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Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

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An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long gallery in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses served many purposes including the display of art. Historically, art is displayed as evidence of status and wealth, and for religious art as objects of ritual or the depiction of narratives. The first galleries were in the palaces of the aristocracy, or in churches. As art collections grew, buildings became dedicated to art, becoming the first art museums.

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47-663: The Russell-Cotes Museum (formally, the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum ) is an art gallery and museum in Bournemouth , England. A Grade II* listed building originally known as East Cliff Hall , it is located on the top of the East Cliff , next to the Royal Bath Hotel . In 1897, the architect John Frederick Fogerty was commissioned by Merton Russell-Cotes , then the owner of

94-478: A curator's ability to effectively differentiate spaces difficult. Having had no thorough modernization since its inauguration, the Neue Nationalgalerie required upgrades to its air-conditioning, lighting, security, accessibility, electricity, visitor facilities and the behind-the-scenes infrastructure for moving art. In 2012 it was announced that British architect David Chipperfield would oversee

141-533: A grid of black-painted steel beams, has been used as an exhibit surface in itself for Installation for the Neue Nationalgalerie , an installation of long lines of LCD displays by artist Jenny Holzer in 2001, which continuously scrolled abstract patterns down their length. The Neue Nationalgalerie's terrace provides a particularly prominent space for large-scale pieces of sculpture from the 20th century. Permanently installed sculptures include Gudari (1957) by Eduardo Chillida , Polis (1968) by Joannis Avramidis ,

188-471: A library, offices, and a shop and café, and totals about 10,000 m (110,000 sq ft) of space. It is three-quarters below ground so as to allow for safe storage of the artwork. Its sole glazed façade looks out on the museum's sloping sculpture garden and provides ample indirect interior lighting. A rooftop plaza further extends the museum's exhibition space. In 1956, José M. Bosch, President of Ron Bacardí y Compañía approached Mies to commission

235-620: A major renovation of the building. In a non-competitive selection process common for public contracts in Germany, his firm was chosen for the contract out of 24 architectural firms based on a two-stage negotiation process. Originally planned for €101 million, the €140 million renovation project started in 2015 and was originally expected to last three years, during which time the museum was closed. Original building elements, such as handrails and shelves, were removed, restored and reinstalled in their previous locations. Archival material dating from

282-418: A meaningful way. The structure itself, a composite of little more than ground plane, support and roof, thus becomes the building. The aesthetic importance of the clear-span was directly related to Mies' conception of museum space in general, a "defining, rather than confining space". The completely open nature of the plan also serves to eliminate the barrier between art and community, simultaneously breaking down

329-467: A museum is the preservation of artifacts with cultural, historical, and aesthetic value by maintaining a collection of valued objects. Art museums also function as galleries that display works from the museum's own collection or on loan from the collections of other museums. Museums might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions on access. Although primarily concerned with visual art , art museums are often used as

376-649: A number of locations. Galleries selling the work of recognized artists may occupy space in established commercial areas of a city. New styles in art have historically been attracted to the low rent of marginal neighborhoods. An artist colony existed in Greenwich Village as early as 1850, and the tenements built around Washington Square Park to house immigrants after the Civil War also attracted young artists and avant-garde art galleries. The resulting gentrification prompted artists and galleries to move to

423-531: A venue for other cultural exchanges and artistic activities where the art object is replaced by practices such as performance art , dance, music concerts, or poetry readings. Similar to a gallery, a kunsthalle is a facility that hosts temporary art exhibitions however does not possess a permanent collection . The art world comprises everyone involved in the production and distribution of fine art. The market for fine art depends upon maintaining its distinction as high culture , although during recent decades

470-524: A version in steel of the original Barcardí design. Though the Schweinfurt project never came to fruition, the reductive exercise of continual reconfiguration allowed for the perfection of Mies' expression in Berlin, and the Neue Nationalgalerie remains as the sole built form of the initial tripartite conception. Much of Mies' syntactical development throughout the three building progression leading up to

517-657: Is a unique commodity, the artist has a monopoly on production, which ceases when the artist either dies or stops working. Some businesses operate as vanity galleries , charging artists a fee to exhibit their work. Lacking a selection process to assure the quality of the artworks, and having little incentive to promote sales, vanity galleries are avoided as unprofessional. Some non-profit organizations or local governments host art galleries for cultural enrichment and to support local artists. Non-profit organizations may start as exhibit spaces for artist collectives , and expand into full-fledged arts programs. Other non-profits include

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564-453: The Bauhaus and Surrealism . The collection owns masterpieces of artists like Pablo Picasso , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , Joan Miró , Wassily Kandinsky and Barnett Newman . The design of the building, despite its large size, allows for the display of only a small part of the collection, and the displays are therefore changed at intervals. The Neue Nationalgalerie's ceiling, constructed as

611-463: The early modern period , approximately 1500 to 1800 CE. In the Middle Ages that preceded, painters and sculptors were members of guilds, seeking commissions to produce artworks for aristocratic patrons or churches. The establishment of academies of art in the 16th century represented efforts by painters and sculptors to raise their status from mere artisans who worked with their hands to that of

658-640: The 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums . The museum building and its sculpture gardens were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and opened on September 15th, 1968. The gallery closed in 2015 for renovation. The work, by David Chipperfield Architects, was completed in 2021, and the museum reopened in August 2021 with an exhibition of works by American sculptor Alexander Calder . The plan of

705-402: The Neue Nationalgalerie is divided into two distinct stories. The upper story serves as an entrance hall as well as the primary special exhibit gallery, totaling 2,683 m (28,880 sq ft) of space. It is elevated from street level and only accessible by three flights of steps. Though it only comprises a small portion of the total gallery space, the exhibition pavilion stands boldly as

752-522: The Neue Nationalgalerie was prefigured in an earlier project for a Museum for a Small City. This project was published in a special May 1943 edition of Architectural Forum . In his publication, Mies describes a seemingly floating roof plane, suspended above a single clear-span space punctuated by equidistant columns. This project is now seen as a significant move on Mies' part toward the alleviation of interior space by both defining and minimizing structural enclosure, thus joining exterior and interior space in

799-630: The Royal Bath Hotel, to build a house as a birthday present for his wife Annie. Originally called East Cliff Hall, it was built in the northeast section of his hotel's garden, in the Art Nouveau style, with interiors by John Thomas and his son Oliver. It was completed in its first form in 1901. In 1907, Annie Russell-Cotes donated East Cliff Hall and its contents as a museum to the town of Bournemouth, and Merton donated his fine art collection . In return they were made honorary freemen of

846-413: The adjacent neighborhood "south of Houston" ( SoHo ) which became gentrified in turn. Attempting to recreate this natural process, arts districts have been created intentionally by local governments in partnership with private developers as a strategy for revitalizing neighborhoods. Such developments often include spaces for artists to live and work as well as galleries. A contemporary practice has been

893-409: The arts as part of other missions, such as providing services to low-income neighborhoods. Historically, art world activities have benefited from clustering together either in cities or in remote areas offering natural beauty. The proximity of art galleries facilitated an informal tradition of art show openings on the same night, which have become officially coordinated as " first Friday events " in

940-420: The boundary between high and popular culture has been eroded by postmodernism . In the case of historical works, or Old Masters this distinction is maintained by the work's provenance ; proof of its origin and history. For more recent work, status is based upon the reputation of the artist. Reputation includes both aesthetic factors; art schools attended, membership in a stylistic or historical movement,

987-624: The building's lower story, Mies refused, as to do so would destroy the perfect proportions of the temple above. He originally conceived of the entrance pavilion as a place for very large works, allowing for unencumbered visual interaction and for use of the piece as space element in itself. An early collage included in the May 1943 Architectural Forum article about Museum for a Small City includes Picasso's Guernica , along with other large, plane-like paintings. Yet smaller works had to be shown on moveable freestanding walls or hanging partitions, making

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1034-482: The building's primary architectural expression. Eight cruciform columns, two on each length placed so as to avoid corners, support a square pre-stressed steel roof plate 1.8 meters (5 ft 11 in) thick and painted black. An 18-meter (59-foot) cantilever allows for ample space between the gallery's glazed façade and eight supporting columns. Mies' office studied this cantilever extensively in various scaled models in order to ensure its structural stability as well as

1081-447: The category of Post-war art; while contemporary may be limited to the 21st century or "emerging artists". An enduring model for contemporary galleries was set by Leo Castelli . Rather than simply being the broker for sales, Castelli became actively involved in the discovery and development of new artists, while expecting to remain an exclusive agent for their work. However he also focused exclusively on new works, not participating in

1128-491: The classical arts such as poetry and music, which are purely intellectual pursuits. However, the public exhibition of art had to overcome the bias against commercial activity, which was deemed beneath the dignity of artists in many European societies. Commercial art galleries were well-established by the Victorian era , made possible by the increasing number of people seeking to own objects of cultural and aesthetic value. At

1175-645: The construction at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, helped the architects remain true to Mies's design. Meanwhile, the structural framework of the roof, which rests on eight steel beams, and the glass facade was restored. The collection features a number of unique highlights of modern 20th-century art. Particularly well represented are Cubism , Expressionism ,

1222-429: The design of a new office space. He was particularly interested in a very open plan, and the relatively simple idea Mies came up with involved a square roof plate supported on each side by two columns. Though initial structural challenges had to be dealt with, the resulting pavilion typology became integral to Mies' architectural lexicon, in many ways the epitome of his universal conception of space. The Bacardí Building

1269-436: The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century there were also the first indications of modern values regarding art; art as an investment versus pure aesthetics, and the increased attention to living artists as an opportunity for such investment. Commercial galleries owned or operated by an art dealer or "gallerist" occupy the middle tier of the art market , accounting for most transactions, although not those with

1316-468: The expertise of the gallery owner and staff, and the particular market, the artwork shown may be more innovative or more traditional in style and media. Galleries may deal in the primary market of new works by living artists, or the secondary markets for works from prior periods owned by collectors, estates, or museums. The periods represented include Old Masters , Modern (1900–1950), and contemporary (1950–present). Modern and contemporary may be combined in

1363-404: The highest monetary values. Once limited to major urban art worlds such as New York, Paris and London, art galleries have become global. Another trend in globalization is that while maintaining their urban establishments, galleries also participate in art fairs such as Art Basel and Frieze Art Fair . Art galleries are the primary connection between artists and collectors . At the high end of

1410-593: The kinetic metal sculpture Vier Vierecke im Geviert (1969) by George Rickey , Three Way Piece No.2: The Archer (1964–65) by Henry Moore , Têtes et Queue (1965) by Alexander Calder , and Berlin Block Charlie Chaplin (1978) by Richard Serra . In 2003, with the permission of the Barnett Newman Foundation, a fourth edition of the sculpture Broken Obelisk (1963) by Barnett Newman was cast and temporarily installed in front of

1457-472: The main collection, and have included painter Jonathan Yeo and sculptor Jon Edgar in 2011. The new annexe also has a restaurant and a play area for young children. The art gallery in the old annexe displays a wide and frequently changing collection of pictures and statues. Older children are invited to complete a "detective sheet", for example finding where there are pictures of a bat, a kingfisher and other animals and birds. Art gallery Among

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1504-408: The market, a handful of elite auction houses and dealers sell the work of celebrity artists; at the low end artists sell their work from their studio, or in informal venues such as restaurants. Point-of-sale galleries connect artists with buyers by hosting exhibitions and openings. The artworks are on consignment, with the artist and the gallery splitting the proceeds from each sale. Depending upon

1551-412: The modern reasons art may be displayed are aesthetic enjoyment, education , historic preservation , or for marketing purposes. The term is used to refer to establishments with distinct social and economic functions, both public and private. Institutions that preserve a permanent collection may be called either "gallery of art" or "museum of art". If the latter, the rooms where art is displayed within

1598-492: The museum building are called galleries. Art galleries that do not maintain a collection are either commercial enterprises for the sale of artworks, or similar spaces operated by art cooperatives or non-profit organizations . As part of the art world , art galleries play an important role in maintaining the network of connections between artists, collectors, and art experts that define fine art . The terms 'art museum' and 'art gallery' may be used interchangeably as reflected in

1645-400: The names of institutions around the world, some of which are called galleries (e.g. the National Gallery and Neue Nationalgalerie ), and some of which are called museums (e.g. the Museum of Modern Art and National Museum of Western Art ). However, establishments that display art for other purposes, but serve no museum functions, are only called art galleries. The distinctive function of

1692-477: The opinions of art historians and critics; and economic factors; inclusion in group and solo exhibitions and past success in the art market. Art dealers, through their galleries, have occupied a central role in the art world by bringing many of these factors together; such as "discovering" new artists, promoting their associations in group shows, and managing market valuation. Exhibitions of art operating similar to current galleries for marketing art first appeared in

1739-434: The resale of older work by the same artists. All art sales after the first are part of the secondary market, in which the artist and the original dealer are not involved. Many of these sales occur privately between collectors, or works are sold at auctions. However some galleries participate in the secondary market depending upon the market conditions. As with any market, the major conditions are supply and demand. Because art

1786-681: The reverence enacted by severely partitioned spaces and inviting interaction between viewer and art. The overall aesthetic affect is thus one of vitalizing liberation. This infinitely transformative capability and universality is also seen in Mies' buildings from the intervening years, namely the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois , and Crown Hall of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. Various commentators have recognized

1833-405: The seeming flatness of the roof plate. The floor-to-ceiling height reaches 8.4 meters (28 ft), and the space is (laid) out on a 3.6-meter (12 ft) square dimensional grid. Black anodized aluminum "egg crates" fit within the grid house lighting fixtures, with air ducts suspended above. The lower story serves primarily as housing for the gallery's permanent collection, though it also includes

1880-476: The structure's ties to classical building, seeing it as a modern temple whose monumental simplicity evinces the immense skill behind its design and conception. The ability of clearly articulated external structures to alleviate façades and create large-scale universal spaces required certain boldness on the part of the client. The ineffable expression of the Neue Nationalgalerie's entrance pavilion had certain logistical downsides. Its smooth granite flooring reflects

1927-569: The town. They continued living in part of the house and over the next ten years they paid for an extension to be built and made further donations, including the freehold of the site. It was formally opened by Princess Beatrice in 1919. After their deaths, the Borough of Bournemouth took over the running of East Cliff Hall and re-opened it as the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on 10 March 1922. After Sir Merton's death, it

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1974-664: The unbuilt Bacardí project to fit Schaefer's program as he wished to see it built. Consequently, a scaled-down model of the Bacardí project this time rendered in steel rather than concrete was created. In March 1961, Mies also received a letter from the Senator for Building and Housing in Berlin, inviting him to build what was to be called the Neue Nationalgalerie, an exhibition space for the state's collection of early twentieth-century art. The two museum projects, though slightly different in scale, where to be essentially identical in form, both

2021-569: The use of vacant commercial space for art exhibitions that run for periods from a single day to a month. Now called "popup galleries", a precursor was Artomatic which had its first event in 1999 and has occurred periodically to the present, mainly in the Washington metro area . Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on

2068-412: The warm natural light that floods the space, creating hazy shadow and making curatorial efforts notoriously complicated. The singular expression of the pavilion space also relegated the lower story to a secondary position, presenting further difficulties for the display of artwork involving a lack of natural lighting and relatively pedestrian layout of viewing space. When asked later to renovate and expand

2115-605: Was abandoned in September 1960 due to general political unrest in Cuba, but at the same time, two other museum commissions were brought to Mies' office. Georg Schaefer , a wealthy industrialist living in Schweinfurt approached Mies about the construction of a museum for his nineteenth-century art collection during the summer of 1960. A modest initial plan was drawn for the structure, but later that year Mies decided to reconfigure

2162-636: Was devoted to his memory. Items purchased at the sale of Irving's effects formed the basis of the Irving Museum and were displayed with memorabilia associated with his contemporaries such as Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt . In October 2023, it was reported that the Russell-Cotes requires £4m of repairs to restore the museum to an acceptable standard due to water damage. The museum is in the process of becoming an independent charity. Twice-yearly exhibitions of contemporary art support works from

2209-481: Was extended into his part of the house; a further extension was opened in 2000. The house and the new annexe display various items collected in the course of Sir Merton's foreign travels, especially to Japan , and paintings from his personal art collection. One room is the Sir Henry Irving Museum; Irving, a friend of the Russell-Cotes', had stayed in that room. When Irving died in 1905, this room

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