STANDARDS

Core Art Standards: VA4, VA5, VA6

CCSS: R1, R8, W1

To Share or Not to Share

Who should have access to art?

Enlargeable image of a da Vinci painting

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Salvator Mundi, c. 1499-1510. Oil on walnut panel. Wikipedia Commons.

Does the general public have a right to see this important painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci?

If you owned a $450 million painting, where would you put it? That’s the amount a Saudi Arabian prince paid for Salvator Mundi in 2017, making it the world’s most expensive painting.

Desperate for a glimpse of Salvator Mundi, above, people lined up for days before it was auctioned. After the auction, the painting, attributed to Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci, was scheduled to appear in an important exhibition. But it was pulled at the last minute. No one has seen the painting since—although there are rumors that a special museum is being built in Saudi Arabia to house Salvator Mundi.

It’s common for art collectors to remain anonymous and to keep their collections private. Some buy a work because they fall in love with it or want to support the artist. Some want to display art in their homes, lend it to museums, or even create galleries where they can show their collections. Others see art as an investment, keeping it locked away to gain value. But what are collectors’ responsibilities to the artwork, to scholars, and to the public?

Enlargeable image of high-tech art storage located in New York City

Laura Howell.

Should collectors store art in high-tech facilities, like the one shown above, away from public view?

Concealed Collections

The gray building behind the KFC in the photo above is a storage facility designed to protect artwork. It is climate-controlled, with emergency generators and state-of-the- art security, like iris scans. The art is protected, but nobody gets to see it. Do collectors have an obligation to share the art they own with others?

Enlargeable image of a Henri Matisse painting of a woman with a headscarf

Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Red Madras Headdress, 1907. Oil on canvas. Image ©The Barnes Foundation/Bridgeman Images. Artwork ©2023 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

When the Barnes Foundation opened in 1922, few people were allowed to see Henri Matisse’s Red Madras Headdress. Do you think this was the right decision?

Prickly Restrictions

Sometimes only certain people are allowed to view a collector’s art. Albert Barnes amassed an impressive private collection, including Henri Matisse’s iconic 1907 Red Madras Headdress, above. When the Barnes Foundation opened in 1922, Barnes dictated where and how his art should be displayed. He also forbade parties and strictly limited who could visit. Artists and factory workers were permitted—Barnes wanted to educate those who didn’t usually have access to art. Art critics and the wealthy usually were not allowed.

Following Barnes’s death in 1951, a series of lawsuits helped loosen restrictions. Works from the collection were allowed to be shown away from the original space for the first time. Eventually the foundation’s trustees approved a plan to move all the artworks to a new museum in Philadelphia built to house the collection. Today anyone can buy a ticket to visit. But was moving away from Barnes’s original vision the right decision?

Enlargeable image of two art collectors posing in front of a colorful background

Cindy Karp/The New York Times/ Redux.

Don and Mera Rubell believe in supporting artists and making their collection available to the public.

Art for All

Don and Mera Rubell have a more welcoming attitude than Barnes did. The couple began acquiring contemporary art more than 50 years ago. They purchased their first work on installment, paying a little each week. Today they have one of the world’s largest private collections: more than 7,200 works by more than 1,000 artists. The Rubells continue to visit artists’ studios and acquire new works. The couple believes it’s important to support contemporary artists, like Chinese artist Liu Wei. The couple poses in front of the artist’s 2013 Liberation No. 1, above.

Eager to share their lovingly curated collection with the public, the Rubells transformed a former warehouse in Miami into a museum in 1993. More recently, they converted an abandoned school in Washington, D.C., into a 32,000-square-foot museum. It’s free for D.C. residents and reasonably priced for others.

What do you think? Do art collectors have a responsibility to share the art they own with the public? Why or why not?

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