Big News for NWA and Crystal Bridges

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Crystal Bridges, Fisk Solidify Agreement
By Katie Stockstill
9/25/2007 11:05:01 AM

Fisk University and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced a $30 million agreement on Tuesday that will give Crystal Bridges Museum a 50 percent undivided interest in Fisk's Alfred Stieglitz Collection.

The agreement will allow the two institutions to assume joint ownership of the collection and participate in mutual care and management of the pieces as well as publicly display the collection on an equal basis.

The Alfred Stieglitz Collection includes 101 different works of art. Nashville, Tenn.- based Fisk University gained ownership of the collection in 1949 when the estate of Alfred Stieglitz donated the pieces to Fisk.

Georgia O'Keeffe also donated four of her own paintings to the university, which are now part of the Stieglitz collection.

In addition to the agreement Crystal Bridges founder Alice L. Walton has personally pledged the donation of $1 million for the renovation, improvement and maintenance of the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk. The donation will allow the university to exhibit the Stieglitz Collection in accordance with the art museum industry's highest standards.

The two entities have also announced the establishment of an internship program that will be funded by Crystal Bridges and will give Fisk students an opportunity to participate in on-site training and gain industry experience at Crystal Bridges.

Fisk will deliver a motion requesting relief from its prior orders under the Cy Pres doctrine to the Davidson County Chancery Court for final approval.

"We are honored to partner with Fisk in the ownership and care of this significant collection," Walton said. "From the beginning we sought to create an innovative arrangement with Fisk that would accomplish three important goals: keep the collection intact, ensure the collection would remain on public display and enable Fisk to continue to achieve its historic education mission. We believe the interests of each institution and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection itself are well served through these arrangements."

Crystal Bridges is under construction in Bentonville. The 100,000-SF gallery is envisioned to be home to some of America's premier pieces of art. The museum complex will encompass a gallery, library, meeting and office space, a 250-seat indoor auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events as well as gardens and walking trails.

Crystal Bridges and Cultural Elitism

An article in Newsweek.

Crystal Bridges Secures an Eakins Anyway

Article.

Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand, 1874

After the battle over Eakins' The Gross Clinic, Alice Walton has purchased a different Eakins painting for the Crystal Bridges American Art Museum. The subject, "Dr. Rand, who once taught Eakins anatomy, donated his portrait to the university when he retired in 1877. Proceeds from the sale, which experts familiar with the deal put at about $20 million, will go toward the expansion of its educational and research programs and development of its 13-acre Center City campus." (1)

Rand family profile.

Curiouser and Curiouser

Another Thomas Eakins painting, The Cello Player sold last week in a secret deal after Alice Walton and the National Gallery lost their bid to purchase his painting, The Gross Clinic. Some are calling it a "tradeoff," though they insist they don't know the buyer of The Cello Player. Hmmmmm.