Hello Everyone,

• Yesterday I had lunch with several “emeritus” trustees – this is an honorary designation given to former trustees who have made exceptional contributions to the AGO. I was delighted to visit with several past presidents, chairs and others who have provided wise counsel over the years. It is heartening to know they are still engaged and care deeply about the AGO. Many of these people have their names on galleries. It’s important to remember that they are real people who made real accomplishments and have deep personal passions for what we do.

 

• There is a very significant new acquisition on view in the Esther & Arthur Gelber Treasury – Martin Schongauer’s The Road to Calvary – Christ Carrying, c. 1475-80. The detail is extraordinary. I encourage you to take a moment to view it. The print is one of the most important prints in the history of art. When you go see it, there are several things to look at: notice how he tells time with one side of the sky “night” and the other side “day.” The clothes that the many characters are wearing are contemporary clothes of the time and it makes what we wear today seem rather dull. Also, he has a soft spot for dogs. Schongauer was a great inspiration to many artists including Albrecht Dürer. We believe editions of this print are exceedingly rare and very coveted. Very few remain in private hands, (like maybe 3 of this quality) so when it became available, we wanted to acquire it for the public.

 

• I will be out of the office on Monday and Tuesday attending the Association of Art Museum Directors’ fall summit in New York. The focus of this summit is on Diversity & Inclusion and the key note speaker is Dr. Johnnetta Cole. What’s interesting about this meeting is that museum directors can only attend if they bring a senior trustee. I am going with past president and current honorary chair, Maxine Granovsky Gluskin. The discussion of Diversity & Inclusion needs to happen at all levels of the organization to ensure that trustees, museum directors and staff are all aligned, which is important to making progress.

Enjoy the weekend,

Stephan