Rose Art Museum

Rose Art Museum
Established 1961
Location Waltham, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′56″N 71°15′45″W / 42.365611°N 71.262556°W / 42.365611; -71.262556
Type Art museum
Collection size 6,000[1]
Visitors 13,000
Public transit access

MBTA

  Fitchburg Line

Brandeis/Roberts

Website www.brandeis.edu/rose/

The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the Brandeis University art collections. The museum's collection includes about 6,000 works, including paintings by such artists as Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol.[1]

History

Sam Hunter, the first director of the Rose Art Museum, came to Brandeis from the Museum of Modern Art, and with a grant of $50,000 from collectors Leon Mnuchin and his wife, Harriet Gevirtz-Mnuchin, launched a collection with iconic works by Johns, Rauschenberg, Warhol, Willem de Kooning and several others—21 works with a ceiling of $5,000 for any one piece bought with the grant.[1] The museum’s exhibition and cultural programming have centered on leading contemporary artists, often giving these artists their first museum exhibitions: Frank Stella, Kiki Smith, Nam June Paik, and Dana Schutz among them. The Rose Art Museum has the leading collection of modern and contemporary art in New England.

With approximately 13,000 square feet (1,200 m2) of exhibition space in three galleries, the Rose Art Museum offers 9-12 exhibitions a year, most of which are organized by the Rose Art Museum curatorial team. The New York Times has taken notice of important exhibitions at the museum, praising an "eminently worthwhile" David von Schlegell retrospective in 1968;[2] calling a 1969 exhibit of sculpture by James Rosatti "an event of some importance";[3] and devoting a full-length article to a 1981 Helen Frankenthaler exhibition.[4]

Thirteen thousand annual Rose Art Museum visitors represent the Brandeis community, the greater Boston area, and both national and international museum-goers. The Rose Art Museum operates seasonally and is open Wednesday through Sunday (12-5pm) with extended hours on Friday and Saturday (12-7pm).

1991 sale of works from the collection

In 1991, Brandeis announced a plan to sell fourteen works of art from the Rose, including three by Renoir, two by Daumier, two by Vuillard, and one by Toulouse-Lautrec. The announcement drew sharp criticism. Arnold L. Lehman, President of the Association of Art Museum Directors called it "like selling one of your children to feed the others," and the Association issued an official criticism of the plan. Mary Gardner Neill of the Yale University Art Gallery said "We still oppose what they're doing, because it's wrong to convert collections into cash.... If a museum sells art, the proceeds must go to replenish the collection with other works of art".[5]

Nevertheless, on November 6, 1991, eleven works were auctioned off at Christie's, bringing in $3.65 million which Brandeis said would be used for "an endowment that will pay for acquisitions, education and conservation".[6]

Planned closing

On January 26, 2009, Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz announced in an email to staff and students plans to close the museum by the end of the summer in response to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. University spokesman Dennis Nealon called the surprise announcement a "hard decision", but said, "The bottom line is that the students, the faculty and core academic mission come first. Trustees had to look at the college's assets and came to a decision to maintain that fundamental commitment to teaching." [7] The move was criticized by the museum's director and board, numerous art-world figures and some donors to the museum.[8][9]

The Massachusetts attorney general's office has approval powers over certain actions of nonprofit institutions located in the state, and Attorney General Martha Coakley said she planned to conduct a detailed review of the decision relative to wills and agreements made with donors.[1] Nealon claimed that the attorney general had "approved the legality of closing the Rose and selling its art",[7] but the attorney general's office claimed they were only informed about the decision, not consulted beforehand. An early estimate of the total value of the collection was in the $350–400 million range, though values may have been less due to a flagging art market. The university's endowment was $700 million before being hit by the drop in financial markets. Several of the university's large donors were reportedly particularly hard hit due to investment with Bernard Madoff.[1]

On July 27, 2009, three of the museum's overseers filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts to halt the closing and sale of works. The three, including a member of the Rose family, contended that the planned closing contradicts the museum's "charitable intentions", violates the trust of those who donated art to the institution, and reneges on "Brandeis's promises that the Rose would be maintained in perpetuity".[10]

Ironically, a major new book was to be published in 2009 by Abrams, anticipating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Rose Museum.[11] The lead contributor to the book was the museum's director, Michael Rush, who initially was "shell-shocked" by the surprise announcement.[12] Rush later helped to organize opposition to the proposed closing. His contract with Brandeis was not renewed in June 2009, effectively forcing him out.[13] In December 2010, Rush secured a position as director of the new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.[14]

By June 30, 2011, under the new leadership of Brandeis University President Frederick M. Lawrence, the lawsuit that had been brought against the university to prevent the closing of the Rose was settled. The museum remains open, and no works of art were sold to support university operations. The controversy became the subject of a book by Francine Koslow Miller: Cashing in on Culture: Betraying the Trust at the Rose Art Museum.[15]

October 2011 reopening

After a brief closing period to undergo major renovations, the Rose Art Museum reopened October 25, 2011. This coincided with the 50th anniversary of the museum, which was also celebrated, including speeches by President Frederick M. Lawrence and artist James Rosenquist.[16][17]

In April 2013, the Rose Art Museum was named one of the "30 Most Beautiful College Art Galleries in the World" by Top 10 Online Colleges, a website dedicated to college rankings.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kennedy, Randy and Carol Vogel. "Outcry Over a Plan to Sell Museum’s Holdings." The New York Times, p. C1, NY edition, January 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Hilton (1968) "Brandeis Retrospective Traces Artist's Short Yet Remarkable Career," The New York Times, November 1, 1968, p. 35
  3. ↑ Kramer, Hilton (1969), "An Unlikely Gamble," The New York Times, December 21, 1969, p. 33
  4. ↑ Kramer, Hilton, "Art View," The New York Times, June 7, 1981, p D31
  5. ↑ Honan, William H (1991), "Brandeis Plan to Sell Art Is Criticized," The New York Times, October 19, 1991, p.13
  6. ↑ Hartigan, Patti (1991), "Brandeis sells 11 works at Christie's," The Boston Globe, November 7, 1991. pg. 94
  7. 1 2 Bergeron, Chris. "Brandeis to close Rose Art Museum." The Daily News Tribune, January 27, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-01-27.
  8. ↑ Smith, Roberta (February 1, 2009). "In the Closing of Brandeis Museum, a Stark Statement of Priorities". New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Letters from the Extended Brandeis Community (and Beyond)". The Rose Art Museum. The Rose Art Museum. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  10. ↑ Kennedy, Randy (July 27, 2009). "Lawsuit Seeks to Save Art Museum at Brandeis". New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  11. ↑ Rush, Michael; others, (2009). The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis. New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-0810955745.
  12. ↑ Lacayo, Richard (Jan 28, 2009). "A Talk With: Michael Rush". Time Entertainment. Time Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  13. ↑ Edgers, Geoff (February 14, 2010). "With the Rose Art Museum controversy behind him, Michael Rush moves on". Boston Globe (boston.com). Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  14. ↑ Guerra, Jennifer. "Michael Rush starts new job as director of MSU's Broad Art Museum". Michigan Radio. Michigan Public Media, The Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Koslow Miller, Francine (2012). Cashing in on Culture: Betraying the Trust at the Rose Art Museum. Tucson, AZ: Hol Art Books. ISBN 978-1936102273.
  16. ↑ "Rose to reopen, celebrating 50th anniversary, after major rebuild," BrandeisNOW, October 21, 2011
  17. ↑ "Rose in bloom: Exhibits trace 50-year history," BrandeisNOW, October 25, 2011
  18. ↑ "30 Most Beautiful College Art Galleries". Top 10 Online Colleges. Top 10 Online Colleges. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  19. ↑ "The Rose ranked among top international college art galleries". BrandeisNOW. April 5, 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.

Further reading

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Coordinates: 42°21′56.2″N 71°15′45.2″W / 42.365611°N 71.262556°W / 42.365611; -71.262556

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