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Wal-Mart heiress roils art world
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Art world controversies
The plan for Crystal Bridges was made public in 2005 on the heels of the purchase of “Kindred Spirits” from the New York Public Library. The work was the first of several art world controversies over Walton acquisitions. The latest is an ongoing legal dispute between Walton and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., over an O’Keeffe collection at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. The cash-strapped school wants to sell the art and the museum has sued to gain rights over the collection.
In New York, Walton outbid the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to acquire “Kindred Spirits” for a reported $35 million, a record price for an American painting. That triggered worries in art circles that Walton, with a fortune estimated by Forbes at over $16 billion, could easily outbid established museums for a shrinking pool of American art masterpieces.
Mimi Gaudieri, executive director of the New York-based Association of Art Museum Directors, said Walton’s public appearance on the scene as a well-funded collector of prominent works “did surprise and dismay many of us.”
“She has the money. The art prices are going up, there are auctions coming up, and I’m sure she will be participating,” Gaudieri said.
Another concern is that Walton is taking art to far-away Arkansas.
That argument played a role in Philadelphia’s debate late last year over the sale of Thomas Eakins’ 1875 painting, “The Gross Clinic.” Thomas Jefferson University agreed to sell the painting for $68 million to a partnership of Crystal Bridges and the National Gallery of Art. Protests erupted over the loss of what local supporters argued was part of the city’s heritage. A fundraising drive ultimately matched the price tag and kept the painting in Philadelphia.
Workman said he is glad if acquisitions wake up communities such as Philadelphia to the art in their midst.
“People are expressing their passion for art and, in one case, for the need for that art to remain in that city,” he said.
He said the museum will be an active part of the national and international art world, not an isolated repository. It is already lending major works, including some to museums in New York and Philadelphia, the two cities with the loudest protests so far over Walton acquisitions.
Workman said Walton will continue to make acquisitions as she sees opportunities. But she is not out to spend whatever it takes to fill what he called “some artificial checklist” of American masterpieces.
“This will be an evolving permanent collection and it will be supplemented with loans. There are going to be loans from institutions and private individuals in the museum,” Workman said. “We are optimistic that we will start with a fairly complete overview of the history of art in this country. That’s something that will continue to be enriched as the museum evolves over the years.”
Workman said the exhibition halls will follow a “chronological flow” through three centuries of the major developments in American art.
Plans are in the works for a variety of guides, including wireless transmission to personal devices such as cell phones. Downloads will also be available, meaning you could load a family tour or a specialized tour by topic onto an iPod before visiting.
Budget plans are still being finalized. Workman said he expects an annual operating budget between $10 million and $15 million funded by a mix of revenues from sales and event catering, and from donations, including an unspecified amount from the Walton family.
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