The Red Room by Henri Matisse.

“People have said of Matisse that before him all painting was dark, and this may be false and unjust, but the important thing is that they have said it, that beside Matisse, van Gogh turns black, and Renoir, and Monet, and Turner…There are painters who have had this glory, this role of dazzling men for at least half a century, men who see nothing in their work but the light. They are like a window opening in the night of humanity, and from them young men get an idea of what the sun is like.”

- Louis Aragon from the preface to the exhibition catalogue of the 1948 Matisse retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

“I paint the way some people write their autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages from my diary, and as such, they are valid. The future will choose the pages it prefers. It’s not for me to make the choice.”

-Pablo Picasso (c. 1946)

Just because I haven’t been around for a while (almost two months!), doesn’t mean that there haven’t been interesting things happening in the museum world…

• The art community finally, unanimously, agrees on something: they hate Bravo’s Work of Art.
• James Franco continues his omnipresence. Holding his own gallery show in NYC and bringing General Hospital to L.A.’s MOCA.
• The security system was “outfoxed” at Paris’ Musee d’Art Moderne, where theives stole five paintings worth millions, including a Picasso and a Matisse.
• Protests over BP sponsorships have popped up at several museums: including Tate Britain.
• Caravaggio’s bones may have been found.
• The new owners of Polaroid donated 10,000 company artifacts to the MIT Museum. And Lady Gaga (the company’s new creative director) showed up to have her picture taken.

While all of these are cool/interesting happenings, there is one museum-related occurrence that really caught my eye. I find it so interesting, because even though it occurs outside of a museum’s walls, it is, at its heart, exactly what museums are about: visitors and their interaction with the collection. What is it? It is the new Overheard at AIC Twitter feed.

Some Art Institute of Chicago interns have gotten together to operate a Twitter account that posts random gems they overheard from museum visitors.  Some of these quotes include:

• “The museum collects lots of interesting objects from around the world. What things do you collect.” A 6-year-old replies: “I collect money!”
• Me: “This story took place during the Medieval time period, does anyone know about Medieval times?” 10-year-old girl: “I’ve been there!”
• “Is this supposed to be amazing? Because this is NOT amazing.” -Boy to his mom during an AIC event.
• “You know what artists make?” 1st grader: “Boobies!”
• “If I could marry this museum, I would!” -2nd grader.

They have only been tweeting since June 30th, so I am interested to follow along and see how the account grows. And, between tweets, you can check out their blog for a more in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes intern experience.

What awesome things have you overheard people saying in museums?

- Samantha Park, a fictional Feed-Drier Tender in The Onion. Funny segment, check it out here.

– John de Menil, art collector and businessman

- Arthur C. Parker, founding director, Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences