Morbid Curiosity at the Chicago Cultural Center

Museum Monday

“Morbid Curiosity”, an exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center, is my latest Museum Monday feature.  I was fortunate to speak with the collector, Richard Harris, for an interview, and his enjoyable commentary speaks to all of us that have a curious nature.

Richard Harris, collector, Morbid Curiosity

Retired from a career of selling decorative art to high-end interior designers, Mr. Harris started collecting antiquarian illustrated and natural books, before moving to prints by Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse.  These he sold to begin his search for the pieces that would comprise his current collection, Morbid Curiosity.

His first purchase was a painting by the 17^th century Dutch artist Adriaen van Utrecht, over the next decade his collection grew to include thousands of pieces.  Creating a collection of his own definition, the universality of the subject did not limit what was available.  Included are relatively unknown artists whose work caught his eye, as well as prints by a number of well-known artists including Jasper Johns and Rembrandt.  The items are not categorized as trophy art, but the collection itself is the treasure beyond compare.

Ivory Horn, Death, Knight and the Devil, artist unknown

Mr. Harris views these objects as a starting point for the discussions of death; to share insights, wishes and stories, not to fear death but to bring the subject into the accepted normalcy of another life event.  The central theme of the display is “the hollowness of the world’s pleasures in the face of death”, but I was intrigued by the abundance of rare, historical images that could be found at the Cultural Center.

The major components are the “War Room” highlighting the atrocities of war in works ranging from the 17^th century to present day, and the “Kunstkammer of Death” featuring a wide ranging survey of mortality across cultures and spiritual traditions.

“Kunstkammer of Death”

One of the first images I encountered was a diorama by Michel de Spiegelaere reflecting the influence of some of the Cabinet of Curiosity pieces collected by Peter the Great in Russia.  “The whole concept of the Cabinet can be viewed in the Kunstkammer, a European precursor to the museum, part gallery, part study room.  All royalty, especially northern European, possessed a room such as this for display of natural treasures.  Peter the Great would purchase whole collections, but did not collect individually himself.”  I recently covered this ruler’s collections in my own Cabinet of Curiosities.

A set of figurines, ‘Dance of Death Figures’, was purchased en masse in France at an auction center outside of Paris.  These unique items would take a lifetime to collect individually, and were produced in the mid-19^th century making them a rare find.  “The imagery is fragile, the pieces are not fired, and easily discerned to be influenced by the art of Hans Holbein.  The clear latex ‘wedding cake’ display allows viewing at all angles, allowing for a fuller appreciation of the ‘art of the time’.”

Dance of Death figures

Detail

The oldest piece of his collection was not displayed, a delicate carved jade skull, from China, dating to 2000 BC.  A painting by Marius van Reymerswaele, ‘St. Jerome in his Study’, dates to 1560, “but some of the Pre Columbian Day of the Dead grouping includes several pieces that predate the painting”.

Coat of Arms with Skull, Albrecht Durer, 1471-1528

Albrecht Durer’s “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” is one of many historically significant prints on display.  Harris remarked that “Durer’s fame surpassed the great Italian artists of his time, because print making gave the world portable art.  The ability to transport prints enabled the spread of works such as Durer’s across Europe.  He was not only a great artist, but an astute business man.”

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Durer, 1471-1528

Historical medical illustrations by Jacques-Fabien Gautier-d’Agoty from 1759 are part of the exhibition and several books and individual drawings are in Mr. Harris’s private collection.  “While d’Agoty was not a great anatomist, he was proliferate, and his son continued the art of anatomical illustration.”

Whites Physiological Manikin

A great chandelier of bones graces the center of the room, by the London artist Jodie Carey. ”The design is made of over 3,000 pieces; each molded and hand finished.  It is a set of three, and the other two are in storage.”

In the Eyes of Others, Jodie Carey

Mr. Harris “does not have a master checklist, the items comprise what he likes, and communicate death in every type of form.  It is the art that drives his collection, not the artists.”

While the exhibition covered a majority of art genres, the only pieces that were not acceptable to display were due to their fragile condition and age.  The Chicago Cultural Center was open to all aspects in the expression of death for this event.  In recognition of Mr. Harris’ contributions to culture in the City of Chicago, the Mayor’s office declared January 28, 2012 “Richard Harris Day.”

My thanks to Richard Harris for his time, and for sharing his beautiful art with the public; more collectors need to take their treasures out of storage and invite the public to share their vision.  If the subject of death can be brought forth into art, what else is available that we can savor and discuss?

Click on the photo to link to more information about this exhibition.

My thanks to Gemma Garcia, who informed me of this show at the Chicago Cultural Center.  Please feel free to post any comments or questions in the space below.  There will be a new Cabinet of Curiosities this week, featuring some of the latest interactive news from museums around the world.

Cheers,

Mary Jo

Cabinet of Curiosities

Mary Jo Gibson

June 22, 2012

Collector’s Cabinet Metropolitan Museum of Art 1570-90

Work and new responsibilities have kept me from posting my favorite internet finds, but that doesn’t mean I have stopped my endless searching.  I have plenty to choose from, and this week I share a new Cabinet with its roots in Russian art and culture.  My brother just returned from one of his yearly visits to Moscow and Saratov University, bringing with him pictures and stories of life in this widely varied land.

Hermitage

One of the greatest museums in the world is located in St. Petersburg, the Hermitage, state museum of Russia, with a collection that rivals the Louvre.  Consisting of six buildings, the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage, this was once the home of Catherine the Great.

The Small Hermitage is what fascinated me after stumbling across a show called Museum Secrets, on Twitter of all places.  I am frustrated beyond imagining that this is not on American television considering what little is available beyond Nickelodeon.  A visit to their website and the tantalizing previews available will have you hunting YouTube for more than a snippet of what they offer.  But I digress, the private castle of Catherine the Great, 1729-96, and the giant Peacock mechanized clock are what I want to share with you.

This private pleasure palace is also referred to as the Little Hermitage and attached to the Hermitage museum.  This ‘smaller’ salon was the hideaway of the great Empress, where she held her famous dinner parties, entertaining away from the politics and gossip of the court.  In this dining room is a gift from one of her lover’s, Prince Grigory Potemkin.

Constructed by the English clockmaker James Cook, this mechanical menagerie only comes to life a few brief days a year during the Russian White Nights.   The turn of the dragonfly sitting atop a mushroom counts the seconds above the hour and minute marks.  A squirrel frozen in the moment preparing to eat a golden acorn sits among the branches of a gilded tree.  At the striking of the hour, the bells ring in the cage surrounding the mechanical owl, its head turning as if surprised to find himself caged in this magical place.  The female peacock lifts its feathered tail, unfurling intricate golden feathers, turning around to show off for the viewer as the male peacock crows a unique sound to mark the hours.  Then all is quiet in the woodland grove again.

Imagine the delight of Catherine at the presentation of the beautiful scene of nature, constructed of gilded bronze, silver and glass.  For someone who had everything, this was a gift that could not be matched.

Peter the Great and the Kunstkamera

A great collector of his day, Peter the Great, 1672-1725, was one of the first to take advantage of the Age of Exploration.  The world had opened up along overseas trade routes bringing strange and impressive relics to those with the means to afford them.  A standing order went out to merchants and his military to bring back any items of interest for his Cabinet of Curiosities.

Two Dutch collections make up the basis of Peter’s natural-scientific collections.  Albert Seba (1665-1736) concentrated on collection naturalia and artifacts of the indigenous inhabitants of Asia and America.  He supplied medicines to the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg, and offered his collection for sale in 1715.

The Tsar bought another collection in 1717, that of Frederick Ruysch.  Peter was an attendee of the anatomical lessons of this collector while living in Amsterdam in the winter of 1697-98.  These classes were given in an anatomical theater over a period of several days until the cadaver began to decompose.  You can imagine the physical oddities that transfixed the ruler who came from a country steeped in superstition; among these curiosities were a two headed sheep and a four legged rooster.  These items were eventually housed in a museum called the Kunstkamera.

A fire in 1747 destroyed a majority of the collection of Peter the Great, morbid as it sounded.  But something else rather rare is featured at the museum site, a mechanical ship.  Referred to as the Celestial Ship, this item has a vague provenance, possibly procured through European missionaries by the Russian embassy.  Watch the video clip as the clockwork of the ship comes alive with the turn of a key.  The device moves on wheels on the bottom of the hull, along with figurines of musicians and dancers.

Celestial Ship from the Kuntskamera

 

The Cabinet of Curiosities was undoubtedly a typical product of its time, a manifestation of the thirst of human learning.  In the essay “On Experience” by Michel de Montaigne (1533-92), reflections of an earlier time when science was shrouded in mystery and suspicion:  “For in my opinion, the most ordinary things, the most common and familiar, if we could see them in their true light, would turn out to be the grandest of all miracles of nature and the most marvelous examples, especially as regards the subject of the action of men.”

What curiosity fascinates you?  Is there a museum with a relic that you return to time and again for contemplation and inspiration?  Share your insights in the comments below.  I leave you with a slide show from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Heilbrunn Timeline, and some of their unique pieces from various Cabinets of Curiosity.

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Until next time,
Cheers
MJ