By Laurel Crepeau
My Nagelberg fellowship with Mishkin Gallery has been (and continues to be) a rewarding experience. Having past experience in registrar work during my undergrad career, I was looking forward to my first Baruch project in helping further research and categorize the collection of artworks which are located in Mishkin Gallery storage and on view across the Baruch Campus. Starting with a foundation of a spreadsheet comprised of detailed data and image per artwork, my job was to finetune the data and gather the most important information for each artist and their artwork. After completion, this data will be stored in an open-source software so that the digitized works live in a permanent home and more importantly, can be used by Baruch students and general public for any needs they may have.
Cataloging data for a collection of work is extremely important and is key to sustaining a foundation of data continuity. The key elements of information that are used to categorize an artwork are: artist name, date of birth/death, date created, medium, artwork dimension, frame dimension, accession number, provenance, inscription information and location of the artwork. All of these methods of categorizing are important because not only does this identify a work but these details are used when loaning out artwork to other organizations, curating shows, appraising a collection and records when and how often the public uses the collection to further their research.
Although this process can be time consuming and paying attention to every detail is crucial, I found this to be a really enriching experience. Finding and learning every detail about an artwork and the artist is fascinating and one becomes an expert of that collection, which is important when working in an organization. The Mishkin Gallery has a large photography collection, and when researching, one can acquire “new artist obsessions”. For me, a few of were Ralph Gibson, Lucien Clergue and my favorite, Neal Slavin.
Our collection features photographs from Slavin’s 1974 portfolio titled When Two or More are Gathered, one of his most well-known photographic series. Slavin, a native New Yorker, photographer and filmmaker, specializes in groups and gatherings as his subject matter. Through my research, I found that he is inspired by the sociological aspect of group dynamics and how people relate to each other. The photograph featured, Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner Sales Convention, Waldorf Astoria Hotel NYC, initially caught my eye during this process. I love the sentiment that the vintage 1970’s color conveys and I immediately caught myself enlarging the picture to see the individual emotions Slavin captured in that very moment. Seeing the juxtaposition of the blue suited salesman toasting to the camera, while their wives stay seated is also a testament to the gendered era and fascinates me. I can see how Slavin’s interest in capturing an individual’s emotion within a larger group dynamic was fascinating to him and he has the incredible talent to capture these moments. Furthermore, living through a year of a pandemic when group gatherings are no longer the norm or allowed, my appreciation for a work such as this takes on a new form and nostalgia. Slavin’s photographs are such a treasure to have in the Mishkin gallery and can also be found in world renowned art institutions such as National Museum of American Art, MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Throughout this process of researching individual artworks for the collection’s database, I have been able to discover a plethora of new artists that I can add to “my favorite artists” list. Working to gain further insight into more than 900 works, I have begun to have my own filing cabinet of knowledge about these artists and artworks. The Mishkin gallery has such a phenomenal inventory of works that are a beneficial source for research for the Baruch community and for fellow aesthetes.
Stay tuned for more glimpses into the collection and my personal favorites!
Sources:
“BIOGRAPHY & PRESS.” NEAL SLAVIN PHOTOGRAPHY, www.nealslavin.com/ABOUT-THE-ARTIST/BIOGRAPHY-&-PRESS/1. Accessed 15 Feb. 2021.