{"id":31634,"date":"2019-01-09T14:28:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T14:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=31634"},"modified":"2019-01-09T14:28:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T14:28:58","slug":"ask-the-collector-with-holly-hager-collecting-101-choosing-museum-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/ask-the-collector-with-holly-hager-collecting-101-choosing-museum-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Collector with Holly Hager Collecting 101: Choosing Museum Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

top image \/\/Hilma af Klint\u2019s <\/span>Group X Alterpieces \u00a02, 3, and 1 <\/span>from <\/span>Paintings for the Future<\/span> at the Guggenheim<\/span><\/a> in New York until April 23, 2019.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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The best way to learn about art is to experience it. Since most of us start our experiential art journeys at museums, here\u2019s the scoop on how to get the most out of museum shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

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None of us have time to see every museum show. If you\u2019re like me, you probably go to museums more when you\u2019re on vacation than when you\u2019re home. Time is limited. You\u2019ve gotta choose wisely. I only had time for one show over the holidays. The two that are making headlines right now in NYC are Andy Warhol at the Whitney<\/a> and Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The af Klint show got my 2019 off to a heavenly start. How did I know it was the right show for me? <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> art critic extraordinaire, <\/span>Roberta Smith, Instagrammed it<\/span><\/a> as a must-see.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Get your info about what\u2019s good from trustworthy art publications and Instagrammers.<\/b> The key word is \u201ctrustworthy.\u201d If 2016 taught us nothing else, we all now know that we have to consider our sources very carefully. That goes double for art. A LOT of art publications are akin to pay-for-play advertorials. They write about artists whose galleries run ads or pay fees. I\u2019m not naming pay-for-play names, but here are my go-to publications.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Art Zealous for current, accessible info. (If they were pay-for-play, I wouldn\u2019t be writing for them.) <\/span>Hyperallergic<\/span><\/a> for digestible art criticism that goes a level deeper, and <\/span>ArtCritical <\/span><\/a>when I want to get really cerebral. ArtCritical also sponsors New York\u2019s best kept art secret\u2014<\/span>The Review Panel<\/span><\/a>. Most months (10 of 12), you can soak up a free, world-class dissection of 4 current NYC exhibits. The panelists are a who\u2019s who of the art world. Plus, huge bonus, moderator David Cohen keeps it real. You can dig into their entire 15-year <\/span>archive via podcast<\/span><\/a>. But if you\u2019re looking to network, RSVP (it\u2019s always packed) and get your ass to Brooklyn for it live.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On Insta, I\u2019m all about <\/span>@brooklynrail<\/span><\/a> (art pub), <\/span>@curatorsintl<\/span><\/a> (curatorial nonprofit), <\/span>@dexterwimberly<\/span><\/a> (curator), <\/span>@eugenie.tsa<\/span><\/a>i (curator), <\/span>@girlseesart<\/span><\/a> (curator\/gallerist), <\/span>@hankwillisthomas<\/span><\/a> (artist\/activist), <\/span>@klausbiesenbach<\/span><\/a> (curator), <\/span>@robertasmithnyt<\/span><\/a> (critic), <\/span>@thegreatwomenartists<\/span><\/a> (curator) <\/span>@womeninthearts<\/span><\/a> (museum), and <\/span>@youngglobal <\/span><\/a>(curator). Of course, there are others. But these are the highly curated feeds that keep me in the know about what\u2019s important, not just what\u2019s popular.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Which brings me back to the af Klint show. If you haven\u2019t seen it yet, <\/span>run<\/span><\/i> to the Guggenheim before it closes in <\/span>April<\/span>. I\u2019m serious. Photos of the show are stunning, but they still don\u2019t do it justice. Af Klint was a master of color, texture, and symbolism. Her works, especially <\/span>The Paintings for the Temple,<\/span><\/i> were made to lift your mind to a higher plane. When you\u2019re close enough to them that they fill your field of vision, it\u2019s like you\u2019ve left the material world and entered the spiritual realm.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Af Klint made The Ten Largest<\/em> in only two months during 1907. Their exhibition at the Guggenheim is so special because, in 1931 (long before Frank Lloyd Wright designed it in the 40s), she sketched a spiral structure just like this architectural gem as the ideal temple to house them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Just as important, this exhibit is upending art history. Although her work has been shown since the 1980s, the newfound prestige of her Guggenheim retrospective feels explosive within the context of #MeToo and the still ubiquitous glass ceiling. Af Klint is a poster child for the roadblocks our society puts up against women\u2019s success. She started experimenting with abstract drawings in the 1890s and painted the first completely abstract work in 1906. Wassily Kandinsky was previously thought to have earned that honor. But he didn\u2019t paint his first abstract until 1911. While af Klint showed her groundbreaking works, they weren\u2019t recognized like those of her male contemporaries (Kandinsky, Malevich, and Mondrian). So she later directed that they shouldn\u2019t be shown again until 20 years after her death.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s what museum shows are supposed to do\u2014continually redefine art history. We go to them to see the best of the best. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Before you travel, ask artists and art worlders what you should see<\/b>. If you <\/span>follow me on Instagram<\/span><\/a>, you already know that I always go to museums when I\u2019m traveling. 2018 took me to Europe a lot. My museum highlights were in Berlin, Rome, Siena, Stockholm, and Vienna. Some, like the Vatican, are impossible to miss. Every source lists them, but don\u2019t trust the guidebooks, general sources, or concierges. They won\u2019t give you the real skinny on which museums are the best. Ask artists, academics, or art professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If I hadn\u2019t asked my fav art historian for pre-travel recommendations, I would\u2019ve completely missed the <\/span>Kunsthistorische Museum<\/span><\/a> in Vienna. It didn\u2019t make any of the must-see lists, but it was like taking a survey course in Western art history in a single day. Why bother? Because all art references other art.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Early works by Pablo Picasso as well as the African sculpture that influenced him on exhibition at the Berggruen Museum this past summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The <\/span>Berggruen Museum<\/span><\/a> in Berlin didn\u2019t make the must-see lists either, but their Picasso collection is revelatory. Heinz Berggruen knew his artists intimately. The museum doesn\u2019t just exhibit works the artists made, but also works they collected and that influenced them. Like most of you, I\u2019ve seen loads of Picassos, but one afternoon at the Berggruen opened up a whole new understanding of how indebted his work, and Cubism, is to African art.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Like af Klint and Kandinsky, art has always been a vehicle for communicating the sacred and the mystical, so don\u2019t just look for traditional museums. When we\u2019re hiking in the Himalayas, exploring Latin America, or wandering around Europe, some of the best \u201cmuseums\u201d turn out to be monasteries, temples, and churches. I\u2019m not religious, but I still enjoy the art in them all!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Holly<\/span>\u00a0Hager<\/span>\u00a0is an art collector and the founder of\u00a0Curatious<\/a>. Previously an author and a professor, she now dedicates herself full-time to help artists make a living from their art by making the joys of art more accessible to everyone.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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