Date: Fri 17-Apr-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Wolfson

Full Text:

Wolfsonian: Culture Comes To South Beach

w/cuts

By Judith B. Gura

MIAMI, FLA. -- Only a few years ago, the words "Miami Beach" and "culture"

might have seemed mutually exclusive. Not any longer. In addition to the

flashy hotels and restaurants that have made it an international vacation

playground, the much-maligned city now boasts cultural attractions that draw

local audiences as well as tourists.

By far the most interesting of these is The Wolfsonian, a unique decorative

arts museum just steps away from trendy South Beach. Its stylish locale may be

an unlikely one for a serious institution, but The Wolfsonian is definitely

that, with a provocative concept and a unique collection of fascinating

objects. Last year, the museum and its collections became part of Florida

International University, a young and aggressive, state-funded institution

with a focus on the creative arts. From all indications, it is the proverbial

match made in heaven.

In addition to pursuing a challenging exhibition schedule, the revived

institution, under new director Cathy Leff, has set new goals, which include

integrating the museum's facilities and staff into the university's

curriculum, and broadening its outreach into the community and the Miami

school system.

Meanwhile, "Designing Modernity: The Arts of Reform and Persuasion,

1885-1945," the groundbreaking inaugural exhibition mounted in 1995 with

selections from the museum's holdings, has traveled to Los Angeles, Seattle,

Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis. It will go on to Australia and New Zealand to

help build an international identity for The Wolfsonian, and the university.

The publication accompanying the exhibition, edited by associate director

Wendy Kaplan, has already been accepted as an important work of scholarship.

Housed in a converted 1927 warehouse on Washington Avenue, The Wolfsonian

began as the impulse of an unconventional collector. Shortly after World War

II, Mickey Wolfson, a Miami native and the compulsively-acquisitive scion of a

theater-empire family, focused his attention on the use of design to reflect

culture, politics and technology during the first part of the Twentieth

Century. It was an offbeat area that had not been explored by other museums or

collectors, and in some three decades of peripatetic travels and enthusiastic

buying, Wolfson assembled an idiosyncratic collection of more than 70,000

objects as well as an extraordinarily rich library.

Primarily from American and European sources, the collection includes

furniture, decorative art objects, industrial design, costumes, paintings,

sculpture and architectural models as well as works on paper, and concentrates

on the period from 1885 to 1945, documenting the cultural, political and

technological developments emerging in the half-century or so preceding World

War II.

After purchasing a warehouse to hold his acquisitions, Wolfson founded the

museum in 1986, and began the state-of-the-art renovation that culminated in

the opening to the public of The Wolfsonian, subtitled "The Museum of

Decorative and Propaganda Art," three years ago. Almost immediately, however

the institution was plagued by financial difficulties, resulting in abrupt

staff reductions and a summer-long closing. Its survival is due equally to

Wolfson's commitment and generosity, and to the vision of city and state

officials who helped it make the transition from a floundering upstart to a

stable institution with a promising future.

With trustee Charles Cowles acting as matchmaker, FIU was approached. An

affiliation was suggested that would relieve the museum of its unwieldy

operating costs while providing the university with an important resource for

its arts and humanities departments.

On December 16 of last year, Florida International University announced the

celebration of its 25th anniversary with the acquisition of The Wolfsonian,

which Wolfson donated lock, stock and barrel, including the library as well as

the collections. At an estimated value of $75 million, the gift was the

largest ever to a Florida state university and the fifth largest to a public

university nationwide. With a $2 million annual allocation from the State of

Florida, the organization's future is now secure.

The powers at FIU know a good thing when they see it, and have wisely not made

any changes to the museum's impressive facilities. A visit to its galleries is

as intellectually stimulating as it is visually rewarding -- indeed, Wolfson

has been quoted as saying, "This is not an art museum. It is a museum of

ideas."

The current exhibitions, "Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design," and "Public

Works," both organized by curator Marianne Lamonaca, use the museum's own

comprehensive holdings to examine particular types of design as expressions of

political concepts.

"Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design" includes a wide range of exhibits

illustrating the development of graphic design from the latter Nineteenth

through the mid-Twentieth Century. With the advent of technology that brought

color and sophistication to printed materials, mass-produced graphics evolved

from "visual litter" into important documents of popular culture. The exhibit

includes ephemera, such as postcards and stationery, as well as posters, books

and magazine illustrations. It shows the role played by graphic design in such

avant-garde movements as the Futurists in Italy, the Constructivists in Russia

and the Bauhaus in Germany. These works promoted the aesthetics of Modernism

to an audience well beyond the ivory-tower walls of the groups that conceived

it.

"Public Works," presented in collaboration with The Drawing Center of New York

City, examines the history and the significance of public art in the United

States. It draws on the museum's holdings of Works Progress

Administration/Federal Art Project materials, which are among the most

extensive in the country, and shows more than 60 works reflecting the most

important themes of these New Deal projects.

They include studies for some of the extraordinary murals commissioned for

federal and state buildings during the Depression, both as employment for

struggling artists and as a way to enhance everyday life with art that was

accessible to all.

Many such pieces were subsequently painted over, or destroyed along with the

sites that housed them. They are now recognized not only as important realist

works in themselves, but also as historic documents of our society.

Counterpointing the period works is a contemporary mural in realist style by

artist Nicole Eisenman, created as part of an ongoing collaborative program in

public art sponsored with the Miami Arts Project and The Drawing Center.

In May, the museum will open "Drawing the Future: Design Drawings for the 1939

World's Fair," an exhibition based on a touring show from the Museum of the

City of New York, supplementing the illustrations with objects from The

Wolfsonian's own extensive collection of World's Fair materials and objects.

And an exhibition on the British Arts and Crafts Movement is on the agenda for

Fall.

In addition to the changing exhibitions, The Wolfsonian maintains an ongoing

exhibit of some 300 objects from its permanent collection. Entitled "Art and

Design in the Machine Age," it reflects the themes of design reform,

propaganda, advertising, labor, transportation and the world's fairs,

providing a tantalizing taste of the museum's considerable treasures.

Free of financial pressures, The Wolfsonian is also pursuing its activities on

several other fronts. It continues to produce The Journal of Decorative and

Propaganda Arts, the widely-praised annual (since 1986) publication of The

Wolfson Foundation of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. The brand-new issue,

just published, focuses appropriately on the state of Florida, as a case-study

in the art of self-promotion, and was guest-edited by architectural critic

Beth Dunlop. Issues of the journal are $25 each, plus $5 shipping and

handling, and may be ordered from The Wolfsonian, 1001 Washington Avenue,

Miami Beach, Fla. 33139 by mail, or fax 305/531-2133.

A fellowship program initiated in 1993 awards six scholars from the United

States and abroad expense-paid grants for study at the museum on subjects

related to the institution's period of specialization. A comprehensive program

of lectures, performances, films and symposia accompany and complement the

exhibitions, and innovative school programs and family activities are helping

make the institution a more important part of the surrounding community.

According to Cathy Leff, The Wolfsonian will expand next year onto the

Internet, and expects to become a broad-based cultural resource with

visibility well beyond its city, state and national borders. Meanwhile, behind

the scenes, Mickey Wolfson, named to Florida International University's board

of trustees, continues eagerly seeking more treasures to add to the museum's

already rich collections.

Altogether, a visit to The Wolfsonian is well worth a detour from the Florida

sunshine or the attractions of South Beach. For those who have previously

disdained Miami, it's one reason to reconsider. When other museums are

mounting extravagant displays to compete with amusement parks, the idea of one

that seeks to challenge the mind while pleasing the senses is very appealing,

and increasingly rare.