Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999 Page: 13
60 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Collect
ion
satisfying as purchasing a young or an unknown photographer and
twenty years later having the piece be worth 10 to 20 times the
value. For example, in 1976 we acquired early desert photographs by
Richard Misrach for a few hundred dollars. Today, they are insured
for several thousand dollars.
We also seek to be ahead of the market and purchase historical
areas that have not yet been widely recognized. Thus, we began to
collect pieces by members of the Czech avant-garde in 1983. By
1989, when the museum opened its big survey of this period, we
were priced out of the avant-garde market. We still buy works by
contemporary Czech photographers. We are looking also at contem-
porary and historical works from Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
The museum seeks to be representative in certain areas. Given
that we are one of two museums in the world that owns examples by
each of the first four practitioners of purely abstract photography,
and that we have some of the finest examples of Moholy-Nagy's
photograms, we are particularly attentive to other artists who make
photograms a central thrust in their work. Once we began to acquire
work from Central and South America, we have sought to add new
pictures from these regions each year. I have a passion for docu-
mentary photography and its particular devotion to social and
political issues.
Finally, there are collections within the collection. Sonia and
Kaye Marvins have helped the museum build a first class portrait
collection. Joe Mundy and the Mundy Companies have
focused their funds exclusively on pictures of people
working and on photographs by Texas photographers.
Target Stores helped us establish the Target Collection of
American Photography. Clint Willour and Joan
Morgenstern have concentrated on works by young
contemporary photographers. These collaborative efforts
have greatly enriched our holdings.
Since I must raise the funds for every photograph
that the museum purchases, donors play an important
role in what the museum acquires. I enjoy the collabora-
tion. What we acquire often relates to issues and ideas thatare important to the donors as well as to me and to the museum's
collecting priorities. This is an important part of people feeling
vested in the museum. Part of the success of Photo Forum, a support
group for the museum's photography department, lies in the level of
member's participation in selecting the photographs acquired with
Photo Forum funds.
One of the reasons I chose photography as a specialty is that its
history is largely unwritten. Still what we do not know is greater
than what we know. I am always excited by what may be discovered
tomorrow. O
Richard Misrach
Untitled, 1976
Gelatin silver photograph, 14.75" x 14.5"
Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection,
Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonARTLIES SUMMER 1999 13
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Lightman, Victoria H. Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999, periodical, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228053/m1/15/?q=%22Bryant%2C+John%22: accessed May 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .