Corporate Art

Robin Pogrebin of the NY Times recently published an excellent article on corporate and the benefits to the public, museums and corporation. In the past, corporations typically assembled collections and would occasionally lend out individual pieces for exhibitions. Now, the collections have gotten so large, with in-house curators, the collections are now going out as complete turn key exhibitions for both large and small museums and historical societies.

The article looks at some interesting concepts, including increased business, the cost of the exhibition (especially transportation) and the impact on the value of the collection to due the increase exposure, museum exhibition/catalog as well as adding to the provenance. The corporations and banks claim the return business gained typically outweighs the cost of staging the exhibition.

Overall a very good article to read and it is more than cursory, as it covers three pages. Link to full article at the end of the post.

Pogrebin states What museums need to be conscious of, art experts say, is creating the impression that these exhibitions enhance the value of corporate collections that might one day come to market. “A museum has to think very seriously about taking those shows,” said John Ravenal, president of the Association of Art Museum Curators and curator of modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. “The museum, by virtue of its stature and its public role, gives legitimacy or confers a certain kind of validity to these collections when it exhibits them.“If the collection isn’t a promised gift to the museum, then there is the potential for the museum to be used to unwittingly increase the value of a collection, whether its individual or corporate.”

Pogrebin continues “We have determined that a sale would result in an overall loss or a break-even, and that it is better used as a community support and marketing tool,” the bank’s Ms. DeSisto said: associating the bank with arts patronage and charitable giving, providing access to prospective clients in museum trustees and donors, offering opportunities for client entertainment.

Bank of America said its cost per exhibition can range from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on how far the artwork needs to be transported, and Ms. DeSisto said the expenditure — which she declined to quantify — has paid off.
“The income we have generated through increased business is superior to any income we could generate from selling the collection,” she said. “Attracting even one individual client can cover the entire cost of lending a turnkey exhibition.”

To read the full article, click HERE.