If you’ve ever wondered where works of art go when they are not on view, here is a little behind the scenes look into the world of art storage at the Nelson-Atkins.
As well as increased gallery space, the new Bloch Building has a tremendous amount of art storage. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities provided for some slick new cases and fancy hanging racks. Of course, I am oversimplifying the whole thing (I’m a writer, not a conservator).
A recent tour of the new facilities with the director of conservation and collections management was quite enlightening. It is quite an operation to track a piece of art from the time it enters our doors to the time it makes it on the wall.
Though the Museum would much prefer to share as much art with the public as possible, it is comforting to know that we have such quality storage.
By the way, that’s Willem de Kooning’s iconic Woman IV on that fancy hanging rack. It was very cool to see the labels on the back showing all the places it has been loaned.