Lost World Trade Center Art
Friday, February 27, 2004
nagare's cloud fortress
"Masayuki Nagare's large public sculpture Cloud Fortress (1975) survived the collapse of the World Trade Center but was lost in the rescue and recovery efforts...."
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Cantor Fitzgerald contained some 300 sculptures and drawings by Rodin that are now lost
"As workers continue to clear debris at New York's ground zero, nearly four months after the tragic events of 9/11, an assessment of the human toll has resulted in a figure of approximately 3,500 killed. A clear appraisal of the damage to property, including art, has not yet been completed. According to Dietrich von Frank, president of the art insurance firm AXA Art, at least $100-million worth of art was destroyed in the catastrophe, including works from corporate and private collections that were installed in various office spaces in the Twin Towers. The offices occupied by the brokerage house Cantor Fitzgerald, for instance, contained some 300 sculptures and drawings by Rodin that are now lost. So far, the company has not issued a complete inventory of the collection or declared its value for insurance purposes....."
a pilfered rodin
I wasn't clear about the link on this so I printed this story in whole. It mentions the loss of the Cantor Fitzgerald Rodins:
"May 11, 2002 -- A portion of Rodin's "The Three Shades" (right) was found in the trade center rubble (above). One of his artworks - part of a collection at Cantor Fitzgerald - may have been stolen at the landfill. City Department of Investigation probers are pondering the possible theft of a statue by French sculptor Auguste Rodin from the rubble of the World Trade Center, The Post has learned. Securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald's offices high in the World Trade Center's south tower housed hundreds of works by Rodin - who's probably best known for "The Thinker." In recent days, DOI investigators have been showing workers at the Fresh Kills Landfill a photograph of a Rodin statue that was part of the Cantor Fitzgerald collection, sources familiar with the probe said. The agency hopes to determine if the statue somehow survived the terror attacks - only to be pilfered from the landfill by a city worker. "As far as we are concerned, the collection is a total loss," said Christiane Fisher, a spokeswoman for Axa, the French-based company that insured the Rodins. Carol Strickland, a spokeswoman for DOI, offered a terse "no comment" when asked about the probe, as did Julie Horn, a spokeswoman for Cantor Fitzgerald. But a Cantor source confirmed DOI did show Fresh Kills workers a photo of the Rodin sculpture to determine if it had been removed from the trade center rubble. "Your information is good," said the source. B. Gerald Cantor, one of Cantor Fitzgerald's founders, amassed one of the world's largest Rodin collections. The charitable foundation set up in his name says Cantor and his wife donated many of the works to museums and galleries around the world. About $5 million worth of Rodin art remained in the company's headquarters on Sept. 11, said Axa's Fisher. A number of NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau detectives have been recruited into the Department of Investigation's probe, said a senior-level police official. "This is all very recent," said the source. "From what I understand, they're not looking at any of our guys - they are looking at the possibility that it was a firefighter who took it." But a Fire Department spokesman said the department was unaware of the investigation. The senior police source cautioned it's possible someone took the Rodin statue from the dump without knowing its value. For months, investigators at Fresh Kills have been sifting the World Trade Center rubble, which is considered evidence of a crime.
http://www.nypost.com/
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
studios in the sky
"Studios in the sky: World Views, a residency program at the World Trade Center, provided artists with a unique creative environment and studios with amazing vistas. Works by the last group of artists were recently on display at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in SoHo...."
A thorough description of the artists who had studios in the World Trade Center.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
the miro tapestry
I put this in because it highlights the rarity of the Miro Tapestry:
"The World Trade Center Tapestry of Joan Miró (Fig. 6) arrived in 1974. It was not really a commissioned piece. I had spoken with Miró about the possibility of doing a tapestry, and he had turned me down, saying: "When you do a tapestry, you really don't do it yourself, and I don't make any art where I don't use my two hands." Then he had a tragedy in his family. His daughter was traveling in Spain and was involved in an accident. She was taken to a hospital. Miró told the nuns who ran the hospital that, "Hopefully my daughter will recover, and if she does, I'll give you any art work that you would like." His daughter did recover, and the nuns asked for a tapestry. He said he didn't do any tapestries. They said, "We have somebody in our village who does tapestries. He'll teach you." So, Miró worked with this tapestry maker in their village, and he got to like it. He decided to practice, and he made about 20 little tapestries, some of which were shown in New York. Then I got a communication from his dealer in Paris saying, "Your World Trade Center tapestry is done." I said, "What?!" He said, "It's in the Grand Palais [in Paris] in Miró's retrospective, and it's yours if you want it, but he made it especially for the World Trade Center."
The tapestry was made out of wool and hemp and was large—20 feet by 35 feet. It was a unique piece, and after he finished it, Miró said, "It's too much work making tapestries. I'm not going to make any more." But then he got a call from the The National Gallery of Art in Washington, which had seen the World Trade Center Tapestry and wanted one for its new East Wing. So Miró did one more, and that was the last tapestry that he did. Ours hung in the lobby of 2 World Trade Center. You would have seen it on the way to the observation deck."
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
summary of losses
This is a fairly thorough summary of the losses, mentioning some pieces that I have not heard mentioned before. It again mentions the Cantor Collection.
a nice little essay
"Many workplaces are looking more and more like art galleries. New York's twin towers were a perfect example. The buildings and their surrounding plazas contained high-profile works by the likes of Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, and Auguste Rodin, as well as a sculpture memorializing the six people who died when the buildings were bombed in 1993. National Public Radio's Jon Kalish reported this week on a resolute quest by Saul Wenegrat, curator of the World Trade Center's vast art collection, to determine whether or not any of the commissioned art surrounding the towers -- in addition to the paintings, sculptures, and tapestries that filled the hallways, lobbies, and mezzanines of the two buildings -- had survived September 11 in any salvageable form. It appears much of this art was lost when the buildings fell, along with the life of one of the fourteen artists who had their studios in the buildings...."
