French museum unapologetic after loaned artworks destroyed
Last Updated Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:51:01 EDT
CBC Arts
The Pompidou Centre in Paris is refusing to take the blame after two art works on loan from the United States were destroyed when they fell from the museum's walls.
The works were part of the exhibit Los Angeles 1955-1985.
"These two works were made of the same materials, and made in the same period. And both were incredibly fragile," Catherine Grenier, who curated the show for the Pompidou, told the Los Angeles Times.
Untitled Wall Relief, a 1967 work of acrylic laquer and Plexiglas by Craig Kauffman, fell and shattered just before the show closed. The other piece, a black resin work by Peter Alexander and let out by a gallery in New York, fell overnight just days before the show opened in March.
Officials at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which owned the Kauffman work, have expressed dismay and bafflement at how it could have occurred.
"It's extremely upsetting," said LACMA director Michael Govan, who added his organization is investigating what happened.
LACMA and the Pompidou's insurers are negotiating reparations.
Kauffman travelled to Paris to catch the show and said he trusted that people there knew how to handle works of art.
Artist paid $28,000
Alexander said he was notified of the incident by the New York gallery and paid $28,000 US in compensation, but said no one at the Pompidou has communicated with him directly.
"I don't know whether it's arrogance or passivity, but I've never dealt with anybody or any institution that works this way," Alexander told the Times.
Grenier said she hoped an upcoming report will explain what caused the paintings to fall, but she reiterated that the accidents had nothing to do with the installation or the public.
Lyn Kienholz, of the California International Arts Foundation, said there is no excuse for what happened. Kienholz was a key figure in negotiations to get works from the U.S. into the hands of the French museum.
The exhibit featured 300 pieces by more than 80 artists. It attracted 300,000 visitors during its run.
