Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Fall 2013
DIRECTOR’S LETTER
Susan M. Taylor
New Orleans author Jason Berry recently wrote for The Daily Beast, “New Orleans has become a city of the young, a magnet not just for teachers and NGO workers, but entrepreneurs, developers, software scribes, website designers and urban planners. With more than 100 art galleries, New Orleans has a flourishing bohemia of artists and creative folk...” This statement in particular emphasizes part of the city’s current renaissance, and the extent to which creative minds in all fields are inspired by New Orleans. The New Orleans Museum of Art is proud to be playing its own role in such revitalization, and the fall exhibition schedule reflects the museum’s mission to continue to use New Orleans as a point of departure for artistic exploration that engages multiple audiences and disciplines, creating a dynamic cultural space. Camille Henrot’s upcoming exhibition Cities of Ys uses elements of Louisiana’s culture as a direct source of inspiration, specifically the history of the United Houma Nation. NOMA is proud to host her multimedia presentation—her first solo exhibition in the United States—that has already garnered national attention in The New York Times fall season preview. Equally anticipated is the next iteration of the NOMA➔CAC partnership, Edward Burtynsky: Water, an exhibition that examines humanity’s relationship to the world’s vital resource. Burtynsky’s large-scale, color photographs paint a breathtaking view of water and the ways in which man has tried to harness it. New Orleans is a port city with a complex connection to water, and included in Burtynsky’s presentation are several photographs of the 2010 BP oil spill. In addition to also being mentioned by The New York Times, this exhibition was recently named one of the “25 Art Shows That Will Rock the World” by The Huffington Post. The highlight of the fall will be the monumental exhibition Photography at NOMA. In the 1970s, NOMA’s leadership, spearheaded by Director Emeritus John Bullard, had the foresight to begin collecting photography long before it was commonly viewed on museum and gallery walls. The result is a rich photography collection that contains nearly 10,000 works that span the history of the medium. Many of the artists featured were also heavily influenced by New Orleans, and several photographs will illustrate that relationship. This exhibition is an important part of NOMA’s legacy; I encourage you to visit when it opens in November. NOMA 2013 Odyssey gala will coincide with the opening of Photography at NOMA. This year’s Odyssey, presented by IBERIABANK, is a “Black and White Ball,” a proper nod to the beauty of black and white photography. The NOMA Volunteer Committee, with Odyssey Chairs Marilee and Andrew Hovet, has created an unforgettable evening that will be the capstone celebration of this exhibition. I hope to see you there.
Susan M. Taylor The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director
CONTENTS
Fall 2013
FEATURE
MUSEUM
10 Photography at NOMA
EXHIBITIONS
The first comprehensive exploration of NOMA’s photography collection since the 1970s
4 The Power of Place: Meisho in 19th- and 20th-century Japanese art
5 Camille Henrot: Cities of Ys
6 Chinese Jades from the Collection of Marianne and Isidore Cohn Jr.
COLLECTIONS
7 Lin Emery: In Motion 7 Mel Buchanan Joins Staff as Decorative Arts Curator 8 Object Spotlight: Brrzzz
8 Will Ryman’s America PARTNERS
9 NOMA➔CAC Presents Edward Burtynsky: Water
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OBJECT SPOTLIGHT
Page 10
PHOTOGRAPHY AT NOMA
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
JAPAN FEST
Page 20
ODYSSEY BALL
RO M A N A LO K H IN
Page 14
COMMUNITY VISIT
PARTICIPATE
14 Japan Fest Returns to NOMA
18 NOMA Donors
14 Movies in the Garden
19 Year End Giving Makes a Difference
14 Unfathomable City Book Launch
20 Decorative Arts Exhibition Closes with a Speakeasy 21 NOMA Dedicates Second Floor Gallery
LEARN
15 Mini Masters 16 Visitor Voices at NOMA
22 2013 Odyssey Goes Black and White 24 Trustees and Acknowledgments
17 Keep Boredom at Bay with Art Classes for Kids 17 More Fun for Families
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EXHIBITIONS
THE POW ER OF PL ACE : MEISHO IN 19THA N D 20TH- CEN T U RY JA PA N E SE A RT
Evening Glow in Spring, Ueno; Kawase Hasui; Japanese, 1883-1957; Color woodblock print, Gift of Harold H. Burns, 2011.91.13
“Returning from Mt. Hiei” high on mountain peaks I gazed and longed to linger admiring cherry blossoms how ceaseless winds must be caressing them now —Ki no Tsurayuki [1]
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This waka poem by Ki no Tsurayuki (872-945), illustrates the Japanese concept of meisho, most usually translated as “famous places.” At their core, meisho are sites referred to in classical Japanese poetry and literature; their significance lies in their identification with specific seasons or annual events, the most common being the blooming of cherry or plum blossoms, freshly falling snow, bright autumn foliage, or the appearance of the harvest moon. The ephemeral nature of life—exemplified by these fleeting moments of beauty—occasioned both joyous celebration and bittersweet reflection. Poets, writers, and later, visual artists, all elaborated on this combination of specific site and season, well established by the Heian period (794-1185). A recent gift by Harold Burns of nearly fifty nineteenth and twentieth century Japanese woodblock prints, many of them meisho, has inspired The Power of Place: Meisho in 19th- and 20thCentury Japanese Art. This exhibition features a selection of these prints, as well as paintings, ceramics, and lacquers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, each with decoration referring to specific places with literary and poetic associations. Early meisho were appreciated not as sites to be visited but rather as part of the heavily encoded language of the educated elite, which manifested itself through allusion in literature and representation in the visual arts. During the Edo period (1600-1867) and certainly by the Meiji (1868-1912), political and socioeconomic conditions led to greater opportunities for people of all classes to visit these famous sites and to participate in the festivities that accompanied seasonal observances.
While some of these sites were remote, most were close to the urban centers of Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. As visits increased, so did demand for images: paintings met the needs of the more affluent and woodblock prints found a receptive audience amongst the general population. As Japan opened up to the West in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, images of these scenic locations greatly influenced the view of Japan by the first foreign visitors, creating a visual itinerary of scenic sites. For most visitors, however, the underlying poetic associations were lost. Kawase Hasui’s Evening Glow in Spring, Ueno (at left), takes as its subject a seventeenth-century pagoda in Ueno Park, Tokyo, silhouetted against the night sky, cherry trees in full bloom below. Hasui (1883-1957), a leading practitioner of the shin hanga (“new print”) movement in the first half of the twentieth century, created modern versions of meisho, re-fashioning time-honored conventions to suit a contemporary audience. Ueno, one of Japan’s first public parks, was established in 1873 on the former grounds of the Kan’ei’ji Temple. Historically significant as well as home to great scenic beauty, Ueno became a modern “famous place.” Hasui’s atmospheric presentation of this famed scenic site, created in the immediate post-World War II era, would have stood in stark contrast to the harsh realities of a devastated Tokyo. Nonetheless, the subject resonated, particularly with the occupying American armed forces who were Hasui’s primary patrons. Perhaps they found comfort in this nostalgic view, or perhaps they found in Japan’s past signs of hope for the future. 1. Laurel Rasplica Rodd, with Mary Catherine Henkenius, Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Boston, MA: Cheng and Tsui, 2004), p. 73
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Study for Cities of Ys; Courtesy the artist and Gallery Kamel Mennour
CA MILLE HEN ROT: CITIE S OF YS This fall NOMA is pleased to debut the first U.S. solo exhibition of work by the French artist Camille Henrot. Henrot (born 1978, lives in New York) has been regularly visiting and researching the unique culture of Louisiana over the past two years. For her exhibition Cities of Ys, Henrot will create a combination of new videos and sculptures that explore the fluidity of legends and language, acknowledging culture as a constellation of variables that change over time. The exhibition draws a parallel between the legendary city of Ys in Brittany, France, which allegedly submerged underwater centuries ago, and contemporary south Louisiana, where flooding and coastal erosion regularly impact daily life. As part of her research in Louisiana, Henrot looked to the Native American Houma tribe based in south Louisiana, as a case study for issues surrounding acculturation (in this instance a blending of French, English, and Native American cultures). Today, the Houmas are seeking to become a federally recognized tribe by the United States government, though they have
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for centuries been recognized as a tribe by the French government and by early French settlers in Louisiana. Shot chiefly in Terrebonne Parish, Henrot’s video will be displayed on nine screens, each of which will provide a window into different facets of Louisiana life, including the recounting of Houma family histories, fishing, and working in the oil industry. The videos themselves will be presented in a sculptural manner with altered frames, unconventional positions, and accumulations of objects surrounding them. Henrot’s sculptures and works on paper also reflect her interest in pirogues (a long type of boat used for traveling in Louisiana’s bayous) and the role of families as vehicles for transferring culture and traditions across generations. In tandem with Henrot’s exhibition Cities of Ys, NOMA is pleased to be partnering with the United Houma Nation on a presentation of baskets made by Houma artists. Entitled Woven Histories: Houma Basketry, this exhibition will display the different
techniques and materials used by the Houma. These include the half hitch coil technique (a style which was lost for several decades and resurrected in the 1990s), and the four-strand and sevenstrand styles of weaving. These baskets convey individuals’ distinctive style and the connections between families who have continued these traditions. Major support for Camille Henrot: Cities of Ys is provided by the Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art and Consulate General of France in New Orleans. Additional support for the exhibition is provided by Charles L. Whited, Jr. and The Degas House. Camille Henrot: Cities of Ys and Woven Histories: Houma Basketry will be on view on the second floor modern and contemporary galleries from October 11, 2013 through February 23, 2014.
DID YOU KNOW? Camille Henrot was recently recipient of the 2013 Silver Lion Award for best young artist at the Venice Biennale. The Biennale is widely accepted as the world’s most prestigious international contemporary art exhibition.
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CHIN E SE JA DE S FROM THE COLLECTION OF M A R I A N N E A N D ISIDOR E COHN J R . on ancient bronzes—many of these jades feature auspicious decoration. Expressing wishes for long life, wealth, happiness, numerous children, or advancement in one’s career, this imagery took the form of particular motifs, usually plants and animals such as the lotus or bat. Due to numerous homophones in Chinese there is great potential for punning—for example, the character for “happiness,” fu, has the same sound as “bat.” Consequently, bats are often found in the decorative schemes of porcelains and jades, either alone or in combination with other motifs. The eighteenth century spinach jade Marriage Bowl (below) is undecorated on the interior and features a finely carved scrolling pattern of chrysanthemums, vines and leaves on the exterior. At each side are deeply carved openwork handles in the form of butterflies alighting
atop a chrysanthemum blossom. Often associated with longevity, chrysanthemums also convey the idea of endlessness or eternity. The first syllable in the Chinese term for butterfly (huide) refers to good fortune or happiness; the second syllable is a homophone for “repeatedly.” The presence of two butterflies intensifies the meaning of any other motif in the scheme. Thus on this bowl, a form traditionally associated with gifts for weddings, the butterflies and blossoms convey wishes for a lifetime of conjugal happiness. These motifs, and others featured in the Cohn’s jades, are part of the rich visual vocabulary of decorative motifs found in the arts of the Ming and Qing. These jades from the Cohn collection will be on view in the second floor Hyams Gallery from October 11, 2013 through February 23, 2014. Curator Lisa Rotondo-McCord will be giving a gallery talk on October 11 at 7 p.m.
J U DY C O O P ER
Chinese artists have worked jade for over six thousand years, creating objects for ceremonial use as well as for personal adornment and decoration. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (16441911) dynasties there was a dramatic increase in the production of decorative objects, due to the rise in demand from wealthy, elite patrons. Many of these works were adorned with, or took the shape of, auspicious symbols. Jade itself was traditionally considered to have sacred and spiritual qualities; during the Neolithic period, it was thought to impart immortality. Thus, the use of the stone in the creation of objects designed to convey good wishes perfect married medium with message. A remarkable selection of jades from the collection of Marianne and Isidore Cohn Jr. illustrate this practice. Fashioned into various forms—real and imagined animals, plants, human figures, utilitarian objects, and variations
Marriage Bowl; China, Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Jiaqing period 1796-1820; Nephrite jade; Promised and partial gift of Dr. and Mrs. Isidore Cohn Jr., 99.319
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Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
COLLECTIONS
J U DY C O O P ER
MEL BUCH A NA N JOINS STA FF A S DECOR ATI V E A RTS CU R ATOR
LIN EMERY: IN MOTION For twenty-five years, Lin Emery’s Wave, 1988 has welcomed visitors to the New Orleans Museum of Art from the lily pond in front of the main entrance. The sleek, multi-faceted sculpture that sprung from the water is composed of seven interconnected arms, which seem to simultaneously move independently and collectively. Not only striking, the work is a study of mathematics and engineering. This fall, NOMA has moved Wave into the Cascade Garden Pool in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which allows Emery’s signature touch of movement to be visible from both the Pine and Oak Groves. For much of her life, Emery has been fascinated by chaos theory, particularly as it relates to nature and weather. Emery’s kinetic sculptures are not only inspired by natural forms, but also activated by natural forces such as magnets, water, and wind. The unpredictable character of these forces, especially the latter, yields countless visual permutations from a single sculpture. In his essay in Lin Emery: Borrowing the Forces of Nature, published by NOMA in 1996, Edward Lucie-Smith notes an intriguing paradox found in Emery’s sculptures: “These are works made of industrial materials, and increasingly dependent on a kind of industrial virtuosity for their effect. www.noma.org
There is nothing clumsy here: everything is economically engineered to produce the effects which the artist has in mind. Yet the sculptures themselves do not produce an industrial impression...they are ‘about the energies moving through nature.’...[The] sculptures themselves take on the qualities of living, growing, natural things.”1 Lin Emery’s preferred material is a polished aluminum, which clearly reflects its environment and reflects onto its natural surroundings. The play between flora, water, and Wave is enchanting in the sculpture’s new home. Wave is now located near La Poetesse, 1953 by Ossip Zadkine, Emery’s first sculpting teacher, and Four Lines Oblique, 1973 by George Rickey, a contemporary of Emery whose kinetic sculpture considers geometry in space. To celebrate Emery’s artistic accomplishments and contributions to the community, NOMA honored the artist at this year’s LOVE in the Garden fundraiser, and is highlighting a selection of her recent pedestal and kinetic sculptures in the second floor Lupin Gallery. Lin Emery: In Motion will be on view from November 10, 2013 through January 12, 2014. 1. Edward Lucie-Smith and Lin Emery, Lin Emery: Borrowing the Forces of Nature (New Orleans: New Orleans Museum of Art, 1996), 13.
Mel Buchanan will join the NOMA staff as the RosaMary Curator of Decorative Arts and Design this November. “NOMA’s decorative arts collection encompasses all time periods from a wide range of cultures and continents.,” said Susan M. Taylor, Director of NOMA. “We look forward to working with Ms. Buchanan on showcasing our collection in new and imaginative ways.” Buchanan received her undergraduate degree in American Studies from Yale University and received her master’s degree from the University of Delaware Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Buchanan says, “I look forward to exploring the beauty, craft, and range of the museum’s rich decorative arts collection. Each object carries with it a story, both in its original cultural context and its journey to New Orleans, and I am eager to make that story meaningful to the NOMA community.” Previously Mel has been the Demmer Assistant Curator of 20thcentury Design at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts at The RISD Museum. During her career, she has curated numerous collection and loan exhibitions including the acclaimed original exhibition Grete Marks: When Modern Was Degenerate.
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COLLECTIONS
W ILL RY M A N’S A MER ICA
OB J ECT SPOTLIGHT: BR R ZZZ Brrzzz (above) is a work from Stripsody, a 1966 multi-media collaboration between the noted mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian (1925-1983) and the Italian artist Eugenio Carmi (b. 1920). A catalogue of Carmi’s graphic work for Stripsody includes an explanatory preface by Umberto Eco followed by Carmi’s fourteen graphics – from aaahh arf arf to woinwoin woom zing zoom. A sleeve attached to the front cover contains a glossary of the precise meaning of the comic strip derived words (e.g. “brrzzz” is defined as “the buzz of an insect such as bee or mosquito...and also a buzz saw”). The sleeve attached to the back cover holds an LP of Berberian’s performance. Stripsody was born of Berberian’s desire to compose a work based on the onomatopoeic inventions found in comic strips—she sang the sounds; Carmi wrote the words. According to Eco, “The two aspects of the work were born together, and Cathy’s voice contributed more than one graphic suggestion while Carmi’s imagination produced more than one vocal solution. Then the two products became autonomous.” In Berberian’s early performances, enlargements of Carmi’s graphics formed the backdrop on the stage. In time, however, a comic strip style score created by Roberto Zamarin superseded Carmi’s graphics; this version was filmed many times and is easily found on YouTube. Brrzzz is one of over two dozen works on view in Bookmarks: Selections from the New Orleans Museum of Art, currently on view at the St. Tammany Art Association in Covington. Inspired by an exhibition of the same name held at NOMA in 2011 and organized by George Roland, this new presentation of artists’ books also features works by Aubrey Beardsley, Henri Matisse, George Rouault, and Marc Chagall, among others. This presentation is underwritten, in part, by a generous donation from the Harry T. Howard III Foundation. Bookmarks: Selections from the New Orleans Museum of Art is on view through October 26, 2013 at the St. Tammany Art Association, 320 N. Columbia Street, in Covington, LA.
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This fall the modern and contemporary art galleries at NOMA will feature a new major acquisition: the impressive sculpture America by artist Will Ryman. Made in 2013, this life-size log cabin covered in gold paint provides an in-depth exploration into the history of the United States through a careful selection and arrangement of materials. Artist Will Ryman (born 1969 in New York) is renowned for his large-scale sculptures and public art installations. The son of the prestigious minimalist painter Robert Ryman (born 1930), Ryman was raised in New York City, and over the last twenty years has fostered his own successful art career. Ryman’s large-scale sculpture America was inspired by the history of capitalism in the United States. The over-arching cabin structure of the artwork is a direct reference to the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln, a figure who emblematizes the struggle of the Civil War and the quest for America to redefine its identity. The materials used in the cabin’s walls, trusses, roof, and fireplace, provide a simulated “timeline” of the United States’ history and economy. Inside the cabin, these materials are arranged in geometric, mosaic-like panels.
Each material was chosen for its symbolic resonance. For example: arrowheads symbolize the economy of the indigenous peoples (and their eventual warfare with the colonists). Shackles and chains make up the cabin’s foundation, alluding to the role of slavery in shaping the U.S. economy. The cabin also includes bullets collected from the Civil War and World War II, pills (representing the pharmaceutical industry), railroad ties (representing transportation), cotton (representing textiles and slavery), corn (representing agriculture), coal (representing energy), soda tabs (representing fast food), phone cords (representing the telecommunications industry), keyboards, iPads and iPhones (representing recent technology). Visitors will be able to enter the cabin, where protective Plexiglas will cover the walls and floors. Taken as a whole, this impressively scaled sculpture provides an insightful and interactive approach towards conveying the complexity of our country’s development over time. America will be on view beginning October 26, 2013.
America, 2013; Will Ryman; Car parts, railroad parts, cotton, computer parts, corn, coal, bullets, arrowheads, chains, shackles, wood, exterior paint; GIft of Sydney and Walda Besthoff, 2013.8
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
PARTNERS
Stepwell #4, Sagar Kund Baori, Bundi, Rajasthan, India, 2010; Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto/Howard Greenberg & Bryce Wolkowitz, New York. © Edward Burtynsky
NOMA➔CAC PR E SEN TS EDWA R D BU RT Y NSK Y: WATER The second presentation of the NOMA➔CAC partnership features sixty large format color photographs by world-renowned Canadian artist, Edward Burtynsky. Organized by Russell Lord, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs at NOMA, Edward Burtynsky: Water explores humanity’s increasingly stressed relationship with the world’s most vital natural resource. Over the past five years, Burtynsky traveled across the globe, from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of the Ganges, weaving together an ambitious representation of water’s increasingly fragmented lifecycle. In enormous, color, aerial images, many bordering on the edge of complete abstraction, Burtynsky traces the various roles that water plays in modern life—as a source of healthy ecosystems and energy, as a key element
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in cultural and religious rituals, and as a rapidly depleting resource. Many of the images focus the viewer’s attention not on water itself but on the systems that humans have put in place in order to harness it, shape it, and control it. Photographs of mazelike stepwells in India, massive dam construction and aquaculture in China, manufactured water-front housing lots, and irrigation systems in the American West are presented alongside parched landscapes, dried river regions and ominously-colored salt farms. The photographs are Burtynsky’s most abstract images yet: pivot irrigation plots are carefully crafted into totemic arrangements of geometry and dry land farming fields are transformed into dizzying collections of biomorphic forms. These images, sometimes elegant
sometimes haunting, hover between the worlds of painting and photography, and form a compelling global portrait of water that functions as an open ended question about humanity’s past, present, and future relationship with the natural world. NOMA will also present a selection of photographs by Burtynsky in NOMA’s Great Hall concurrent with the presentation at the CAC. Edward Burtynsky: Water is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Contemporary Arts Center. Major support for the exhibition is provided by Barrios Kingsdorf & Casteix, LLP. Edward Burtynsky: Water will be on view October 5, 2013 to January 19, 2014 at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans and is accompanied by a catalogue of the same name with over one hundred color plates.
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Photography at NOMA THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE EXPLORATION OF NOMA’S PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION SINCE THE 1970S
Steam Pump Mechanic, circa 1930 (detail); Lewis Hine; Gelatin silver print; Museum purchase, 74.84
Since the 1970s, NOMA has built an extensive collection of photographs that represents a wide range of achievement in that medium. Today, the collection comprises nearly 10,000 works with images by some of the world’s most significant photographers including Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Ilse Bing, and Edward Steichen. “NOMA began collecting photographs seriously in the early 1970s when photography was not commonly found on the walls of art museums, and today our collection represents a broad range of creative energy and achievement,” said Susan M. Taylor, NOMA’s Director. This fall, NOMA will present the first comprehensive presentation of photographs from its collection in over thirty years. Organized by Russell Lord, the Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Photography at NOMA includes over 130 of the most important photographs in the museum’s collection from the early 1840s to the 1980s, including rare or exceptional examples from throughout photography’s history. Photography at NOMA highlights the tremendous depth and breadth of the museum’s collection, and includes photographs made as works of art as well as advertising images, social documents, and more. “Despite the long history of the museum’s exceptional permanent photography collection, it remains one of the best kept secrets in this country,” said Lord. The photographers featured in the exhibition range from some of the most recognizable names in the field, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Lewis Hine, to unknown photographers— and reflects the vast spectrum of photographic activity since the medium’s inception in the nineteenth century. The collection includes examples that reflect photography’s international scope, from an 1843 view from his hotel window in Paris by William Henry Fox Talbot to a nineteenth century view of a village in Siam, but it is also strong in photographs made in and around New Orleans by regional and national photographers such as E. J. Bellocq, Walker Evans, Clarence John Laughlin, and Robert Frank. “This exhibition also emphasizes the role that the city of New Orleans has played in the history of photography,” said Taylor. “New Orleans has long been an epicenter for the work of established and emerging photographers, and we are excited to share this aspect of New Orleans history with our audiences.” “Since its origins, photography has infiltrated every aspect of modern life, from art to war, and religion to politics and many of these applications are represented in NOMA’s collection,” Lord added. “This exhibition aims to return NOMA’s photography collection to the national and international stage.” Photography at NOMA will be accompanied by a catalogue, featuring reproductions of all of the photographs in the exhibition and brief essays penned by Russell Lord. Two of the works in the exhibition are discussed on the following pages as object lessons.
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OBJECT LESSON Demonstration of the Talbotype, December 11, 1848 | Thomas Augustine Malone, British, 1823–1867; Calotype (Talbotype) negative; Museum purchase, 2012.90 (photo seen at left)
Above Groom Detective Agency, 1923; Paul Outerbridge Jr.; Gelatin silver print, Museum purchase, 74.290 Opposite page, top Canal Street, New Orleans, 1955, printed 1970s (detail); Robert Frank; Gelatin silver print, Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts and Museum Purchase Funds, 79.205
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On December 11, 1848, Malone stood before an audience at the Western Literary & Scientific Institution in London’s Leicester Square to demonstrate the effects of light on photographic paper. Malone covered a piece of prepared paper with a stencil, closed the windows in the lecture hall, and then ignited a fuse of phosphorous, resulting in a brilliant and sustained light in the darkened hall. After burning brightly for several seconds (or perhaps minutes) Malone removed the stencil. There, graphically represented on the paper in block letters was the word “Talbotype.” The word ‘photograph’ encompasses a wide variety of processes, practices and objects. We now use this word to describe images on paper, glass, metal, and even digital images that have no permanent physical support. The word has become so commonplace that it is easy to forget that there was a time when the naming of photography was a matter of intense debate and the word ‘photography’ was but one of many names under consideration. For several decades leading up to photography’s public announcement in 1839 and for over a decade after, inventors, critics, theorists and scientists came up with a variety of terms to describe the various processes that make up photography’s origins. In January of 1839, Louis Daguerre’s invention of a photographic image on a silver coated copper plate was introduced to the world. Like any self-respecting inventor, Daguerre named the process after himself and the daguerreotype became a popular sensation. In response, William Henry Fox Talbot, who had been working on a light sensitive process in England, hurried to show examples of his work, which turned out to be quite different from Daguerre’s process. Talbot had devised a method of making photographic images on paper. Talbot, who favored elegance over vanity, ultimately called his process the “calotype” (from the Greek “kalos,” meaning beautiful, and “type” meaning image.) His most faithful supporters, however, honorifically referred to the process as “Talbotype.” Thomas Augustine Malone had learned Talbot’s process directly from the inventor and throughout the early to mid 1840s, Malone had worked closely with Talbot and his chief assistant Nicholaas Henneman to establish a photographic printing firm, which ultimately became the firm of Henneman and Malone—photographic prints from the late 1840s sometimes bear this moniker. Malone’s demonstration piece, believed to be one of a kind, is a strange but wonderfully conceptual work from the origins of photography. As a photograph that consists of nothing but the word “Talbotype” (itself a synonym for photograph), this work gives us photography twice over, in word and image, as if to suggest perhaps that the two are inextricably linked. This is an especially powerful notion today, in which images are increasingly used as words, to communicate information quickly and rapidly. Images alone can be powerful, and emotionally evocative things, but they are also often open-ended, ambiguous, and subject to a multitude of interpretations. Malone’s work preemptively circumvents this shortcoming by combining both word and image in an endless circle of reference: the word is the image and the image is the word.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
OBJECT LESSON Neil, 1922 | Edward Weston, American, 1886–1958; Platinum print; Museum purchase, Women’s Volunteer Committee Fund and Dr. Ralph Fabacher, 73.139 (photo seen at right) Edward Weston’s photographs from the early 1920s are the products of a restlessly creative, but highly conflicted photographer. Some demonstrate his allegiance to the soft and often fanciful delectations of pictorialist allegory while others suggest a burgeoning interest in a more direct, even clinical form of observation. This picture exhibits elements of both approaches, hovering in the liminal space between what Weston was and what he would soon become. This stark picture of his nude, eight-year-old son, relegated to a small corner of Weston’s otherwise empty Glendale studio is a counterpoint to the photographer’s other pictures made in the same space, which often include fussy arrangements of symbolist props and photographers such as Tina Modotti, Margrethe Mather, and Johan Hagemeyer acting out fictitious parts in contrived, laconic poses. Those images are representations of affectation; this image of Neil is brutally sincere. Neil is forced to compete with his vacuous surroundings, the studio stripped as bare as the body. With his hands behind his head and elbows out, the pose seems at once defensive and vulnerable. The result feels more like the product of honesty than affect NOMA’s print may be the only vintage platinum print that Weston made of this image. Although he produced and exhibited other closely cropped images of Neil’s nude torso, he did not exhibit, illustrate, or write about this particular picture during his lifetime. Perhaps this image proved even too direct and revealing for Weston. Major support for the exhibition is provided by Kitty and Stephen Sherrill, Adrea Heebe and Dominick Russo, Russell Albright, Joshua Mann Pailet, Josephine Sacabo and Ms. E. Alexandra Stafford. Additional support for the exhibition is provided by A. L. Jung III and Cherye and James Pierce.
Photography at NOMA will be on view from November 10, 2013 to January 19, 2014. The premier viewing of the exhibition coincides with NOMA’s 2013 Odyssey fundraiser, presented by IBERIABANK. For more information, please visit noma.org.
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RO M A N A LO K H I N
VISIT
JA PA N FE ST R ET U R NS TO NOM A Japan Fest, the largest annual celebration of Japanese culture in the Gulf South, returns on Saturday, October 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Come enjoy a full day of music, dancing and martial arts demonstrations, as well as food, games, crafts and more spread throughout the museum and the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Kaminari Taiko of Houston returns to headline this year’s festival. Their high energy drumming performance will take place in the Oak Grove of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Other highlights include demonstrations of traditional Japanese arts, ikebana, bonsai, and calligraphy. Visitors can also witness a Japanese tea ceremony, anime film screenings, and a fashion show for those dressed as anime characters. In addition to Japan Fest events, the New Orleans Museum of Art will receive the Foreign Minister of Japan’s Commendation for its outstanding contributions to the promotion of Japanese culture and for its role in fostering a mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S. This commendation aims to promote the understanding and support of the Japanese public for Ministry’s activities.
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This year’s Japan Fest is made possible by the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville, the Japan Club of New Orleans, the Japan Society of New Orleans, Zen-Noh Grain Corporation, Choguku Marine Paints, Ltd, and CGB Enterprises, Inc. Admission for Japan Fest is $5 and allows access to all activities, inside and out. NOMA members have free admission.
MOV IE S IN THE GA R DEN NOMA and the New Orleans Film Society are bringing some great movies into the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden this fall. Both movies begin at sundown (around 7 p.m.).
Friday, October 18 Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Friday, November 8 The Muppet Movie (1979)
ADMISSION $6 | adults $3 | children 7-17, NOMA and NOFS members
U N FATHOM A BLE CIT Y BOOK L AU NCH On Friday, November 22, 2013 at 6 p.m. NOMA will host a lecture and booksigning by Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker, co-authors of Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. This unique publication, which is released this fall by University of California Press, features a combination of original essays, maps, and artist drawings. Featuring unconventional thematic pairings, this atlas book is designed to shift our notions of the Mississippi River, the Caribbean, Mardi Gras, jazz, soils and trees, and generational roots, among other subjects. The book depicts New Orleans as both an imperiled city—by erosion, crime, corruption, and sea level rise—and an ageless city that lives in music as a form of cultural resistance. Together with A Studio in the Woods (a program of Tulane University), NOMA will be partnering with Unfathomable City in creating a series of broadsheets, which will tie a selection of maps from the publication to a series of public programs, which will be unveiled in early 2014.
Free for children under 6 (Full museum admission offers guests access to the museum and sculpture garden)
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
LEARN
MINI M A STER S: A PA RTN ER SHIP FOR E A R LY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION According to the National Education Association (NEA), high quality early childhood education has wide-ranging impacts on a child’s performance in school and their interactions with peers. Additionally, studies show that arts education stimulates creative and critical thinking, teaches problem solving, and develops social skills. In an effort to extend arts education to early childhood learning in the classroom, NOMA and partners have initiated Mini Masters. This program for three and four year olds, which begins its second pilot year this fall, was developed in partnership with NOMA, Educare, Kingsley House, The Bayou District Foundation, and the Tulane University Teacher Preparation & Certification Program. Mini Masters is based in the Educare Early Learning Center, in the Columbia Parc neighborhood located near NOMA. “New Orleans is in a unique position at the center of education reform in this country,” said NOMA Director Susan M. Taylor. “NOMA has responded to this challenge by exploring new opportunities for our children, using our permanent collection as an educational tool.” Mini Masters debuted during the 2012-2013 school year at Kingsley House’s Head Start instructional site, housed temporarily at Asia Baptist
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Church while awaiting construction of the Educare facility. Forty students and seven teachers from the Kingsley House site participated, along with five pre-service teachers in their final year of teacher preparation at Tulane University. The Mini Masters teachers attended professional development workshops at NOMA, became familiar with works of art in NOMA’s collection and learned new strategies for incorporating the arts into classroom instruction. Between November 2012 and April 2013, Kingsley House students visited NOMA and went on specialized tours. The school year concluded with the Mini Masters Showcase at NOMA, where student work was displayed and family was invited to a reception celebrating student achievement and creativity. Tracy Kennan, NOMA’s Associate Curator for Education said, “Integrating the arts in teaching captures students’ attention and engages the imagination. The Mini Masters program can help teachers create interdisciplinary connections in the classroom while expanding horizons.” First-year evaluations support Kennan’s claim; students gained confidence in the museum, became familiar with works of art from NOMA’s collection and showed marked
improvement in observation skills. When asked to describe Bacchiacca’s Portrait of a Young Lute Player early in the school year, one child listed four items that he identified in the painting. At the end of the program, the child described six elements from the painting and named seven different colors that he recognized. The children weren’t the only ones who benefitted from the experience: the educators gained proficiency in teaching from works of art, both in the classroom and in the museum. By the second museum visit, Kingsley House teachers joined in the docent-guided tour to reference classroom connections to the works of art. One Tulane University preservice teacher extended the classroom lesson to the museum, leading a lesson on primary colors in front of George Rodrigue’s We Stand Together. NOMA educators feel confident that the Mini Masters model can be successfully expanded in the new Educare facility over the course of this school year and replicated in other schools in the near future. By developing arts integrated programs for the youngest visitors and encouraging early learning educators to use the museum as an extension of the classroom, NOMA is on the leading edge of an emerging field in museum education.
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RO M A N A LO K H I N
LEARN
V ISITOR VOICE S AT NOM A Have you ever been inspired by a work of art and wished you could share your experience with others? Visitors to NOMA are brimming with stories, ideas, reflections and traditions. As part of an interpretive initiative, NOMA is offering opportunities for visitors to engage with new exhibitions. During the 2012 exhibition Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III, a table was placed inside the gallery, along with two familiar, red and gold striped chairs borrowed from Dooky Chase’s restaurant. A sign invited visitors to share their favorite culinary memory, which could be written on small guest checks. Over 2,500 museum visitors took part, sharing a wealth of family memories, inspiring anecdotes, recipes, letters to Leah Chase, favorite dishes, and much more. Responses were shared on NOMA’s website and presented to Leah Chase in a book. The popularity of this activity prompted a larger second project. Lifelike, which opened in November 2012, wowed visitors with unexpected and surprising twists of scale, materials, and subject matter. An experiential area was created just outside the exhibition gallery, inviting visitors to explore the
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themes of Lifelike. A magnetic matching game and a card game played with giant cards underscored exhibition themes. Visitors were asked, “Is it real,” and “Is seeing believing?” They could respond to the exhibition by placing comments inside a milk carton (recalling Jonathan Seliger’s Heartland, a giant milk carton sculpture then on view). 500 visitors of all ages shared their thoughts, including:
“Rarely does art make smile or gasp aloud! But, this exhibition had me doing both almost to the point of tears. Thanks!” NOMA’s most recent participatory project was developed for the exhibition Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts from World’s Fairs 1851 - 1939. The experiential area evoked the New Orleans’ 1884 World’s Industrial & Cotton Centennial Exposition, adorned with string lights and vintage furniture borrowed from Angelo Broccato’s ice cream parlor. Visitors peered through stereoscope viewers to see actual
3-D photographs of the 1884 fair. An interactive map of the world’s fair buildings invited visitors to discover more about the site, now known as Audubon Park. The most popular activity was a game featuring world’s fair trivia questions. Game cards had to be reprinted several times to keep them from disappearing! A timeline and scavenger hunt were also available to take to the galleries. Why participate? Active participation in museum galleries is still relatively new, and museums offer varying degrees of participation ranging in scope from simple comment books to Random International’s immersive Rain Room, recently on view at the Museum of Modern Art PS1. Across the country, museums are seeing increased interest by employing interactive techniques. It’s clear that this strategy has enormous potential as museums explore new ways for visitors to actively engage with exhibitions and collections. Over the coming months, watch for new ways to participate and interact at NOMA, in the galleries and online through social media and noma.org.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
RO M A N A LO K H I N
RO M A N A LO K H I N
K EEP BOR EDOM AT B AY
FA MILY FU N:
W ITH A RT CL A S SE S FOR K IDS
STORYQU E ST
This fall, NOMA is offering a variety of opportunities for children to get creative on the weekends and over the holidays. Explore the elements of art in Saturday Studio KIDS! art classes. Each class spotlights one of the visual tools artists use to express themselves. Experienced teaching artist Belinda Tanno provides skill-building lessons and inventive projects inspired by works of art from NOMA’s permanent collection. NOMA’s three single-day Holiday Camps, led by teaching artist Amanda LaPlaca, engage young artists in the artistic process. Children explore works of art in the museum galleries and create works in the studio. Camps and classes are limited to twelve students; register for all or just a few. Call 504-658-4128 or email education@noma.org to register or for more information.
STUDIO KIDS!
Saturday, October 5 Hold the Line
Saturday, October 19 Explore Texture
Saturday, November 16 Color is Wild
Saturday, November 23 The Shape of Things
Saturday, December 14 Formal Studies
Saturday, December 21 Composition
Select Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. in the Museum Shop October 5
HOLIDAY CAMPS
Bugs with Skin Horse Theater
October 19
Ages 5-10 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Monsters with the NOLA Project
November 16
Cost per class $30 members | $35 non-members
Louisiana—Louisiana author Brock Boutte and illustrator Christy Owens-Boutte present Gris Gris and the Cypress Tree
Tuesday, November 26
November 30
Print your own holiday cards
Tuesday, December 24 Design a quilted paper patchwork creation Ages 5-8 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 31 Build an alternative world in a snow globe Ages 9-12 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Cost per class $25 members | $30 non-members
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It’s story time at NOMA! At StoryQuest, professional authors, actors and artists bring the world of children’s literature to families and children at the museum. StoryQuest begins with interactive readings of selected stories, then families search NOMA’s galleries and garden seeking related works of art. This program is generously supported by the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation.
Family with Skin Horse Theater
December 14 Jungle with Skin Horse Theater
December 28 Dragons with the NOLA Project
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DONORS THE ISA AC DELGADO SOCIETY The New Orleans Museum of Art gratefully acknowledges our donors, who make our exhibitions, programming, and daily operations possible. We appreciate your continued support of NOMA and its mission. Thank you!
Foundation and Government Support
The Isaac Delgado Society celebrates those who have made a bequest or planned gift to NOMA. H. Russell Albright
Thomas B. Lemann
Barbara and Wayne Amedee
John and Tania Messina
Joseph and Sue Ellen Canizaro
Anne and King Milling
$500,000 and above
$20,000 - $49,999
Mrs. Carmel (Babette) Cohen
James A. Mounger
The Gulf Tourism and Seafood Promotional Fund
The Bertuzzi Family Foundation
Mickey Easterling
Pixie and James Reiss
The Harry T Howard III Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Renwick
Patrick F. Taylor Foundation
Lin Emery
The RosaMary Foundation
Zemurray Foundation
William A. Fagaly
Arthur Roger
The Selley Foundation
Lin and John Fischbach
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Rosen
$200,000 - $499,999
State of Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Tim and Ashley Francis
Mrs. Frederick M. Stafford
Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Freeman
Nancy Stern
$10,000 - $19,999
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Hansel
Mrs. John N. Weinstock
Bertuzzi Family Foundation
Abba J. Kastin, M.D.
Mercedes Whitecloud
$150,000 - $199,999
The Booth-Bricker Fund
The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences
Étant Donnés, The French American Fund for Contemporary Art
Lee Ledbetter and Douglas Meffert
$100,000 - $149,999
Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation
The Azby Fund The Helis Foundation
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
The Garden Study Club of New Orleans
Byrnes Family Trust
The Lupin Foundation
Collins C. Diboll Private Foundation
Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust
NOMA BUSINESS COUNCIL
Louisiana Division of the Arts
Centurion International-Matex Tank Terminals
$50,000 - $99,999 City of New Orleans
Platinum
Lois and Lloyd Hawkins Jr. Foundation
Superior Energy Services, Inc.
New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau
Gold
Windgate Charitable Foundation
Chevron Herman, Herman & Katz, LLC
Sapphire
Corporate and Individual Support
Bayou Lacombe Construction Company
$100,000 and above
$20,000 - $49,999
Sydney and Walda Besthoff
Anonymous Donor
Paul M. Fleming
Chevron
Jolie and Robert Shelton and International Well Testers, Inc.
Peoples Health
Wells Fargo
Whitney Bank
$50,000 - $99,999
$10,000 - $19,999
Frischhertz Electric Company
Greater Lakeside Corp.
Green
IBERIABANK
Adrea D. Heebe and Dominick Russo
Basin St. Station
Joshua Mann Pailet
Mr. and Mrs. George G. Rodrigue
Boh Bros. Construction Company, LLC
Donna Perret Rosen and Benjamin M. Rosen
Josephine Sacabo
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company
Mr. and Mrs. James J. Reiss Jr.
Silver NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune World Trade Center of New Orleans
Bronze First NBC Bank
Hotel Monteleone Neal Auction
For additional information on exhibition sponsorship and program support, please contact Brooke Minto at (504) 658-4107 or bminto@noma.org.
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For more information on the Isaac Delgado Society and NOMA Business Council, please contact Gia Rabito at (504) 658-4129 or grabito@noma.org.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Y E A R EN D
President’s Circle
GI V ING M A K E S
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Bertuzzi Mr. and Mrs. Sydney J. Besthoff III
J U DY C O O P ER
NOMA CIRCLES
A DIFFER ENCE
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph O. Brennan
For over 100 years, and with support from the Greater New Orleans community, NOMA has hosted thoughtprovoking exhibitions and cared for almost 40,000 objects in the permanent collection. Let’s keep the tradition going! Your vital year-end gift will enable:
Mr. and Mrs. David F. Edwards Dr. and Mrs. Ludovico Feoli Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Hansel Ms. Adrea D. Heebe and Mr. Dominick A. Russo Jr. Mrs. Paula L. Maher Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Mayer Mrs. Robert Nims Jolie and Robert Shelton Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Sherrill
awe-inspiring exhibitions
Mrs. Patrick F. Taylor
innovative educational programs, such as MiniMasters
Director’s Circle
engaging community programs, such as Family Days, Friday Nights at NOMA and Movies in the Garden
Mrs. Jack R. Aron Mr. Justin T. Augustine III
upkeep of the museum’s 100 year old neoclassical building
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Coleman Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Favrot Jr.
maintenance of the renowned Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
Dr. and Mrs. John F. Fraiche Ms. Tina Freeman and Mr. Philip Woollam Mrs. Lawrence D. Garvey Mrs. JoAnn Flom Greenberg Mr. Jerry Heymann Ms. Kay McArdle Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Moffitt Dr. Howard and Dr. Joy D. Osofsky Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Patrick Mrs. Charles S. Reily Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin M. Rosen Ms. Debra B. Shriver Mr. and Mrs. Bruce L. Soltis Mr. Joel J. Soniat Mrs. Harold H. Stream Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Taylor Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Thomas
Patron’s Circle Dr. Ronald G. Amedee and Dr. Elisabeth H. Rareshide
Mr. Henry M. Lambert and Mr. R. Carey Bond Mr. and Mrs. H. Merritt Lane III Mr. Paul J. Leaman Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Lemann Dr. Edward D. Levy Jr. Mr. and Mrs. J. Thomas Lewis Dr. and Mrs. E. Ralph Lupin Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Masinter Mr. and Mrs. R. King Milling Mrs. Ellis Mintz Dr. and Mrs. James F. Pierce Mr. and Mrs. James J. Reiss Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Edward F. Renwick Mr. and Mrs. George G. Rodrigue Mr. and Mrs. Brian A. Schneider Mr. and Mrs. Edward Shearer Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Siegel Mr. and Mrs. Lynes R. Sloss
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Boh
Ms. E. Alexandra Stafford and Mr. Raymond M. Rathle Jr.
Mr. E. John Bullard III
Mrs. Frederick M. Stafford
Dr. and Mrs. Isidore Cohn Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. Richard L. Strub
Mrs. John J. Colomb Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen F. Stumpf Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy B. Francis
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Taylor
Mr. and Mrs. James J. Frischhertz
Ms. Catherine Burns Tremaine
Mr. and Mrs. Edward N. George
Mr. and Mrs. Steven W. Usdin
Mr. and Mrs. Erik F. Johnsen
Mrs. Henry H. Weldon
www.noma.org
We need your help to reach our fundraising goals for 2013. Gifts made before end of year have a substantial impact, and are crucial to sustaining museum operations. Donate by phone at (504) 6584130 or online at noma.org (“Support NOMA”). Please remember that all charitable contributions are tax deductible. Give to NOMA this year and support the arts community of New Orleans for generations to come.
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P H OTO G R A P H Y BY RO M A N A LO K H IN
PARTICIPATE
DECOR ATI V E A RTS EX HIBITION CLOSE S W ITH A SPE A K E A SY
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Over 650 guests came out to NOMA on Friday, August 2, 2013 to celebrate the final weekend of Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts from the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939. This groundbreaking exhibition, organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, highlighted the design, science, and ingenuity in this captivating period, and contained nearly 200 objects from thirty-eight lenders across the world.
NOMA’s speakeasy-themed party featured gallery talks of the exhibition, a 1920s costume contest, a screening of Chicago, lectures, and of course, Prohibition-era cocktails. The New Movement also gave visitors some comedic interpretation of NOMA exhibitions. Special thanks to all of NOMA’s partners on the event: Friends of City Park, Longue Vue House and Gardens, NOLA Fashion Council, the Historic New Orleans Collection and WWOZ 90.7-FM New Orleans.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Left Charlotte, Wings of Light; portrait of Charlotte Mann Pailet
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Right Louis Armstrong, Paris, 1960; Herman Leonard; Gelatin silver print; Gift of Joshua Mann Pailet in honor of E. John Bullard and as a tribute to my friendship and love of Herman Leonard, who so dearly loved New Orleans and its musicians, 2010.239.1-.30
NOM A DEDICATE S GA LLERY IN HONOR OF JOSH UA M A N N PA ILET A N D HIS MOTHER , CH A R LOTTE , W ITH EN DOW MEN T GIFT New Orleans Museum of Art is pleased to announce the naming of the A. Charlotte Mann and Joshua Mann Pailet Gallery. Located on NOMA’s second floor, this gallery is named in honor of Joshua Mann Pailet and his mother Charlotte Mann for their continued support of the arts and the New Orleans Museum of Art’s well being. Recent collection gifts from Joshua Mann Pailet to NOMA include a set of jazz photographs by Herman Leonard in honor of the museum’s NOMA 100 birthday celebration and exhibition, as well as photographs from Tony Ray-Jones, Brett Woston and Edward Curtis. Born in 1924 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Charlotte Mann Pailet grew up with an appreciation for life’s every moment. While working as a nurse in London, Charlotte lost her parents and her younger brother to the Holocaust. Not long after, she met and fell in love with Gustave Pailet, an American army lieutenant from New Orleans. They soon moved to Baton Rouge and began a new life with their three children.
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Joshua Mann Pailet said, “Charlotte loved photographing her new family and friends, and building memories while establishing a new life in the freedom of America. She had a Kodak Brownie camera to record all those moments. We had only a few photographs of her family life in Czechoslovakia, so photography was our link to the future.” The A. Charlotte Mann and Joshua Mann Pailet Gallery will be used to display works on paper, primarily photographs, that relate to the Modern paintings and sculptures in the adjacent galleries on the second floor. The space will also host children’s programming at least once a year. “NOMA has been a gracious recipient of Joshua’s generosity for years,” Director Susan M. Taylor said. “His latest gift will have a tremendous impact on the museum, and by naming this photography space after him and his mother, we will honor their legacy for years to come.” A private naming ceremony and dedication will take place this fall among Pailet’s family and friends.
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PARTICIPATE
Odys sey & Black W hiteBall presented by
IBERIABANK 201 3 ODYS SEY G OE S BL ACK A N D W HITE The 2013 Odyssey presented by IBERIABANK will be Saturday, November 9 from 7:00 p.m. until midnight at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Along with NVC Chair Carol Short, this year’s Odyssey Chairs, Marilee and Andrew Hovet, and their committee members have organized a glamourous Black and White Ball to celebrate the opening of Photography at NOMA, an exhibition of 150 masterworks from the museum’s photography collection. Photographers included are Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston, Andres Kertesz, among others. A milestone photography project for NOMA, this exhibition—and Truman Capote’s famous 1966 black-tie affair at the Plaza Hotel in New York—inspired Design Committee Chair Meg Baldwin’s black and white decor. Both the exhibition and the gala promise to be unforgettable events. The night begins at 7:00 p.m., when guests will begin to enjoy The Ralph Brennan Group’s exceptional menu. At 9:00 p.m., Luv Sexy takes the stage to play favorite hits—from Motown classics to the music of the 70s and more. Odyssey will once again feature a Sponsor Lounge for donors at the $1,000 level and above. With a 1920s supper club theme, the Sponsor Lounge
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will host a special performance, ultrapremium libations and gourmet hors d’oeuvres, offering a luxurious gathering spot for its guests. Young Fellow patrons (ages 2145) receive a reduced ticket price, in addition to access to their own Young Fellows Tent. All guests will enjoy the silent auction, designed by Auction Chairs Sarah Feirn, Karen Gundlach, Caroline Kearney, and Kate Werner. The lucky highest bidders will take home fine jewelry, exciting trips, stunning works of art, and other priceless offerings. This year’s Odyssey also features the new Artful Chances raffle. Thanks to a partnership with Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, Odyssey guests will have the opportunity to win a $15,000 shopping spree at the Lee Michaels flagship store. Each year the funds raised at Odyssey help ensure NOMA’s ability to present world-class exhibitions, public programs, and educational initiatives. Odyssey also provides an opportunity to celebrate the community of supporters who allow NOMA to thrive now and flourish for generations to come. To purchase tickets, visit NOMA’s website or contact Kristen Jochem at (504) 658-4121 or odyssey@noma.org.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
ODYSSEY AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS ORIGINAL WORKS OF ART George Dunbar Nicole Charbonnet David Harouni
AFRICAN SAFARI Six nights at Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge, Tented Camp, and/or Game Lodge
VENETIAN GLASS INTAGLIO EARRINGS Elizabeth Locke Jewels
ANTIQUE GARNET NECKLACE Keil’s Antiques
19TH CENTURY PAINTED ITALIAN WOOD MANTLE Wirthmore Antiques
MASTERS GOLF TOURNAMENT Two Badges for any day of Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia
ALYS BEACH VACATION Three nights in one of the beautifully appointed three-bedroom houses at Alys Beach
SIX COURSE SEATED DINNER For twelve in the NOMA Board Room; catered by Chef Rob Faust
STEWART LODGES AT STEELWOOD Two nights at Stewart Lodges for sixteen people; includes one round golf for twelve people
THREE NIGHTS IN A JUNIOR SUITE Soniat House
NEW YORK CITY SHOPPING SPREE
Top Leger’s Studio, 1926-1927, André Kertész; gelatin silver print; Museum purchase, omen’s Volunteer Committee Fund, 73.169 Bottom The Elevated and Me, 1936, Ilse Bing, Gelatin silver print, Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Matching Grant, 81.49
Three nights at The Plaza, round trip airfare, breakfast daily, and a $2,000 shopping spree at your choice of Bergdorf Goodman or Bloomingdale’s
YVES SAINT LAURENT PYTHON MUSE HANDBAG Includes card of authenticity, donated by Designer Social
CALIFORNIA’S WINE COUNTRY Three nights at the Fairmont Sonoma Inn and Spa, daily breakfast, round trip airfare, private winery tour in chauffeured luxury sedan, daily wine tastings in hotel lobby, complimentary bottle of wine upon arrival
www.noma.org
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2013 BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SUPPORT ACKNOWLEDGMENT
David F. Edwards President
Kitty Duncan Sherrill
Tommy Coleman Vice-President
Mrs. Lynes Sloss
Mrs. Ludovico Feoli Vice-President Donna Perret Rosen Vice-President Mrs. Edward George Secretary Ms. Kay McArdle Treasurer Sydney J. Besthoff III Executive Committee
Carol Short
Mrs. E. Alexandra Stafford Mrs. Richard L. Strub Robert Taylor Suzanne Thomas Melanee Gaudin Usdin Brent Wood
NATIONAL TRUSTEES Joseph Baillio
Timothy Francis Executive Committee
Mrs. Carmel Cohen
Mike Siegel Executive Committee
Jerry Heymann
Herschel L. Abbottt Jr. Justin T. Augustine III Dr,. Siddharth K. Bhansali Susan Brennan Kia Silverman Brown Robin Burgess Blanchard Daryl Byrd Mrs. Mark Carey Edgar L. Chase III Maurice Cox H. M. “Tim” Favrot Jr. Tina Freeman Janet Frischhertz Susan Guidry Councilmember District “A”
Mrs. Mason Granger
Herbert Kaufman, MD Mrs. James Pierce Debra B. Shriver Mrs. Henry H. Weldon Mrs. Billie Milam Weisman
HONOR ARY LIFE MEMBERS H. Russell Albright, MD Mrs. Jack R. Aron Mrs. Edgar L. Chase Jr.
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Isidore Cohn Jr., MD
EDITOR
Prescott N. Dunbar
Taylor Murrow
S. Stewart Farnet
ART DIRECTOR
Sandra Draughn Freeman
Lee Hampton
Kurt A. Gitter, MD
Stephen A. Hansel
Mrs. Erik Johnsen
Ms. Adrea Heebe
Richard W. Levy, MD
Ms. Allison Kendrick
Mr. J. Thomas Lewis
Mayor Mitch Landrieu
Mrs. Paula L. Maher
E. Ralph Lupin, MD
Mrs. J. Frederick Muller
Paul Masinter
Mrs. Robert Nims
Mrs. Charles B. Mayer
Mrs. Charles S. Reily Jr.
Mrs. Michael Moffitt
R. Randolph Richmond Jr.
Howard J. Osofsky, MD
Mrs. Frederick M. Stafford
Steve Perry
Harry C. Stahel
Mrs. James J. Reiss Jr.
Mrs. Moise S. Steeg Jr.
Mrs. George Rodrigue
Mrs. Harold H. Stream
Brian Schneider
Mrs. James L. Taylor
Mr. Robert Shelton
Mrs. John N. Weinstock
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The programs of the New Orleans Museum of Art are supported by grants from the Arts Council of New Orleans, Louisiana State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ruby K. Worner Charitable Trust, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation.
Aisha Champagne PRINTING
DocuMart Arts Quarterly (ISSN 0740-9214) is published by the New Orleans Museum of Art, 1 Collins Diboll Circle, New Orleans, LA 70124 © 2013, New Orleans Museum of Art. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without permission of the publisher.
RIGHT Three Faces, circa 1990 (detail); Purvis Young, American, 1943-2010; oil, enamel and mixed media on board; Gift of Kurt A. Gitter, MD and Alice Rae Yelen, 2008.87 COVER Wave, 1988; Lin Emery, American, born 1928; polished aluminum; Gift of the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, 88.365 (photo by Judy Cooper) BACK COVER New York, The Elevated and Me, 1936 (detail); Ilse Bing, gelatin silver print, Museum purchase through the National Endowment for the Arts Matching Grant, 81.49
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art
Arts Quarterly New Orleans Museum of Art P.O. Box 19123 New Orleans, LA 70179-0123 Like Us on Facebook! and Follow Us On Twitter! (@ NOMA1910)