MoMA's recent reshuffling of their collection, particularly their two-floor painting and sculpture department, has paid some much-needed attention to Bearden and his African American peers.
The resulting collection, particularly useful for teachers, can be stored forever in a standard microscope slide box.
What makes the collection particularly interesting is that the most valuable works are not paintings but sculptures, an area of the market that is particularly hot right now.
What makes this collection particularly desirable, Mr. Meyer added, is that the works were bought right after they were made and few were ever exhibited.
More important, the bronze will complement the six other Matisse sculptures in the museum's permanent collection, particularly "Henriette III," given to the Hermitage in 1971 by Lydia Delectorskaya, the artist's Russian model and friend.
"He was a bad amateur player himself," Thompson recalls, "with three chords, though, unfortunately, not C, F and G", but his record collection, particularly Django's crackling genius, entranced Thompson.
In addition to its highly regarded permanent collection, particularly strong in Byzantine, African, Surrealist and contemporary art, the Menil will offer an exhibit of lunar photographs from 1959 to 1969: "Lunar Landscapes: Unmanned Space Photography," through June 4.
A further controversy arose in the art community over the appropriateness of a public museum displaying the contents of a private collection, particularly as some of the objects in the show reentered the market soon after the exhibition.
Periodically, Iowa politicians raise the question of selling items from its collection, particularly the 8-by-20-foot Pollock, known as Mural, that was donated by Peggy Guggenheim in 1951.
We use a case study approach for data collection, particularly through document study, participatory observation and qualitative in-depth interviews.
