The celebration of the tricentennial of the founding of the city of New Orleans provided inspiration for rich and diverse curatorial initiatives at NOMA in 2018. These included the presentation of fifteen special exhibitions, four exhibitions held at regional cultural institutions, the creation of a new permanent collection gallery for the presentation of NOMA’s renowned collection of decorative arts and design, numerous loans of works of art to museums in the United States and Europe, and the addition of over 540 works of art to the permanent collection. In all of these endeavors, NOMA sought to build new audiences as well as strengthen existing ties to its communities.
2018 saw a number of firsts at NOMA: the first exhibition devoted to fashion as art; the first collaboratively curated exhibition; the reunification of selections from the celebrated collection of Philippe II, Duke of Orleans; and the first museum exhibitions for Lina Iris Viktor, Mildred Thompson, L. Kasimu Harris, and Katrina Andry, The ambition, breadth and scope of these, and other projects presented throughout the year reflect the talents and expertise of our curatorial staff.
Lina Iris Viktor, Eleventh, 2018, Pure 24-karat gold, acrylic, gouache, print on canvas, 65 x 50 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy the artist and Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Seattle
More than 100 articles of daring fashion transformed our special exhibition galleries for A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, on view from February – May. Experimental gowns, headpieces and jewelry by avant-garde fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, Gucci and Iris van Herpen investigated symbols of womanhood and expanded the theme of fashion as art. Introspection replaced the ebullience of Spring during the summer exhibition, Changing Course: Reflections on New Orleans Histories, collaboratively organized by four NOMA curators—Katie Pfohl, Allison Young, Russell Lord and Brian Piper—brought together seven contemporary art projects that focused on forgotten or marginalized histories of the city. Works by Katrina Andry, Willie Birch, Lesley Dill, Skylar Fein, L. Kasimu Harris, the Everyday Projects and The Propeller Group shed light, individually and collectively, on defining moments in the city’s history while also looking towards the future. Honored as the 2018 Museum Exhibition of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Changing Course served as a catalyst for a dynamic array of programs that invited diverse perspectives into the galleries.
The Orléans Collection served as the capstone of the citywide celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans. This extraordinary exhibition brought together nearly 40 works from the celebrated collection of the city’s namesake, Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1674-1723), a collection that included works by Raphael, Veronese, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt and others. [WATCH A VIDEO] This ambitious project included a fully illustrated catalogue with contributions by nine experts in the field of European art and included an appendix of the current locations of works from the Duke’s collection. The exhibition concluded with a symposium, featuring scholars from both the U.S. and Europe. A prelude to The Orleans Collection was the focus exhibition of Veronese in Murano, which presented two recently conserved and restored works—courtesy of Venetian Heritage and Bulgari—by the Venetian Renaissance master Paolo Veronese. NOMA and The Frick Collection in New York were the only U.S. venues for this exhibition of two altarpieces from a church on the Venetian island of Murano.
Significant exhibitions from NOMA’s extensive collection of photographs were presented during 2018, including the companion exhibitions Lee Friedlander: American Musicians and Lee Friedlander in Louisiana; Attributed To: The Storyville Portraits of E.J. Belloq; Best Seat in the House: Photographs by Del Hall; Josephine Sacabo: Salutations, a presentation of a group of works by this New Orleans-based artist, at the Hammond Regional Arts Center; and closing out the year, Past, Present and Future: Photography at NOMA. This last exhibition celebrated the centennial of the first exhibition of photographs at NOMA in 1918, providing a look at the history of the collection, its current form, and its future direction.
2018 also saw the publication of Looking Again: Photography at the New Orleans Museum of Art, a celebration of the long and rich relationship between NOMA and photography. The first publication devoted to the permanent collection of photographs since 1979, Looking Again presents over 130 images from the collection that reflect the depth and range of the collection as well as the complexities of the medium itself.
In addition to Changing Course, NOMA presented a rich array of exhibitions in the field of modern and contemporary art. In the spring, NOMA presented the internationally recognized artist Carlos Rolon, whose exhibition Outside/In explored the rich connections between New Orleans, Latin America and the Caribbean through allusions to each regions artistic and cultural traditions. In the fall, the Great Hall was the site of Lina Iris Viktor: A Haven. A Hell. A Dream Deferred, the first museum exhibition for the artist. The paintings presented there explored narratives—both factual and fantastical—surrounding America’s involvement in the founding of Liberia.
New acquisitions to the collections served as the catalyst for several exhibitions, including Ear to the Ground: Earth and Element in Contemporary Art and Mildred Thompson: Against the Grain. Each took as their starting point works acquired recently, as the museum seeks to expand its holdings of under-represented artists. Similarly, new accessions in the field of Japanese Edo-period painting were featured in Teaching Beyond Doctrine: Painting and Calligraphy by Zen Masters.
A new gallery for the presentation of NOMA’s renowned collection of decorative arts and design opened in 2018. Featuring selections from our historic collections, as well as a number of notable new acquisitions and loans, the gallery presents- for the first time- modern and contemporary design. This installation highlights the connections between society and design, craft and manufacture, and fine art and functional household items.
The Lupin Decorative Arts Galleries were re-imagined, with the addition of new works representing design trends of the 20th century.
This summer, NOMA was delighted to welcome to the curatorial team Ndubuisi Ezeloumba, as the Francoise Billion Richardson Curator of African art. Ezeloumba is a distinguished scholar of the traditional arts of Africa, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2017.
Over one hundred works of art were lent to regional, national and international exhibitions in 2018, reaching new audiences. Work continued on the expansion of NOMA’s acclaimed Besthoff Sculpture Garden in 2018,with an opening projected for May 2019. Through the extraordinary generosity of Sydney and Walda Besthoff, NOMA received into the collection five sculptures that will be installed in the garden, including works by Shirazeh Houshiary, Gerold Miller, George Rickey, Hank Willis Thomas and Katharina Fritsch.
Over 500 works of art were added to NOMA’s permanent collection in 2018. Counted among this number was an extraordinary gift of nearly 345 photographs by the American photographer Bruce Davidson, and over 20 color photographs from Bruce Berman, featuring images of the American South by artists such as Birney Imes, William Greiner, Walker Evans and Mike Smith. Our photography collection was also enhanced by purchase, and gifts from L. Kasimu Harris, Holly Lay, George and Milly Denegre, Gary P. Levinson and Eileen Levinson, Cole and Margaret Lundquist, Jim and Cherye Pierce, Arthur Roger, Cleophus Thomas, Jr., Charles L. Whited, Jr., Sissy Albertine, the Gordon Parks Foundation, Del and Ginger Hall and Gayle S. Stevens.
Nia Terezakis generously donated over 40 works of Latin American art in 2018, significantly enhancing NOMA’s holdings in this area. Included in the gift are paintings, sculptures, ceramics and works on paper by artists such as Gerzo Gunther, Rufino Tamayo and Manuel Neri. Augmenting our collections of modern and contemporary art were donations by Lyra Erath, Wes and Garner Robinson, Arthur Roger, and Jeanne Nathan and Robert Tannen, Constance and Casey Willems, as well as purchases of work by Linda Benglis, Diederick Brackens, Clementine Hunter, Carlos Rolon, Robert Tannen, Charlie Lucas, Lonnie Holley.
A Punch Bowl with Cantonese Hongs, was a significant addition to our collection of decorative arts and design. Further augmenting the collection were donations from Nanci Easterling, Thom and Mary Herrington, Dr. Ronald Swartz, and Marshall Watson. Purchases of historic, modern and contemporary decorative arts and design brought works by Haviland & Co., Ettore Sottsass, George Ohr, the Newcomb College Pottery and New Orleans Art Pottery Company into the collection.
Ongoing donations from Dr. Kurt A. Gitter and Alice Rae Yelen enhanced NOMA’s collection of Japanese art, as did the purchase of a painting by Hakuin Ekaku. The continued generosity of Abishek and Siddharth Bhansali brought eight works of classical and village art from the Indian subcontinent into the permanent collection.
The arts of Oceania were enhanced by donations from Abba Kastin, and the arts of Africa by donation from Dr. John and Pam Finley. Donations from the Adatto family augmented our holdings in native American art, as did gifts from Hugh Robertson.
Two 2018 acquisitions in had tremendous impact on NOMA’s presentation of European painting. The purchase of Willem van Mieris’s An African Woman, made possible through the Alvin and Carol Merlin Acquisition Fund, served as the inspiration for the re-installation of the Dutch galleries in 2019. Likewise, a rare painting by Leopold Burthe, Angelique, acquired through the generosity of Michael and Susie McLoughlin, have revitalized our 19th century French galleries.
