Charles Gwathmey Crocker Art Museum Expansion

From: Crocker Art Museum
Limited Edition: 13
Exhibition: Crocker Art Museum Expansion
Material: Printed vinyl
Dimensions: 30" x 96" (76cm x 243cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

Summary: Not a Crock
The Crocker Art Museum is home to one of the finest sampling of drawings by European masters, such as Carpaccio, Dürer, and Fragonard, in the United States. The collection was purchased by Judge Edwin and Margaret Crocker during their European travels between 1866 and 1871. At around the same time, the couple commissioned the construction of the original Victorian-Italianate building that became the Crocker Art Museum. Its 2010 Charles Gwathmey expansion tripled the museum’s size and was featured on the front of this banner announcing its 10-10-10 opening.

Description

The Crocker Museum was one of the first purpose-built art museums in the United States. Edwin and Margaret Crocker commissioned the construction of the original Victorian-Italianate building in 1869, a year before the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and a decade before the opening of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Crocker’s expansion was designed by Gwathmey Siegel Architects & Associates to echo the original building; both the old and new buildings have three floors and are the same height, each has a balcony, and their facades share a similar color scheme in a neutral palette of whites and grays. Gerald Gendreau, who worked with Charles Gwathmey on the design from its inception, said they envisioned a separate and distinct modern structure that was linked, not grafted, to the original building. Rather than aligning the addition with the street grid and the existing structure, the architect placed the new building on a north/south axis, thus collaging old and new in a dynamic way. Art critic, Victoria Dalkey, noted the numerous sight lines of the old building through glass from the new building, which created a “nice chiming” between the structures.

The new building was constructed with white metal panels, preweathered zinc shingles, and glass in multiple combinations. It includes a museum store, café, a 260 seat theatre, conference meeting rooms, an art conservation workshop, and of course, spacious areas for display of traveling exhibitions and the Crocker’s permanent collection. The new space allows for exhibition space for items some of which have not been displayed for 80 years.

When the Crocker Museum reopened on 10-10-10, it was three times larger. The museum’s 125,000 square foot expansion added four times the space for traveling exhibitions and three times the space for its permanent collection.

To celebrate the opening, several exhibitions were planned that “embrace our history and look toward our future” according to Lial Jones, the Crocker’s director. Among the exhibitions were a retrospective of the work of renowned Sacramento artist Wayne Thiebaud, master drawings (1866-71) from the collection of Edwin and Margaret Crocker, new works of African and Oceanic art, the largest survey of California art on view anywhere, as well as 125 promised gifts that will one day be part of the museum’s permanent collection.

An image of the Crocker’s expansion by Californian photographer Brian Suhr appears on the front and back of the banner used by the Crocker to promote the exhibition. “Opening 10.10.10” in white letters on a black band runs across the top, and “CROCKER art museum/2nd & O STREETS” appears at the bottom. Both sides of the banner are identical.

Provenance

This banner was displayed around the Sacramento area before and after the opening of the museum’s expansion on October 10, 2010.