How to get a print of this painting?

January 8, 2009 6:30 PM

Laying hands on a print of a major, but not famous, painting...

Recently, at a museum, I saw a painting with which I fell totally in love. Specifically, Jean Metzinger's Still Life With Box, an amazing cubist piece. It's part of a touring exhibit of stuff whisked out from New Orleans in Katrina ("Spared from the Storm").

The rest of the internet has failed me... does anyone know how one would get a print of something like this? Is it even possible? I thought of asking someone at the museum, but don't know who to ask, and don't want to bother some curator with my silly souvenir-hunting requests. (Plus the exhibit has passed through now.)

Wisdom from the art crowd?

posted by paultopia to media & arts (3 answers total)

Since the show in question was organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art from their permanent collection, call their museum shop, 504-658-4116 or email [e-mail] . They should be ablet o tell you if they have a print available.
posted by advicepig at 6:54 PM on January 8, 2009

I also can't find any prints on line, but I'd asked a curator in a heartbeat. Try Miranda Lash, (504-658-4138) at NOMA .
posted by dawson at 6:56 PM on January 8, 2009

Since the exhibition was organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art (and the painting is it its collection), I would call NOMA and ask to be put in contact with a manager at the museum shop. They might be able to get you an idea if a print has ever been made commercially of that particular work (with the caveat that it's my understanding that NOMA is still operating with a reduced staff, so unless it's something that's sold directly through the NOMA shop, they may not be able to help much beyond that).

If NOMA doesn't have a print, there are still ways to do a little detective work. Metzinger's estate is represented by ARS (Artists Rights Society) for copyright clearance purposes; it's not quite their job, but it's possible you could find someone there who might know of whether that work has ever even been photographed for copyright/commercial purposes, and if so, if there are resource they could refer you to.

Also, according to Metzinger's current entry in Grove Art, the last book about him was published in 1990 in Germany (F. Metzinger and D. Robbins: Die Entstehung des Kubismus: Eine Neubewertung, Frankfurt am Main, 1990), and the last exhibition catalogue was in 1985 (Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, exh. cat., texts by D. Robbins and J. Moser; Iowa City, University of Iowa Museum of Art, 1985). If you can track down either of those books, you could see if they contain a photograph of the painting you're after.
posted by scody at 7:10 PM on January 8, 2009