Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

This study presents the analytical results of nine paintings executed by Jackson Pollock between 1943 and 1950 in the ‘drip’ or ‘poured’ method for which he is most famous. Pigment and medium analysis reveals that, contrary to popular perception, Pollock’s development of his radical new painting style was not linear. Nor did it involve his immediate and wholesale adoption of commercial paints, which he poured directly from the -can or dripped with sticks and stiffened brushes. While improvisation and spontaneity were certainly factors in Pollock’s working method, analysis indicates that the artist’s selection of his paints was inspired by the aesthetic qualities he sought and by his developing sensibility to the physical properties of the paints he was using.

The appearance of Jean Arp’s bronze and brass cast sculptures varies. Some have no chemical patina: the untreated metal surface is reflective to varying degrees. Other casts have a brown chemical patination. Moreover, different casts of the same sculpture may exist with different finishes. What is the origin of these variations? Were they intended by the artist? These questions, hitherto unanswered, directly affect decisions on how to conserve these artworks. This paper summarizes research into the factors that determined the appearance of Arp’s bronzes. By reconstructing the artist’s working methods and examining many extant surfaces, it is concluded that only some of them currently present the artist’s intent. A number of them result from the aesthetic tastes of certain art dealers and collectors and, to a lesser extent, lack of information during previous restorations. Because these factors are integral to the history of the artworks, the findings present difficult choices for their care and maintenance.

The conservation staff at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG), Washington DC, USA, as caretakers for a collection that focuses primarily on modern and contemporary art, have identified...

May 01 2013 The Event of a Thread Ann Hamilton Ann Hamilton ANN HAMILTON is a visual artist internationally recognized for her large-scale installations and related video, objects, and prints. She has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, NEA Visual Arts Fellowship, United States Artists Fellowship, the Heinz Award, and has represented the United States at the 1991 Sao Paulo Bienal and the 1999 Venice Biennale. Her major museum installations include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts; Contemporary Art Museum, Kumanoto; La Maison Rouge Fondation de Antonie Galbert; MASS MoCA; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; The Wanås Foundation; The Musee d'art Contemporain; The Museum of Modern Art; The Tate Gallery; and the Dia Center for the Arts. She is a Distinguished University Professor in the department of art at The Ohio State University. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Ann Hamilton ANN HAMILTON is a visual artist internationally recognized for her large-scale installations and related video, objects, and prints. She has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, NEA Visual Arts Fellowship, United States Artists Fellowship, the Heinz Award, and has represented the United States at the 1991 Sao Paulo Bienal and the 1999 Venice Biennale. Her major museum installations include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts; Contemporary Art Museum, Kumanoto; La Maison Rouge Fondation de Antonie Galbert; MASS MoCA; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; The Wanås Foundation; The Musee d'art Contemporain; The Museum of Modern Art; The Tate Gallery; and the Dia Center for the Arts. She is a Distinguished University Professor in the department of art at The Ohio State University. Online Issn: 1537-9477 Print Issn: 1520-281X © 2013 Ann Hamilton2013 PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art (2013) 35 (2 (104)): 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1162/PAJJ_a_00148 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Ann Hamilton; The Event of a Thread. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 2013; 35 (2 (104)): 69–76. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/PAJJ_a_00148 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsPAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2013 Ann Hamilton2013 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Digital audiovisual workflows are complex. They can hinge on a breadth and depth of knowledge that is difficult to find within a single team or institution. The areas of knowledge called on can range from obscure and obsolete audiovisual carriers, to all the components in a digitization workflow chain, as well as new and evolving community resources and digital competencies for discovering errors during the quality control process. While there are many standardized audiovisual workflows, as this paper illustrates, QC work can be difficult even with a high level of training and experience; and problems, when caught, are often resource-intensive to diagnose and address. This paper details six distinct audiovisual case studies in which different digital preservation obstacles that are difficult to qualify, fully understand, and document are discussed; as well as, when possible, their solutions. They are all unique, but also unexceptional: we expect there are comparable situations, perhaps not-yet discovered or addressed in many audiovisual archives. This paper will underscore difficulties, and guide readers through some of the processes -- both formal and informal -- used to further analyze audiovisual file problems. Ultimately, in addition to helping other staff with similar problems, this paper should emphasize to administrators the special resource needs of audiovisual files and the staff responsible for them.

As the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC celebrates its thirtieth year, it has inaugurated a museum-wide project designed to re-present the depth and range of the permanent collection. Included in this project is an installation devoted to the ethical and practical considerations that conservators must bear in mind in preserving modern and contemporary works of art. The installation features Fishman (1968), a life-size cast in latex by the artist Paul Thek, that has begun to degrade rapidly. Fishman was chosen as the centerpiece of the exhibition because it embodies many of the concerns conservators face in the treatment of modern and contemporary art: inherent vice, limited treatment options, evaluation of the artist’s intent, technical examination, and maintaining a balance between the added value of age and the original aesthetic. This paper discusses the technical and art historical analysis of Fishman to determine materials, construction, degradation, and possible restoration techniques.

In the first of three excerpts from seminars on collaborative knowledge generation in the arts, the sciences, and the humanities, two art curators and a filmmaker discuss the meaning of collaboration in their fields. Judith K. Ztlczer explores how 20th-century artists and art curators collaborate in creating new aesthetic expressions. Jan Stuart explains that, in Chinese painting, additions to a scroll by calligraphers or other painters is considered artistic collaboration with the original artist. Charles E. Guggenheim argues that filmmaking follows a different model, in which a single strong visionary identifies and enlists the talents of others in "a collaboration of compromise."

(1983). Breaches of trust: Remedies and standards in the American private art museum. International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship: Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 53-70.

Abstract This paper examines the restoration of two black-light sculptures, Study for the Gates #14 (Clytemnestra from “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Euripedes) (1967) and Study for the Gates #15 (“a flock of morning birds” from “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Euripedes) (1967), by the artist Chryssa, as a case study in conserving light-based artworks made with materials and techniques reduced to obsolescence. The restoration process demanded more than replicating components; it required rebuilding the infrastructures that made the works possible and negotiating between preservation and re-creation, permanence and ephemerality. The authors share their experience as a cautionary example, describing the urgent need for conservation strategies that address the accelerating disappearance of neon materials and technologies, as well as the skills producing them.

Shannon Brodgon-Grantham, Stephanie Lussier, Christopher A Maines, Molly McGath, Thomas Lam; Microfadeometry of Face-Mounted and Unmounted Chromogenic Phot

A status update on conservation of time-based media art, mainly from North America and Europe, this article presents the available resources, the institutions involved, the pertinent projects and the challenges over the last decade. A wider development of this field enables us to question the preservation of the intangible and argues for a specific education for conservators.

De schaarse resten van de Xiyang lou, de 'Europese paleizen' in de noord oostelijke uithoek van het terrein van de voormalige Yuanming Yuan, de 'Tuin van Volkomen Helderheid' -in de late 19c en de 20e eeuw onder Westerlingen in China beter bekend als het 'Oude Zomerpaleis',1 zijn tegenwoordig waarschijnlijk beroemder dan in de tijd dat die Xiyang lou in opdracht van de Qjng-keizer Qjanlong (r.1736-95) werden ontworpen, gebouwd, en kortstondig gebruikt als onderkomen voor de keizerlijke verzameling van klokken, speeldozen, spiegels en andere Westerse curiosa.De gebouwen waren niet ruim genoeg om werkelijk door de keizer of zijn familie of leden van het hof bewoond te worden, ze dienden als opslag-en uitstallingsruimte, of ze huisvestten de machinerie en de reservoirs voor de fonteinen.Hun aanblik leverde verstrooiing, als doel voor een wandelingetje op een verloren achternamiddag, en diende als achtergrond voor keizerlijke verkleedpartijen.2In die zin waren ze in hun geheel een trompe /'oe//-effecten meer fa^ade dan interieur.Hun verwoesting en plundering in 1860 door Franse en Britse troepen heeft met een lithografie de geïllustreerde pers en daarna de geschiedenisboekjes gehaald (afb.1).Het gebouw waarvoor de ongeregeldheden zich afspelen, is te herkennen als de westelijke fagade van de Haiyantang -het onderwerp van dit artikel -maar in ongeschonden staat zullen ze, buiten de directe keizerlijke entourage, slechts door weinigen gezien zijn.Dat ze toch een plaats hebben gekregen in het collectieve geheugen, komt zeker door de set gravures die in opdracht van Qianlong door leerlingen en assistenten van de jezuïeten-hofschilders van de fagades van de Europese paleizen en de andere 'vista's' zijn gemaakt.Van de 20 kopergravures van 50 x 88 cm.naar tekeningen van de Manchu Yi Lantai (actief c. 1738-1786), met links of rechts in de bovenhoek in het Chinees de naam van het gebouw, de windrichting van het aanzicht, en het nummer in de serie, zijn afdrukken in verschillende bibliotheken bewaard gebleven (afb.2). Paleizen achter fonteinenDe aanleiding voor de bouw van de Xiyang lou was, naar men zegt, een afbeelding van een Europese fontein die de interesse van Qjanlong had gewekt.3De keizer had Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), die al sinds 1715 aan het hof werkzaam was, die zowel zijn vader Yongzheng als zijn grootvader Kangxi als hofschilder gediend had en groot vertrouwen genoot, gevraagd of er onder zijn collega-jezuïeten wellicht iemand in staat zou zijn iets dergelijks te maken.Uiteindelijk zou de eer te beurt vallen aan de Frans man Michel Benoist.Vader Benoist (1715-74), sinds 1746 in Peking, was van huis uit wiskundige en astronoom, maar had bovendien in Frankrijk enige hydraulische kennis

Paul David Young at the apexart gallery space in New York to discuss the engagement in their work with the idea of theatre and the evolution of the performance aesthetic.The use of theatre within the art world raises a host of questions about the identity and body of the performer, the relationship of performance to the written text, the institutional and social conditions of performance, the relevance of the history of theatre and theatre criticism, and the political nature of art.The discussion continued by e-mail after that evening; these later questions and answers are appended at the end of the conversation.

This essay surveys and examines the prints and drawings by Slavic and Slavic-born artists in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, most of which were donated to the museum by Joseph H. Hirshhorn and were formerly in his private collection. Many of the artists whose works on paper Hirshhorn acquired were refugees from Jewish communities in Tsarist Russia or immigrated after the Russian Revolution. This essay considers the fact that Hirshhorn himself was an émigré from a Slavic country, having come from Russian-controlled Latvia as a child.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is fortunate to own mure than seventy works by Willem de Kooning, one of the pre-eminent painters of the twentieth century. These holdings, which constitute the most comprehensive public collection of de Kooning's art, offer a representative overview of this artist's career from the late 1930s to the mid-1980s. The formation of such a concentrated collection of a single artist's work provides a case-study in artist—patron relationships in the post-war period, andthis national collection also serves as a testament to the enduring friendship between de Kooning and the museum's founding donor, Joseph H. Hirshhorn. There is a parallel, recognized at the time by both men, between de Kooning's project in the 1960s to design an ideal studio in East Hampton and Hirshhorn's contemporaneous plans to found a museum of modern and contemporary art.

"Artists, Workers, and the Law of Work: Introductory Comments." Journal of Arts Management and Law, 16(2), pp. 37–38

By converting the traditional equestrian monument into a powerful emblem of the industrial age, Raymond DuchampVillon contributed to the development of the machine aesthetic in the early twentieth century. His sculpture The Horse (1914) (Fig. 1) ranks among the prime exemplars of the modernist response to technology. His oft-quoted observation on the power of the machine has further served to identify the French sculptor with the machine aesthetic of the Puteaux circle. Both DuchampVillon's sculpture and his aesthetic theory have also invited comparison with the Futurists' celebration of dynamism and technology.2 It is largely for his rational modernism and stylistic abstraction that Duchamp-Villon's sculpture is remembered.3 New evidence suggests that in his late work Duchamp-Villon began to modify the machine aesthetic in response to World War I. A recently rediscovered bronze Head (Fig. 2) and a sketchbook of related drawings (Fig. 3) in the artist's estate reveal the importance of symbolic expression in the wartime sculpture of Raymond Duchamp-Villon.4 In both style and meaning this sculpture represents a dramatic transformation of machinist imagery. It is the purpose of this essay to analyze the Head within the context of Duchamp-Villon's wartime experience. The First World War completely disrupted Duchamp-Villon's 1 Duchamp-Villon, The Horse, 1914 (cast 1921). New York, Collection Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. (photo: Geoffrey Clements)