The IMA rarely has the luxury of reframing the paintings in its collection, since funds to pay for new frames are not readily available. A frame is an important part of a painting that serves not only to enhance the image but also to protect it.  Several paintings at the IMA have unsuitable frames that do nothing to enhance the beauty of the work and may actually detract from it.  One of those paintings is Abbott Thayer’s 1886 Still Life, a simple but lush depiction of a peony in a pewter-lined copper bowl.  This spare but dramatic still life was in a deteriorating reproduction frame that had a negative affect on the painting.

Last year the work appeared in the exhibition American Art and the East at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.  It was seen by Eli Wilner, a leading frame dealer and restorer, who noticed that the frame did not show the painting to its best advantage.  Mr. Wilner contacted the IMA and made a proposal to reframe the painting for a minimal payment from the museum.  The IMA was being given the opportunity to obtain a museum quality frame that we would not have been able to purchase if Mr. Wilner had not offered to donate most of its cost.

A comparison of Thayer’s still life before and after reframing shows a stunning transformation in the presentation of the painting.  It is now surrounded by a frame that resembles those of the period in which it was created and one that brings out the beauty of the image.  Mr. Wilner has offered to help the IMA reframe additional paintings with his support, so we are hoping that we will be able to take advantage of this very generous offer in the future.

The next time you are visiting the IMA come to the American galleries and see the Abbott Thayer still life in its new frame and experience what the appropriate frame can do for a painting.

It’s things like this that remind me how lucky I am to work where I do. How many workplaces do you know that have a talent show!? You won’t see this in any of our galleries, at least not anytime soon, but it’s all amazing stuff!

These are all photos I took on my iPhone (hence the shady quality) of artworks brought in to our in-house talent show. The festival took place on Monday, May 18th, 2009. Enjoy…

Heather Hudson - Artwork

Pat Williamson - Paintings & Drawings

Gary Hutchison - Photographs & 2D Art

Jeff Julius - WWII Ships from Recycled Materials

Lindsay Lord - Handbags & Totes

Mary Schnellbacher

Matt Warner - Drawings, Painting & Photographs

Phil Hughes - Paintings & Pewter Miniatures

Joseph Vasquez - Fine Art Prints

John Todd - Ceramics

Carol White - Jewelry & Metalsmithing

Len Bibeau - Painting & Prints

I’ve tried to caption these things as best as I can, but surely I’ve made a mistake or two… please, feel free to chime in and talk about your art if I’ve featured it here (or if I missed you… it was not intentional, I promise!).

I should also mention, there was a performance part to the talent show, but photos won’t do much justice. People performed songs, and performed them amazingly well I must say! Maybe one day we’ll see a clip or two pop up on the internet… if so I’ll add those to the post.

"Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley" by John Singer Sargent

Within the first week of my internship, I made two exciting discoveries here at the IMA. One was The Prado in Google Earth and the other, which I found upstairs in the American Galleries was the John Singer Sargent painting, Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley.

For those who aren’t already familiar, The Prado Museum and Google Earth have teamed up to create an interactive site for the museum, which can be accessed on the internet through Google Earth. The application creates a 3D view of the museum and incredibly detailed imagery of 14 masterpieces found in the museum, including works by Velasquez, Rubens, and Rembrandt, and Goya. According to the Associated Press article, the project involved 8,200 photographs of the works and an assumedly hefty bill (footed by Google).

The end product allows a viewer to zoom in on an image made up of 14 billion pixels. According to Google, that’s 1,400 times more detailed than the image a 10 megapixel camera could take – it’s quite remarkable. I watched the trailer for the project and was amazed. As one observer noted, you can actually see what appears to be a blemish painted on the rump of a women in the Rubens’ painting, The Three Graces. From what I can remember of Rubens in my art history classes, such an addition would be typical of his humor. I downloaded Google Earth at home in hopes of exploring the paintings beyond what the trailer shows, but unfortunately, my computer couldn’t handle the navigation very well, and I was left slightly frustrated. Hopefully your computer is faster.

So, how does this relate to discovery number 2? – Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley

I have recently read several posts, both on the IMA Blog and on other blogs, that discuss the use of technology in museums. The Prado in Google Earth raises the question: Can digital imagery ever replace the real deal? Would it matter if every museum offered all of their works in a manner similar to the 14 offered by Google Earth from The Prado? Would patrons stop entering the galleries and opt for the computer based imagery?

John Singer Sargent leads me to my answer.
Can technology replace the real deal? No.
Why? Brushstrokes.

I was a painting major in my undergraduate studies at DePauw University, and John Singer Sargent is my favorite painter. I studied his technique, I wrote papers on him, and I tried painting like him. My infatuation with this artist is founded upon his brushstrokes.

My painting professor adamantly told me that a painter should always paint from life, as Sargent most always did. He would say, “Painting from a picture will flatten your image and your painting will not have the same effect as it would if you were to paint from life.” For me, Google Earth has the same effect on a painting. I want to see the brushstrokes in person, in 3D space – not on a computer screen. (Google calls it 3D, but it’s not the same…)

My point here is that no matter how cool The Prado in Google Earth is, no matter how close the computers can zoom in on the brushstrokes, (at this point you might have to check it out to really know what I mean), I am always going to want to see the real thing. Yes, Google offers me the chance to zoom in on brushstrokes in a way that my own eyes would not allow me to do but that, for me, will never replace the intimacy of viewing the actual canvass on which the paint was applied. As Prado Director Miguel Zagaza says, “What we don’t see is the soul. The soul will always only be seen by contemplating the original.”

"Lady Agnew of Lochnaw" by John Singer Sargent

This is why I will one day travel to the National Galleries of Scotland, where my favorite Sargent painting, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, hangs.

A lot of times when people find out I work at the IMA they assume I have an art background or have at least taken one Art History class. This is, in fact, not true. I do remember making a paper mache’ fish when at the IMA in the summer when I was about 7, at some of our Summer Art classes.

I began collecting art about 6 years ago when I got out of college and didn’t know what to do with all my free time now that I was in the “real world.” I started going to Goodwill, garage sales, thrift stores, and other places I could actually afford and started picking up art that makes me smile. It doesn’t mean I’m not a great art collector, it means I’m a treasure hunter. After all, how great is it that you can find treasures anywhere, like IMA’s new collection of Weegee photos that a couple of ladies found in a trunk at a Kentucky yard sale?

People also ask what my favorite kind of art is and if you walked into my house you’d realize it’s an eclectic mix, similar to my movie collection, my taste in music – heck, even my friends. Right inside the front door, before you head up the stairs, is a canvas reproduction on “American Gothic.”

I really love that you don’t have to just have posters anymore to see your favorite reproductions. It’s more affordable – and more fun – to do a little creative searching and find works on canvas, or pick up works at art fairs, even if you can only buy their work on greeting cards to start with.

In one corner of my living room, I have two posters I’ve framed, four portraits that I bought from the IMA’s former Better Than New Shop, and an embroidered “Be Happy” piece I bought at Goodwill because it was colorful and obviously had a positive message.

On the bookcase in that corner are housed hundreds upon hundreds of pictures I’ve placed in photo albums, being as that I’m an amateur photographer in my own mind. (Basically I’ve captured all the moments that prevent me and most of my friends from ever running for public office.) There’s also a framed photo of my Grandpa Ray, who has a piece in my collection as well. When he passed away the one thing I wanted from his house was a small “sculpture” he had on top of his TV of a dog chasing a raccoon up a branch, although my witty grandpa painted the dog to look like a beagle, which he raised as hunting dogs. It sits on top of my TV stand now reminding me of his humor and the pencil sketches of owls and funny cowboys he’d draw for me.

Perhaps Craig Miller wants to talk to me about Design? Well, okay so maybe I just assembled the entertainment center I bought at Wal-Mart, but our Exhibits guys might be surprised to learn I’m pretty handy with a hammer and a glue gun. I did, however, come up with this clever use of cd covers to display my crazy taste in music and art, and these are a great conversation piece.

Also on top of this elaborate entertainment center sits Madamoo Foo Foo. She’s a sculpture I bought from a fabulous gay couple when I was out treasure hunting one day, and they insisted if I bought her I keep her given name. Deal.

I will also beat you to it and poke fun at myself for the YouTube video the Nugget Factory made of me before I lost a bit of weight and found my real identity at the museum, when I said “I like this whole wall!” like a 4 year old child for my family and boyfriend to now constantly tease me about.

I created a whole wall of things I love that you see as soon as you walk in my front door, which includes “Boy in Blue” by Modigliani, which is in the IMA’s permanent collection.

One day I decided to name him Jasper, and it’s made me smile ever since. Then there are my Van Gogh classics, as well as a very special picture made by my mother when she was in high school and still an artist known as Judy Ray.

I love it. In my spare room I have my most “vintage” piece, a work my father bought at Penrod, on the IMA’s campus, in 1973. Fantastic.

Perhaps my strangest works featured together, maybe because I can’t seem to get it just right, is in my bedroom. Yes, I’m allowing you in to see where some type of magic supposedly happens. Above my bed hangs an old Stone Temple Pilots poster I had framed back in high school, along with my most expensive piece of artwork, a lithograph from the artist Sunol Alvar.

My parent’s house is full of Alvar that I plan to inherit someday, and this was a Christmas gift from them 2 years ago. She has moved around in my room but I found on this wall I can see her as soon as I wake up, and it makes me happy. Please excuse the folded clothes in the picture as it was laundry day, but look Ma, I made my bed.

My office is full of toys and wonders as well, featuring an “Office Sweet Office” poster that looks embroidered as an homage to Home Sweet Home. One of my coworkers said last week “I wonder what it’s like to live in your head for a day.” Now you know what it’s like to live in my own museum. What kind of artwork do you display in your home that tells your story?