Talk:New-York Historical Society

Hundreds of Art Works Damaged By Mildew in Museum Warehouse
By DOUGLAS C. MCGILL New York Times; July 10, 1988

Hundreds of paintings, decorative art objects and artifacts that the New-York Historical Society is storing in a Manhattan warehouse are in such acute stages of deterioration that some may be permanently lost.

Hundreds of paintings, decorative art objects and artifacts that the New-York Historical Society is storing in a Manhattan warehouse are in such acute stages of deterioration that some may be permanently lost.

Even if some of the severely damaged works of art could be recovered after decades of neglect and substandard storage, the institution says it lacks the money to do so.

It's tragic that the situation was allowed to deteriorate to the point that it was, said Christopher Forbes, the associate publisher of Forbes magazine and a trustee. The nadir has been reached.

The museum's director, James B. Bell, said it would take several conservators several lifetimes to restore the damaged works.

In particularly poor condition are as many as 100 of the approximately 300 European and American paintings in the possession of the historical society and an undetermined number of roughly 3,200 works of early American decorative art and artifacts that had previously been stored in a warehouse in Paterson, N.J., and in a townhouse on West 76th Street.

In late 1986 and 1987, after the society's board of trustees received a report on the collection's condition from a consultant, these works were transferred to an art warehouse in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. Covered With Mildew

In a tour of the Chelsea warehouse last week, the paintings were found to be covered with white mold and mildew and splattered with what appeared to be house paint or acid. Some canvases were torn, some had flaking paint and others had separated from their frames.

Museum conservators said that the seriousness of the mold could be determined only after close examination of each painting, but that its possible effects ranged from slight to ruinous.

The paintings included works by the 19th-century French artists Adolphe William Bougeureau, Jean Leon Gerome and Regis Francois Gignoux and the 19th-century American painters William Bradford and Daniel Huntington. Most of the works were by artists who were successful in their time but who are not well known today. Museum officials say much of their value lies in the insights they give collectively into what affluent New Yorkers collected in the 19th century.

Among the works that appeared to be in especially poor condition was a 7-foot-by-4-foot painting by the 19th-century Spanish painter Luis de Morales entitled Ecce Homo. The figure of the crucified Christ was almost entirely obscured by blooms of whitish mold and mildew.

Because of a warped frame, the top half of another work, The Flute Player, by the 18th-century French painter Carle Vanloo, had popped entirely free, folded over the lower half and hardened in that position.

Four of the West Side museum's conservators - Holly Hotchner, the chief conservator; Richard Kowall; Robert Sawchuck and Richard Gallerani - estimated that, of the about 300 paintings from the Paterson and 76th Street sites, roughly 30 percent had suffered extensive damage and another 30 percent moderate damage.

The conservators said that no works, at this time, could be declared total losses, but that many were so badly damaged that the time and cost of restoration would probably be prohibitive.

There would have to be discussion whether it would be worth the monumental effort to bring them to an exhibitable state again, Mr. Kowall said. The conservators and other museum officials said that whether a painting was totally lost was a technical decision made between curators, conservators, insurance appraisers and museum administrators. Consultant's Report Describes Tar Damage

The report that prompted the move to Chelsea was prepared by Bryant C. Tolles, head of the museum studies program at the University of Delaware. He said in his study that some works had suffered irreversible damage as a result of rough handling and exposure to water, dirt, tar dripping from a roof and dramatic shifts in temperature and humidity.

Some particularly fine works of art and historical artifacts are being exposed to an injurious storage environment, and in fact appear to be beyond hope of restoration, Mr. Tolles wrote in 1986 in his report, a copy of which has been obtained by The New York Times. Some items have lost all their value and may have to simply be thrown out.

I can emphatically and succinctly state, he wrote, that the conditions at the rented warehouse space in Paterson are the most blatantly shocking that I have observed during my entire museum career. Of the town house on West 76th Street, Mr. Tolles wrote, conditions witnessed here were as depressing as those viewed in Paterson.

Mr. Tolles did not cite specific art works in his report. Society Cuts Staff

The 184-year-old historical society, at Central Park West and 76th Street, is the oldest museum in the state. Last week, citing a mounting financial crisis that threatens the very survival of the institution, the society dismissed 21 of its 106 full-time staff members, ended Sunday visiting hours and closed two of its four floors of galleries.

Museum officials said they also intended to sell about 40 of the museum's European paintings and duplicate rare books and other objects at an auction next February at Christie's to try to raise $15 million to $20 million.

Mr. Bell, who has been the director since 1982, said the museum had done what it could, given its limited resources, to store the collection adequately. He attributed the poor conditions at the Paterson and 76th Street storage sites to the museum's limited resources and the policies of earlier administrations.

Over the years, Mr. Bell said, ''the society allowed its collections in storage to take a back seat to its other needs. The museum department has never been staffed the way the library has been staffed. The society has attempted to pursue both of these interests, and the resources are extremely limited to do so.'' Society Responds To Damage Report

Taking issue with Mr. Tolles's report, Mr. Bell said that there may be some works of art that have been irreparably damaged, but I'm not aware of that, adding, I would want further opinion.

Mr. Bell said, however, that the historical society had no money for a major program of restoration. Conservators on the society's staff said that, for the moment, the rapid deterioration of the works had been arrested, although in time the lack of a controlled storage climate at the Chelsea warehouse might further damage them.

Mr. Tolles said in a telephone interview that irreparability was a relative term. Anything can be repaired, he said. The question is, how much of the original do you have left when you're done? He said he stood by his report. ''I was terribly concerned, shocked by what I saw. We are dealing with a very important collection, a reflection of our history, of the American past.''

His report came to light amid last week's staff dismissals. It had been a confidential document, to be read only by the trustees. The report, completed in mid-1986 after a six-month study of the society, called for fundamental changes in the museum's administrative, fiscal, fund-raising, security and other policies.

James J. Heslin, the director of the museum for 22 years before Mr. Bell assumed the post in 1982, declined to comment in a telephone conversation. Robert Goelet, who led the museum's board of trustees from 1971 to 1987, was said throughout last week by his office to be on vacation and unavailable.

Albert L. Key, the president of the board, said that after the trustees learned of the serious problems at the two warehouses, the historical society acted as promptly as possible and with all due dispatch.

Mr. Key, who joined the society's board in 1984 and became its president in 1987, said he learned of the warehouse conditions in 1985 visits.

He declined to say how or why the stored works of art had deteriorated, saying the storage sites had been in use long before he joined the board.

According to museum officials, the Paterson storage site was used by the society from the middle 1960's to late 1986, the town house since the 1930's. Ex-Curator Saw Problems

Mary Black, who was curator of painting and decorative art at the museum from 1969 to 1982, said she had been aware of the adverse conditions at the two sites. She said that those storehouses had been established before she joined the society, and that most top staff people were aware of them. The sites, she said, were considered to contain works less valuable than those kept in the museum.

I thought it was awful, she said of Paterson. ''I brought out everything I thought was going to be destroyed. As curator, I was not encouraged to go either to New Jersey or to the town house. But eventually we all went. I was discovering enormous amounts of material not being displayed that I thought could be displayed.''

Ms. Black, who is 66 years old, was dismissed by Mr. Bell several months after he assumed the museum's directorship in late 1982. She said she had been given no reason for the dismissal and, despite a letter of protest signed by 15 prominent New York art-world figures, had not been reinstated. She subsequently sued the museum on grounds of sex and age discrimination, and the case was settled out of court.

Mr. Bell said that, under the terms of the settlement, he was not permitted to explain why he had dismissed her. Trustees Dislike Pleading for Money

In recent interviews, trustees of the museum said that for many years the historical society had been run like a private club, its 24-member board of trustees disinclined to undertake the aggressive public pleas and socializing needed to attract wealthy patrons.

Some trustees said the board had not decided on the society's mission and goals - whether it intended to be primarily an art museum, a library or something of both. If you're trying to be both a library and a museum, with limited resources in this environment, it's tough, said one trustee who asked not to be identified. This board is living with problems that built up for years that we never dealt with.

According to museum officials, the endowment of the museum has fallen more than 25 percent in two years, from $16 million in June 1986 to about $11.5 million now.

We did make a conscious decision to bring on younger, more active people, said Frank Streeter, a trustee. You're like a big tanker, and you see that you have to change course, but it's not the easiest thing in the world.

Some trustees favoring more aggressive policies have left after a short stay on the board.

Richard Schwartz, a businessman who joined two years ago, resigned in March, sending the trustees a letter accusing the society of lacking interest in substantial fund-raising, of not giving enough attention to conservation and of being satisfied with a dingy facility and little recognition in the New York artistic or cultural community.

In interviews, staff members agreed with that assessment, although none would agree to be quoted by name, saying that at a recent meeting Mr. Bell threatened to dismiss any staff member who spoke to reporters. Mr. Bell denied this. Matching Grants Returned

Some staff members were upset because the society had to return matching grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum Services.

In one case, a $60,000 grant from the National Endowment to improve storage facilities at the society's main building was returned last year.

Susan Klise, the administrator of museum programs at the endowment, said Mr. Bell had reported that the grant was declined because the society had decided to use the space for exhibition instead of storage. Mr. Bell said in an interview that in addition, the museum had applied to several corporations and foundations to raise the matching funds, but without success.

In the other case, a $9,450 grant from the Institute for Museum Services, a Federal agency that makes grants to museums for operating expenses, was returned in 1986 with a letter from the museum explaining that initial cost estimates for conservation equipment for which the grant was designated had been far too low, and as a result the grant could not be used.

Security at the society, staff members say, is also far below safe standards and has already caused major harm to the exhibited collection.

Images
I've speedy deleted those images not released under the GFDL licence. There is an unlicensed image that I've left to give time for the uploader to specify a source and licence. Jimfbleak 15:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Referencing
This article needs better referencing in general. Some inline citations for the history section would help a lot. Blueboar 22:26, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia Loves Art
Please note this museum is participating in the Wikipedia Loves Art ([Wikipedia:Wikipedia Loves Art/New-York Historical Society]]). All interested editors are invited to participate in this project.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 18:41, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Our meetup at the museum is this Friday, February 13 from 6:00-8:00 pm. See Meetup/NYC to sign up.  Thanks!--Pharos (talk) 20:22, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Why is "New-York" hyphenated in the name of this organization?
This article should address, somewhere within it, why the name of the organization uses an unorthodox hyphenation of the commonplace place name "New York". Robert K S (talk) 20:47, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

I agree, this was the first thing I was looking for when I saw its name. – Alensha   talk  01:35, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

like I suspected, it's an archaic spelling. – Alensha   talk  01:37, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

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