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On this day the 18th October 1961 one of the most embarassing periods in the history of the prestigous Museum Of Modern Art in New York began Museum of Modern Art opened the doors to a new exhibition, “The Last Works of Matisse: Large Cut Gouaches,” unaware that one of the works, Henri Matisse’s Le Bateau, was hanging upside down The error wasn’t discovered for 47 days, going unnoticed by curators and museum staff, as well as some 116,000 visitors among them was Matisse’s son Pierre, who was an art dealer. The mistake was somewhat understandable, given the nature of the gouache work, a simple paper cut-out work of a sailboat and its reflection, expertly created by the artist with just a few simple shapes.Sharp-eyed Genevieve Habert, a Wall Street stockbroker, was more observant. After three visits to the show, she became convinced that the painting had been flipped, telling the New York Times that she was certain Matisse ”would never put the main, more complex motif on the bottom and the lesser motif on top.
Habert purchased the exhibition catalogue and did a side-by-side comparison, proving her hunch. The museum guard she alerted to the matter was not exactly receptive, however, saying “you don’t know what’s up and you don’t know what’s down and neither do we. We can’t be responsible for the printers.”
The assistant curator responsible for the installation, Alicia Legg, called the artwork “very confusing,” pointing to the upside label on the painting’s reverse side, and deep existing screw holes suggesting that it had been hung incorrectly before. (There were also fainter, less noticeable holes on the correct side.) Unfortunately, the show closed December 4, meaning that Le Bateau was only displayed correctly while the exhibition was being deinstalled.
This little tale proves the truth that people that don't make mistakes don't make anything . We at the Yorkshire Flea are delighted to be welcoming a friendly approachable competent tranche of dealers in good quality vintage and \antique stock in a large step free venue with ample free car parking. We have many pieces of artwork offered for sale and it is not always immediately apparent which way is up. Art reflecting life You would be very welcome to come to the Yorkshire Flea Right side up, building on over four decades of organising by ourselves and a history liberally spattered with mistakes. The saving grace being that we seldom make the same mistakes twice.
Admission is £4 and accompanied under 16s enjoy free admission. Our dealers sell only vintage antique and preloved items. For your interest we show you Matisse's work here, as displayed and as corrected and other paintings that have created a curatorial issue down the years. If you buy art at the flea hang it as it pleases you any which way but loose is we think the best way.
More photographs and news of exhibitors will be posted on this event page and elsewhere across our social media platforms.
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