Julia,
I totally agree. Legal ramifications could fall back on the museum, if
a staff
member states something, and the private collector takes the advise,
and it
goes bad. It is just like a curator saying your artifact and/or work
of
art is worth "X" amount of dollars. It is a "no-no," as is saying
"that is
a good buy," the piece turns out to be a fake, and they come back
at you or your museum to recover their cost/expenses.
I would stay clear out of providing that advise and/or personal
speculation.
I know some museums have an Appraiser Day or such, where appraisers
come
in and for a small fee, they appraise objects or could provide such
questions.
They are popular (are they stealing the glory of "Antique Road show"!!)
My!
John
Boise, ID
>>> [log in to unmask] 11/10/2005 10:46:35 AM >>>
When I was a curator I was always told that as a curator, my advice to
private collectors should be limited to aesthetic and connoisseurship
matters rather than financial. So, you can provide background on the
artist and help the collector fine-tune their awareness of style,
technique, etc. and comparing one work to another on those grounds,
but
you cannot advise them on whether the acquisition is a good buy for
the
money.
Julia Muney Moore
Public Art Administrator
Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis, IN
(317) 875-5500 x230
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Abel Baker
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 12:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Curator/Donor Ethics
To my colleagues,
I am a young curator working in a well-known art museum in a large
U.S.
city
that maintains a growing collection of a fairly specific group of
modern
and
contemporary artists. Recently I have been asked by the director of our
institution to provide professional advice to certain of its patrons
on
what
offerings made at the major auction houses might make good purchases
for
their private collections. Apparently the rationale for giving this
help
is
that such purchases could perhaps eventually find their way into our
institution's collection through the patrons' possible donations at
some
future time.
While I understand that this possibility exists, I still wonder if
providing
such consultations is fully ethical. For instance, if a private patron
is
making tax-exempt donations to our institution and recieves "financial"
advice in return, is this appropriate? Also, the museum I work for is
very
influential, so doesn't this kind of exchange with a private art
collector
encourage us to nuture our relationship with these patrons by
highlighting
and featuring the works of those same certain artists in their private
collections, thus supporting and perhaps increasing their monetary
value
--
and enriching the donors financially?
I am new on the job, and find this issue confusing. My director says
that
"all museum curators do this." I have consulted the A.A.M. code of
ethics
webpage on "Guidelines for Museums on Developing and Managing
Individual
Donor Support," and this issue is not addressed. I wonder if anyone
has
any
knowledge of how such issues are regarded ethically in the profession?
Am I
naive to question this?
I would prefer to keep my institution's name anonynmous, and I hope I
may
ask this question in a discreet manner.
Thanks for any help and advice,
A.B.
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's
FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message
should
read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
