Katzen was not always easy, Dr. Ottman said: "It was pretty challenging," and Mr. Rasmussen agreed: "It was a mystery at times."
Said Mr. Podesta to audience laughter: "I had nothing to do with the installation."
Dr. Ottmann: "I always try to create interesting dynamics betwen the works of art."
Answering a question from a member of the audience, Mr. Podesta said he never tires of collecting.
It's "mostly Washington museums" he rewards.
Asked if he regretted not buying a particular piece, Mr. Podesta said: "There's always the one that got away. In fishing and in art." But nothing he may have missed keeps him awake at night.
"Everything will go somewhere." With his collections, he said, "I take everything down and put up fresh."
Mr. Podesta recognized his brother, John, in the audience noting that the latter once represented a group of artists.
Other works in the exhibition are by Darren Almond, Jenny Gage, Mads Gamdrup, Anna Gaskell, Margi Geerlinks, Siobhán Hapaska, Mwangi Hutter, Justine Kurland, Jone Kvie, Clare Langan, Malerie Marder, Ernesto Neto, Anneè Olofsson, Nira Pereg, Patricia Piccinini, Torbjørn Rødland, Jenny Rydhagen, Janaina Tschäpe, Hellen van Meene, and Tom Waldron.
What: The Gifts of Tony Podesta
When: Through March 17, 2019, Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Katzen Arts Center at American University,4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
Admission: No charge
Metro station: Tenleytown on the Red Line. From there, take a free AU shuttle bus to the museum.
Parking: Free in the Katzen garage after 5 p.m. and on weekends.For more information: 202-885-2787
patricialesli@gmail.com
Oda Krohg (1860-1935), A Subscriber to the Evening Post, 1887, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo. The Phillips' wall text said, "one of the earliest examples of social critique to include the image of a child in art." This is the artist's child, Nana, 2, cutting up a conservative newspaper which criticized intellectuals' life styles, namely that of the artist and her husband, Christian, who resisted bourgeois society.
You may have missed the eclectic, broad survey of 200 years of art at Nordic Impressions which closed Sunday at the Phillips Collection to which we give utmost thanks for opening its doors at no charge to federal employees during the Trump Shutdown.
Pictured here are most of my favorites from the show which all tend to be styled more or less in the same manner, and it is interesting that without paying much attention to the artist's gender, I chose many by female artists, many who seem to represent the same time period. Anyway...
Impressions
included 53 artists from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and
the self-governing islands of Åland, Faroe, and Greenland.
Helmer Osslund (1866-1938), A Summer Evening at Lake Kallsjon, 1910, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Paintings
and video installations of Nordic lights and darks highlighted the show
of landscapes and melancholic portraits, self exploration, and works of
women's rights and social liberalism.
The exhibition was years in the making, beginning after the successful run of the 2013 Nordic Cool exhibition at the Kennedy Center.
Mamma Andersson (b. 1962), Behind the Curtain, 2014, collection of the artist
Harriet Backer (1845-1932), Evening Interior, 1890, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo. Backer "was one of the most influential Norwegian artists of her generation," said the wall text. The year she painted Evening Interior, she had shifted from natural to artificial light and its concomitant "harsh shadows."
To advance the display of flowing Nordic treasures, Nordic Council
members signed the Nordic Cultural Initiative with the Phillips in 2014
with the purpose "to promote the wealth of Nordic artistic talent" and
to cultivate attention on the art.
The Phillips' chief curator and deputy director for academic affairs, Klaus Ottmann, began working with the embassies on the show in 2014, he said in a telephone interview.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Self-Portrait, 1895,The Phillips Collection. The wall text said "the skeletal arm" (not shown here) "along the bottom serving as a reminder of the artist's mortality." He was 32 when he painted Self-Portrait.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Henrik Ibsen at the Grand Cafe, 1902, The Phillips Collection. Munch made more than 400 illustrations of Ibsen's plays, according to the wall text. Both were Norwegian.
With
assistance from the Nordic Council, Dr. Ottmann traveled to all eight
countries in the summer of 2015, spending two and half weeks visiting
five museums every day and meeting with museum directors, curators, and
viewing hundreds of pieces of art, all the while taking notes and
pictures.
Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848), Zealand Landscape, 1842, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen
Jorgen V. Sonne (1801-1890), Midsummer's Eve, Sick People Asleep upon the Grave of St. Helena near Tisvilde St. Hansnat, 1847, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen. The wall text described the sick people in the painting visiting St. Helena's grave site, hoping to be cured by the saint. Legend says St. Helena's body washed ashore causing a spring to appear that, since the Middle Ages, ill people have visited, hoping to be cured. The artist's rendition of the sky's colors was one of the first to illuminate Denmark's "unique midsummer-night light" when sunset and sunlight meet over the sea..
Dr. Klaus Ottmann of the Phillips Collection at the opening of Nordic Impressions/Photo by Patricia Leslie
The selection of the art was not an easy task, said Dr. Ottmann.
"All
the countries very strongly felt the three self-governing nations
[Åland, Faroe, and Greenland] must have artists represented," and they
also insisted that indigenous artists from the northern parts of Sweden
and Finland be included in the show.
They were.
Ruth Smith (1913-1958), Self-Portrait, 1955, National Gallery of the Faroe Islands. The artist was born in the Faroe Islands, one of the three self-governing islands represented in the exhibition. The wall text said her self-portrait "reflects the influence of Paul Cezanne....[and] is mercilessly faithful and reflects her depression due to her deteriorating eyesight."
Christian Krohg (1852-1925), Braiding Her Hair, 1888, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo
Populations (or "equal representation") of the countries were not considered for Nordic Impressions,
Dr. Ottmann explained. Ten artists from each of the five largest
countries were selected plus one each from the island nations for a
total of 53.
Several times in the interview Dr. Ottmann
mentioned the limitation of space he had at the Phillips which meant
selectivity of pieces was critical, but no one in the Nordic contingent
insisted on particular artists, but some gave him "helpful advice."
The embassies were "very, very helpful. I
didn't get everything I wanted, and we communicated back and forth."
Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), The Seamstress (The Working Woman), 1905, Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
Fanny Brate (1861-1940), Sunshine, 1898, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916), Interior with the Artist's Easel, 1910, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen. The wall text identified the artist as a recluse who seldom provided narrative.
Asger Jorn (1914-1973), Ainsi on s'Ensor (Out of this World-after Ensor), 1962, Museum Jorn, Silkeborg. Jorn was an experimental artist who modified paintings in the style of Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949), according to wall text. This is a reworked rendition of a hanged man by French artist Hugues de Beaumont (1874-1947). The title means "and so one departs." Note the prickly cat.
From his work for the show, "I learned two major things:
I was surprised by the number of women artists from the Nortics [about half the artists in the show], especially in the 19th century which I didn't know before," and "the diversity, a lot of it, especially the styles of the artists."
Dr. Ottmann found "lots of abstracts in many different styles which I tried to include," and he did.
The exhibition was "not inclusive, or comprehensive and
clearly, there are some things missing," he said. But diversity was evident and the common themes of nature, family life, and a strong sense of ecology were dominant.
"I did not want it to be another cliche" for Nordic art, Dr. Ottmann said: "I wanted [the exhibition] to have surprises," and it did. Many of them.
"The Nordic scene is so powerful. There was much for me to learn."
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir (also known as "Shoplifter") and Dr. Klaus Ottmann at the opening of Nortic Impressions at The Phillips Collection. Behind them is Zealand Landscape, 1842, by Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848), National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Some of the artists in the show were from the Golden Age and Romantic era (Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Helene Schjerfbeck), while others are known for their nationalism and French influence (Franciska Clausen and Helmer Osslund). Sigurður Guðmundsson and Poul Gernes demonstrated conceptual and experimental art.
Contemporary artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir also known as "Shoplifter" (because the pronouncement of her name sounds like "Shoplifter"), is a present resident of Brooklyn
"discovered" by Dr. Ottmann on his trip, he said. She visited the Phillips three times to help with planning, as did other Nordic artists and musicians. ("Shoplifter" will represent Iceland in this year's Venice Biennale which boasts an attendance of a half million persons.)
Dr. Ottmann wrote the lead essay for the catalogue and others making contributions were Dorthe Aagesen, chief curator and senior researcher, SMK Copenhagen; Kasper Monrad, former chief curator and senior researcher, SMK Copenhagen; Riitta Ojanperä, director of collections management, Finnish National Gallery; Nils Ohlsen, director of old masters and modern art, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design; and Carl-Johan Olsson, curator, 19th-century painting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
The 200-paged softbound catalogue with color reproductions and artists' biographical sketches sells for $19.95 in the Phillips' gift shop.
An abbreviated, contemporary version of the exhibition screened earlier in Seattle.
The Marion F. Goldin Charitable Fund, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, and the scan|design foundation helped make the exhibition possible with in-kind support by Farrows and Ball.
This year will mark Dr. Ottmann's ninth year at the Phillips where he curated George Condo before Nordic, one of more than 50 shows he has orchestrated around the world, including one opening January 26 at American University, The Gifts of Tony Podesta.
A native of Nuremberg, Germany, Dr. Ottmann earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy and began his career as an art critic. He has written so many books, "a lot, I can't keep up with [them]. I've been writing for almost 35 years."
He did not mention it, but his Wikipedia page says in 2016 he was awarded the French Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). The honor recognizes notable artists, writers, and others who have helped advance the arts in France and around the world. Dr. Ottmann joins the company of T.S. Eliot, Rudolf Nureyev, Philip Glass and others.
Where: The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St., N.W. at Q St., Washington, D.C. 20009
Hours: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., with extended hours on Thursday (with a ticket) until 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, 12 - 6:30 p.m.
Admission: $12, $10 for students and those over 62, free for members and for children 18 and under. A ticket includes admission to all exhibitions on view. From Tuesday through Friday, admission is free to the permanent collection and on Saturday and Sunday, permanent collection prices are reduced to $10 (adults) and $8 (seniors and students). Those under 18 are admitted at no charge.
Metro Station: Dupont Circle (Q Street exit. Turn left and walk one block.)
For more information: 202-387-2151
Patricialesli@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter: patriciadcdc
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