Sensation : the madonna, the mayor, the media and the First Amendment / Arnold Lehman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lehman, Arnold, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ofili, Chris, 1968- Holy Virgin Mary.

Ofili, Chris.

Brooklyn Museum.

Saatchi Collection.

Art--Exhibitions--History--20th century.

Art.

Art--Exhibitions.

History.

Physical Description:

247 pages : chiefly colour illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Merrell Publishers Limited, 2021.

Summary:

Death and bomb threats over an art exhibition! A major battle with the mayor of New York City and the New York Times! Looking back, Arnold Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum, and his colleagues were not prepared for what was to happen. No one could have anticipated that SENSATION: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection would become the biggest art story in the history of art history. It has taken him two decades to fully absorb and clearly reflect on what happened at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999-2000. The intense controversy swept the exhibition, the museum, and Chris Ofili's The Holy Virgin Mary painting to international attention for six months. While 175,000 people saw the exhibition and millions read and heard about it daily, they never knew of the threats and challenges that kept the museum staff awake at night. Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who never saw the painting, focused his rage at The Holy Virgin Mary; rescinded the museum's municipal funding to force it to close the exhibition; and attempted to evict it from its hundred-year-old landmark. The city's most conservative media and ultra-religious groups inflamed the conflict. SENSATION, selected from controversial collector Charles Saatchi's contemporary British art collection, was first shown at London's Royal Academy in 1997, to an outcry over the portrait of child murderer Myra Hindley. Its opening at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999 drew tabloid headlines such as B'klyn gallery of horror Gruesome museum show, and Butchered animals, a dung-smeared Mary and giant genitalia; The New York Times accused the museum of wrongdoing in high-profile but often false and inaccurate investigative reports, most dismissed earlier by the court. In a story as gripping as a fictional thriller, the mayor and city eventually settled with the museum, awarding it a permanent injunction, the restoration of city money, and substantial funds for its new entrance.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: London 1997 Through 1998

1. Art That Tweaks British Propriety

June 1998

July 14, 1999

2. Bastille Day

September 1

21, 1999

3. B'Klyn Gallery Of Horror

September 22, 1999

4. Mayor Mounts Holy War

September 23, 1999

5. Until The Director Comes To His Senses

September 24, 1999

6. Bulletproof Vest

September 25

26, 1999

7. Seeking Buzz, Museum Chief Hears A Roar

September 27, 1999

8. Let's Make A Deal

September 28, 1999

9. The Show Goes On

September 1999

January 2000

10. Formaldehyde, Missing Arms, Maggots

September 29, 1999

11. Standing Tall But Standing Alone

September 30, 1999

12. The Eve Of Sensation

October 1, 1999

13. Members Only

October 2

4, 1999

14. Rants, Raves and Rosaries

October 5

7, 1999

15. The Making Of A Culture Clash

October 8, 1999

16. Naked Truth

October 9

11, 1999

17. City Hall Pushed Them Too Hard

October 12

27, 1999

18. Open Letter To Mayor Giuliani

October 28

31, 1999

19. Financing Sensation

November 1

2, 1999

20. A Verdict On Sensation

November 3

21. Better Update That Resume, Arnold

November 8

18, 1999

22. Am I Dessert?

November 19

December 15, 1999

23. Art, Money, and Control

December 16

22, 1999

24. Dung Ho!

December 23, 1999

January 9, 2000

25. The End of Sensation

January 10

March 21, 2000

26. Benedict Arnold

March 26

29, 2000

27. Rudy Surrenders

Sensation: Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781858946962

1858946964

OCLC:

1240306164