The High Museum of Art's design exhibit "Allure of the Automobile" closes Sunday, and looking in the rear view, it appears to be an experiment that succeeded.
The show of "rolling sculpture" – 18 rare custom-made cars from the 1930s to the mid-1960s, including "masterpieces in metal" by Bugatti, Duesenberg, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Ferrari – was something a bit different for the Midtown museum.
Yet “Allure” drew well, racking up attendance of 130,186 over 14 weeks through June 20. It even proved more popular than last summer's major exhibit, “Monet Water Lilies,” which attracted 91,106 over 11 weeks.
We asked High director Michael Shapiro to assess the run.
Q: Does a tough economy make it even more imperative to be crowd pleasing and to deliver big audience numbers, such as happened with "Allure"?
A: The automotive design show was inspired by my seeing three fantastic looking American cars in front of a hotel in Paris several years ago. In a way, it is similar to our Norman Rockwell exhibition of 1999, which was also a more “populist” exhibition but still included accessible works of art with inherent craftsmanship and aesthetic beauty, that helped inspire a new audience to come to the High.
We have consistently explored topics of high artistic quality with broad appeal. I love the idea that we will have the Titian [25 masterworks of the Venetian Renaissance from National Galleries of Scotland] and Dali exhibitions on view at the same time this fall. Nonetheless, regardless of the economy, an art museum is always focused on building its audience and looking for ways to get new visitors in the door while staying true to its identity and caliber of exhibitions.
Q: Now that “Allure” is winding up, how do you feel about the response, and what is your takeaway?
A: The exhibition was a wonderful experience for us and our visitors. It had a multi-generational appeal. It had people having lots of conversation in the gallery. Everyone has a perspective or a story relating to automobiles.
There was absolutely no doubt that the automobiles were great works of art, and that they looked both astonishing and natural in our galleries. And I think that was important for the collectors, because I’ve come to learn that it’s a little bit like some years ago, when people were still fighting the fight that photography was fine art. That battle's been won, but I think that the idea of certain automobiles being works of art is still in play.
I’ve been surprised that some people have said this is daring or brave. It's intriguing, because I feel 100 percent that these are great things.
So I think we’ve made some new friends, we’ve attracted some new people to Atlanta to see the show. It’s opened some doors in our own thinking to what could be some future design projects. Will there be a sequel? It would be wonderful if we could think of one that was logical and of similar quality. So there are a few ideas kicking around; I don’t know if they’ll pass the spaghetti test.
Q: As far as those “new friends,” is that a reference to some visitors who’d never been in the museum before?
A: Absolutely. I think [the exhibit’s appeal] cut across all strata: age, economic, actually gender, too. It was skewed a little toward the male, but there were a lot of female motor-heads, as I came to learn that vocabulary word. It was geography, too: People came from all over.
And whether you were a 10-year-old boy or a grandparent, when those elevators doors opened, “Oh, wow,” was the universal response. And we can't ask for more than that.
Exhibit
"Allure of the Automobile"
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Music and barbecue, 2-5 p.m. both days. Advance reservations recommended. $18 adults, $15 students and 65 and older, $11 ages 6-17, free 5 and under. 404-733-4444, www.high.org
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