by Jon Lackman | 19 February 2007 | Americas, Conferences, Museums
Contributor Ross Finocchio reports: “When, during a morning panel on art collecting, a bad projector distorted the dimensions of the Giorgione ‘Nativity’ in Washington’s National Gallery, the audience immediately erupted in protest. As the IT staff scurried to fix the problem, speaker Roger Crum calmly quipped, ‘As you’ll learn, Kress believed in expansion but this wasn’t what he had in mind.’ Once the ‘Nativity’ returned to form, Crum advanced a fascinating theory on how the ‘retail philosophy’ of Kress’ department stores prepared the American public to appreciate the collection of Italian art that he eventually donated to institutions across the country. In New York, Kress flaunted his Giorgione in a display window of his Fifth Avenue flagship store, beside luxury items available for purchase. This move typified what Crum called the ‘Kress experience’: wowing shoppers with a superabundance of lavish goods in architecturally impressive settings. This experience, argued Crum, encouraged extended gazing at Kress’ goods and developed the visual sensitivity of his customers, who might then later enjoy his paintings in exhibitions. Conference-weary, I considered using Crum’s nifty hypothesis as an excuse to blow off the afternoon sessions and head to Bergdorf’s, just a few blocks from the Hilton. For purely edifying purposes, of course.”
