Ranting Eva is a twenty-something whose ever observant eye hopes to share the daily trials and tribulations of the 21st century, through some downright opinionated rambling on different facets of pop culture.« Don't forget to pack your Geiger counter! | Main | Por una cabeza : the anatomy of a tango »
January 19, 2006
How can you lose a 38 ton sculpture?
Quite easily. According to the BBC, a Richard Serra statue has gone missing from the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain. Granted, it is not unknown for museums to lose track of pieces, especially if they are small and compact. Also, catalogues of the museum’s holdings are labor intensive and hard to manage, especially if you are constantly acquiring items and updating databases. There are often stories of priceless works being found during renovations, sometimes hidden in old closets or behind other pieces of work. What makes this exceptional and "rant-worthy" is that this particular piece of art is comprised of four large steel slabs, which collectively weigh about 38 tonnes according to the BBC.
The apparent story is that the company, which was contracted to store this item, went under in 1998. What surprises me is that the museum was not on top of something like this. One does not commission an enormous metallic sculpture and pays the artist $200,000 (figure from the 1980s) and then proceeds to forget about it once they decide to reinstall their galleries and send the item into storage.
It makes me wonder how many other artworks they may have misplaced in such fashion. What if the Reina Sofia Museum had other items with this storage company? It also brings us to the question of the company's professionalism. One would think that perhaps it would have contacted a major client of theirs and advise them of the changes going on to the business.
Needless to say, both parties in question are at fault for not properly taking care of their assets. Let’s hope they find this sculpture and that it hasn’t found itself a place in scrap metal heaven.
Posted by eva on January 19, 2006 6:45 AM
