Once at odds, 2 museums find common ground

Crystal Bridges, Santa Fe’s O’Keeffe said to be looking at future collaboration

BENTONVILLE -- The "Georgia O'Keeffe: See What I See" exhibition opens today at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art with the promise of future collaborations between the Bentonville institution and the museum that bears the artist's name.

Officials at both museums have publicly stated a desire to work together in a way that advances their common mission of sharing American art with the public. Crystal Bridges purchased Jimson Weed/Flower No. 1, an O'Keeffe painting, at auction last year for $44.4 million. That painting is the centerpiece of the new exhibition, and the money spent to purchase the work helped the O'Keeffe Museum expand its acquisitions fund and further opened the door for collaboration.

Cooperation, though, seemed unlikely nearly a decade ago as the museums found themselves on different sides of a fight over works donated by O'Keeffe to Fisk University in Nashville. O'Keeffe donated the 101-piece Alfred Stieglitz Collection to Fisk, a historically black college, in 1949.

Included in the Stieglitz Collection are O'Keeffe's 1927 oil painting, Radiator Building -- Night, New York, and photographs from her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Those works are on display at Crystal Bridges, and the museum is hoping to draw more attention to them through the opening of the "See What I See" exhibition.

Crystal Bridges became co-owner of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection for $30 million under a settlement approved in 2012 by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Fisk University is co-owner of the collection, which includes two O'Keeffe paintings the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum attempted to purchase for $7.5 million in 2007.

O'Keeffe had donated the works with a provision that they be kept together and not sold. Fisk was seeking to boost its finances, but its original attempts to sell the work were blocked and led to legal wrangling.

"It was obviously a very contentious issue," said Cody Hartley, director of curatorial affairs at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M. "I think people felt very strongly about it. There are still folks around who are disappointed by the outcome, but from my perspective, the past is the past. We look forward to working with our friends at Crystal Bridges."

Much has changed for the two institutions since they were once competing for works owned by Fisk University. Hartley and museum executive director Robert Kretwere were not part of the staff at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum at the time. The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, which filed a lawsuit to block a 2005 sale of works owned by Fisk, later dissolved and transferred works and the responsibility of copyright protection to the O'Keeffe Museum.

Crystal Bridges, when the discussions over the fate of the Stieglitz Collection began, wasn't even an operating museum. It opened in November 2011.

Jock Reynolds, director of Yale Art Gallery and once a curator of art held by historically black colleges and universities, was among the proponents of a deal similar to the one struck between Fisk and Crystal Bridges.

Reynolds said the offer to buy the O'Keeffe paintings for $7.5 million vastly undervalued them. At the time, he said the two works were worth $25 million and he estimated the entire Alfred Stieglitz Collection is worth $100 million today.

The settlement eventually was reached, and the fact Crystal Bridges and O'Keeffe museums are considering working together gives the story a happy ending.

"We're talking about institutions, but part of that stuff comes down to the people involved and how they behave and make bridges between themselves," Reynolds sad. "Over time there are changes in staffs and board positions. Policies change. Economies change. What we're seeing is a happy resolution, especially for the American South to have this collection. It's created care of the collection and fellowship opportunities. This is all good."

The Stieglitz Collection is scheduled to return to Fisk in the fall. Part of the settlement included millions in renovations to the gallery that will house the works.

How far along the university is with those upgrades is unclear. Multiple attempts to reach officials at Fisk were unsuccessful.

Hartley is hopeful that through the budding partnership, works from the Stieglitz Collection might one day make their way to Santa Fe. An opportunity to host Radiator Building and other works included in the collection co-owned by Crystal Bridges and Fisk would help ease any lingering resentment from past friction, he said.

"I would certainly hope so," Hartley said when asked if works in the Stieglitz Collection might one day make their way to Santa Fe. "I certainly hope that through collaborations with Crystal Bridges and Fisk we could put the past aside and focus more on bringing great artwork to audiences in the U.S. and internationally. There are wonderful, wonderful pieces in the Fisk collection. There are some amazing treasures."

Crystal Bridges wouldn't rule out the possibility, but a museum spokesman said "this has not been envisioned or discussed at this point, as conversations on future collaborations are in early stages."

Whatever form the collaboration takes, both institutions seem hopeful that they've found common ground. Discussions between the two will take place soon as they work through details on future partnerships.

Hartley said the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum has particular interest in taking the artist's works overseas. Currently, the O'Keeffe museum is supporting exhibitions through loans in Europe and Australia with a potential project in Japan.

Crystal Bridges is open to the idea of working with the Santa Fe museum, but has offered little details on what those collaborations might look like.

"I think there is a real desire to work together," Crystal Bridges executive director Rod Bigelow said March 13 when the Jimson Weed acquisition was announced. "They are excited the work went to another public institution. We're still talking about the idea of developing projects or exhibitions together."

"Georgia O'Keeffe: See What I See" will be on display through May 10.

A Section on 03/28/2015

Upcoming Events