[MSN] Curator keeps watchful eye on painting's trip to Rome.

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Curator keeps watchful eye on painting's trip to Rome 
Sunday, December 10, 2006
By Marla Miller
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER 
American Airline attendants overseeing an Oct. 2 flight from Chicago's
O'Hare International Airport to Rome grew edgy as Jane Connell ignored the
boarding calls and lingered at the gate. 

But Connell, Muskegon Museum of Art's senior curator, insisted she watch
workers stow a special metal container carrying irreplaceable and expensive
cargo. She even snapped a few photos before leaving the window to take her
seat on the plane -- all in a day's work for an art courier. 

Connell, also director of collections and exhibitions, flew to Rome to
personally oversee the delivery of Pierre Bonnard's colorful garden view "La
Porte de la Villa du Bosquet au Cannet (Gate of the Villa Bosquet at Le
Cannet)," for the "Mattisse e Bonnard: Viva la pittura! (Matisse and
Bonnard: Long Live Painting!)" exhibition. 

The show runs through Feb. 4 and was organized by the Complesso del
Vittoriano (Vittoriano Museum Complex) of Rome, located in the Piazza
Venezia minutes from the ancient Roman Colosseum and Forum. 

"Having our wonderful Bonnard painting in such prestigious international
company is just one more example of the growing reputation of the Muskegon
Museum of Art's collection at home and abroad," said Judy Hayner, MMA
executive director. "This museum is both a community treasure and an asset
to the international world of art." 

Connell recommended that a staff member courier the painting to Italy as
part of the loan terms. Because she is one of few MMA employees with a
passport, she volunteered to go. 

The job can be an important one, considering these precious masterpieces
often are priceless to art museums. The FBI recently recovered a 1778
painting by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya that was stolen en route
from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio to the Solomon R. Gugenheim Museum in
New York City. 

Goya's "Children with a Cart," valued at about $1.1 million, was taken Nov.
8 from an art transporter's truck that was parked overnight in a hotel
parking lot in Stroudsburg, Pa. 

The realities of theft and damage during transport always are present, so
art museum officials take great care to pack, secure and monitor artworks as
they travel between locations. 

"You have to be very conscientious of who you are and what you're doing,"
Connell said. 

Connell, who has traveled with three paintings for other museums, arrived at
the MMA around 7 a.m. Oct. 2 to watch the bright yellow crate containing the
Bonnard get properly strapped in the exclusive-use, climate-controlled truck
hired by Masterpiece International. The art transport service working for
the Italians also booked Connell's flight and handled security clearance
issues at the airport. 

Prior to crating the painting, MMA employees inspected it and recorded any
visible damage or imperfections on a condition report. 

"You want to become very intimate with the physical properties of the
object," Connell said. "When the crate is undone, you want to see the object
looking just like it did when it left Muskegon." 

The truck's husband-and-wife drive team delivered Connell and the crate to
the cargo warehouse of American Airlines, where a Masterpiece International
representative greeted her. They waited until it was time to load the crate
into an even larger container and wrap and package it for the long flight. 

At that point, Connell headed to the passenger area while another
Masterpiece employee stayed at the cargo area with the container, also
carrying a second painting from the St. Louis Art Museum headed to the same
exhibition. 

"He follows them to the loading area near the plane and sits on the tarmac
at the gate with the container," Connell said. "As the courier, you stand
and watch it. You want to be able to physically watch the container go into
the plane." 

Connell's eight-hour flight landed in Rome around 7:30 a.m. Oct. 3. A
representative from Borgi International, the Italian transport company, was
awaiting the two couriers' arrival. After customs and baggage claim, they
were taken to the cargo area to look over the container for exterior damage.


They met a third courier from Germany and together headed to the Vittoriano
complex in a car following the Borgi-hired transport truck. They walked with
their crates to the holding area and left them there for 24 hours so the
works could "climatize"; or adjust to the conditions of the new environment.


The couriers must stay on constant watch, but also act as ambassadors of
their country. Connell let the Italians set the tone of the interaction. 

"When I went to Japan for the Grand Rapids Art Museum, there was traditional
bowing," she said. This time, "we were being giddy, gabby women in English,
German and Italian. This was relaxed. It was a beautiful, breezy, sunny
day." 

The couriers received Italian euros for food and cab fare immediately. They
enjoyed a traditional Italian meal and toured the museum grounds before
walking to their hotel and using the rest of the day to unwind and sightsee.


Connell returned around 11 a.m. Oct. 4 to watch the Bonnard be removed from
the crate. Several conservators in white coats scrutinized the painting and
completed a condition report. They spent nearly an hour trying to get the
picture to hang straight; in the interest of international relations,
Connell left that process alone. 

She had one free day to see the city and would have departed Oct. 6, but
decided to turn the trip into a mini-vacation and met up with her husband,
Steven Rosen. They visited Ravenna before returning to Rome for her final
hotel night paid by the exhibit organizers. 

Connell, or another museum official, will do the entire trip in reverse when
the exhibit closes in early February. 

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