Art Log: December 21, 2023: Museum Admission Up, Attendance Down, Portraits at Auction, Magnificent Estate Sales

Layoffs at the Dallas Museum of Art and SFMOMA were the focus of a November 23 podcast from The Art Newspaper. Attendance is down at both institutions, while in San Francisco it is largely driven by tourists. In contrast, getting locals in the door is likely more key at the Dallas museum. The staff reductions come at the same time ticket prices at museums across the U.S. are experiencing ticket price hikes. Admission to SFMOMA is currently at $30 (which the New York Times calls the new normal) for an adult. General admission to the DMA is still free, which makes the drop in attendance even more confounding. 

Offered at Brunk Auctions in January is a portrait of famed art dealer Joseph Duveen by Harrington Mann. Duveen handled many important works of art for clients including Henry Frick, Andrew Mellon, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller Sr., and others that are now the core collections of American museums. Mann was a Scottish portrait painter who opened a studio in New York around the turn of the 20th century. 

An interesting auction note, this early American portrait of a sea captain also offered by Brunk earlier in September 2023 had one begging curiosity. Why did the eyeglasses have one lens darker than the other? After consulting with a medical expert, the auction noted this was a good sign the poor fellow suffered from syphilis which can increase light sensitivity. The portrait brought $3,250. 

There’s nothing like a good estate sale and they are even better when in a spectacular estate. That was the case recently in Portland with the Markle-Pittock House. Filled with stained glass and Gilded-Age-worthy woodwork, the house sits on a lot above the city and offers panoramic views of the majestic northwest landscape and mountains. We had an opportunity to chat with the caretaker who has worked on the grounds for more than two decades. A finish carpenter by trade, he told us marble pieces built into the kitchen came from a government building in downtown Portland. The sale featured lots of late 19th century furniture along with garden items and oddly out of step, an Andy Warhol printed soup can dress from the 1960s.