Gift of the Artist

I regularly visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art web site, as they have a wonderful online presence. I particularly like their “browse highlights” feature, where they showcase items (over 1,000) in their collections every day. You can view the highlights as a slide show, or you can use the drop down and scroll through at your own pace (that’s what I do).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has introduced me to works by Wang Hui (1632-1717) from the Qing Dynasty in China, Georges Seurat (France, 1859-1891), Gertrude Kasebier (U.S., 1852-1934), and Helene Schjerfbeck (Finland, 1862-1946), just to name a few.

A scroll painted by Wang Hui, artwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Aart

The Kangxi Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Three: Ji’nan to Mount Tai (1698) by Wang Hui, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The museum includes basic information about each piece. This covers, as much as possible, the artifact name, artist, culture, date, medium, dimensions, classification, credit line, accession number, provenance and description. They also indicate if the artwork is on display. These artworks are not always on display in the museum, which makes me feel special when I can see them on their web site.

Some artworks are purchased from a fund (Rogers Fund, Dillon Fund) or are gifts from individuals (George F. Baker, 1890; J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917; Robert E. Tod, 1937). There are all kinds of ways of how an artwork ends up at the museum, including artists donating their own artwork.

Wait. What? Artists don’t have to be long gone before the Metropolitan Museum of Art will take on their work? No, they don’t. I discovered this when viewing Death, Beauty and Justice V by Raqib Shaw (Indian, born 1974).

And there, in plain sight, the credit line says: Gift of the artist, 2010.

Really? You mean all I have to do is ship off my own artwork to the museum and it will be keeping company with Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Dürer, da Vinci, Kahlo and O’Keeffe? I can see it all now. Name: Fabric Bowl and Lid; Artist: Tresha Barger; Year: 2012; Medium: Rope and cotton fabric; Classification: Fiber Arts; Credit Line: Gift of the Artist, 2013.

Packing tape! Where is my packing tape?! This is exciting, yes? Who knew it was so easy to get my stuff into a museum besides putting it in my purse and lugging it around while I walk up and down the galleries? Oh, but this is serious business. What shall I send? Maybe a Zentangle envelope? A watercolor? A photograph? A table runner, serged scarf, fabric bowl, quilted postcard, pillowcases? Or, here’s an idea, one of each. Yes!

I’m going to need a bigger box.