AFA 18th Anniversary

Narrative Art, based on his collection of illustration, fantasy, and comic book art. Curators and directors of institutions cont inua l ly want to add to t heir permanent collections, either through the generosity of donors or by using specified funds. The following are just some of the material acquired during the past year. In 2017, contempora r y a r t wa s c elebr ated by pu rcha se s at ma ny institutions, including New York ’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), which continued its commitment to supporting contemporary craft through the acquisition of thirty-nine objects from e st abl i shed a nd emerg i ng a r t i st s. Newport Beach, California, real estate developer Gerald E. Buck donated to the University of California at Irvine his 3,200-piece collection of modern and contemporary artworks, valued at tens of millions of dollars, by artists associated wit h t he state, includ ing R icha rd Diebenkorn, David Park, Joan Brown, Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, and Sam Francis. Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms (Fig. 1) employ the repeated use of objects and paintings in an environment of mirrors that induce a hallucinogenic experience. The Dallas Museum of Art now has the only Infinity Mirror Room, featuring polka-dotted pumpkins, of its kind in a North American collection, from a pending joint acquisition with the Rachofsky Collection and the Dallas Museum of Art through TWOxTWO for AIDS and Art Fund. American sculptor and furniture maker John Cederquist also likes to trick the eye. He uses elaborate inlays and airbrush paint techniques to create cabinets, chairs, and other items that appear to be something else. From a distance, his 2010 Double Fuji cabinet (Fig. 2) looks like a kimono, but is an actual working cabinet; it now belongs to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art . Among LACMA’s other acquisitions was a joint purchase with the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens of two prototype chairs (1979–80) by American artist Donald Judd. The two institutions will share ownership of these pieces. A significant group of early colonial American furniture received by the Philadelphia Museum of Art from collectors Anne and Frederick Vogel III is installed in an exhibition in the museum’s American galleries. The Seminarians, a Boston-based collector group, purchased and gifted a Campeche chair to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston . The Museum of Early Southern 18th Anniversary 98 www.afamag.com |  www.incollect.com Despite rising museum costs, existing institutions continue to expand and new museums continue to open. Among the former, in Sarasota, Florida, the Ringling Museum’s Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, opening in January 2018, will house their growing studio glass collection; the New Museum in New York’s Bowery announced that Shohei Shigematsu of OMA will design their expansion; and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles will add 40,000 square feet by 2020. New museums include the Magazzino in Cold Spring, New York, focusing on contemporary Italian artwork; the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles, which Paul and Maurice Marciano (founders of Guess jeans) will fill with their collection of contemporary art; and the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, which the actor and comedian plans for Los Angeles in the near future. After facing opposition in San Francisco and Chicago, “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas received the go-ahead from Los Angeles city officials to build a Museum of Fig. 2: John Cederquist (b. 1946), Double Fuji cabinet, 2010. Various woods, aniline dyes, epoxy resins. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Gift of the 2017 Decorative Arts and Design Acquisitions Committee (DA²) with Suzanne and Ric Kayne. © 2017 John Cederquist, photo by Gary Zuercher, courtesy of the artist.