Georgia O'Keeffe Radiator Building
I read Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life a biography by Roxana Robinson many years ago. I just recently picked it up again to refresh my memory of the Fisk donation. It is very interesting reading indeed. When O'Keeffe gave the collection to Fisk, Fisk... remodeled a gymnasium to hold the collection. O'Keeffe wasn't happy with the way it turned out and actually came down to Tennessee to oversee the installation. She was disappointed when she arrived. In addition to the bad lighting, she writes in letters that Fisk did not have the funds for proper maintenance of the premises nor did they have enough to properly insure the collection. She felt that the collection was in danger of deterioration and actually reclaimed the collection for restoration. The book doesn't say why the collection was returned to Fisk. It just says that it was returned to Fisk.
Fisk University has had money problems for decades. Apparently even as the donation was being made. The Stieglitz collection will not save them....nor was it ever intended to. If Ms. O'Keeffe wanted it to "save" them financially, wouldn't she have permitted it during her lifetime? The book explains that O'Keeffe was behind the donation and had sympathy for black artists and writers. Stieglitz was not one to give museums anything for any reason. O'Keeffe ruled over all donations and was extremely particular on display, care etc. If Georgia O'Keeffe intended for the collection to be broken up, sold or not stored properly, seems to me she would have just sold it then, donated money to Fisk and moved on when she found out how in need they were when she arrived. And why would she had been so specific about the care and display of the donation if she wanted it to be sold? The courts say otherwise, but I'm afraid we will be here again 5 years after the sale and Fisk will have the same problems. It is a shame really. I want Fisk to survive, but I don't know that this is the way to do it.
Fisk University has had money problems for decades. Apparently even as the donation was being made. The Stieglitz collection will not save them....nor was it ever intended to. If Ms. O'Keeffe wanted it to "save" them financially, wouldn't she have permitted it during her lifetime? The book explains that O'Keeffe was behind the donation and had sympathy for black artists and writers. Stieglitz was not one to give museums anything for any reason. O'Keeffe ruled over all donations and was extremely particular on display, care etc. If Georgia O'Keeffe intended for the collection to be broken up, sold or not stored properly, seems to me she would have just sold it then, donated money to Fisk and moved on when she found out how in need they were when she arrived. And why would she had been so specific about the care and display of the donation if she wanted it to be sold? The courts say otherwise, but I'm afraid we will be here again 5 years after the sale and Fisk will have the same problems. It is a shame really. I want Fisk to survive, but I don't know that this is the way to do it.
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