A deep dive into the Guggenheim Museum's vast collection of Minimal
art from the visionary Italian collectors Giovanna and Giuseppe Panza di
Biumo
Winner of the 2022 Robert Motherwell Book Award
Based upon the research of the Panza Collection Initiative, an
ambitious, 10-year study project, Object Lessons focuses on four works
by key figures of 1960s Minimalism and Conceptual art: Dan Flavin,
Donald Judd, Robert Morris and Lawrence Weiner. Authors Francesca Esmay,
Ted Mann and Jeffrey Weiss present each work from several vantages: an
exhaustive chronological account conveys the surprisingly complicated
history of the work's realization, acquisition, ownership and display.
An overview addresses the broad practical and conceptual implications of
this information for the historical identity of the work and its
consequences for the work's future. A conservation narrative establishes
the role of fabricators and the material and technical standards for the
production of the object. Together, the authors explore how a previously
unaddressed history of production, ownership and display has deeply
influenced the life and legacy of the radical objects of Minimal art.
A separate section, with contributions by Martha Buskirk and Virginia
Rutledge, examines the topic of decommission, a new category of
collection classification for works that are contested or compromised
and are therefore no longer viable for display. Throughout, the book is
copiously illustrated with photographs of the works, the exhibitions in
which they appeared, and related drawings and proposals. Rounding out
this volume are extensive excerpts of new interviews with artists and
fabricators, key historical documents and previously unpublished
correspondence.
