[lbo-talk] taking a break for art

Jordan Hayes jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com
Thu Jun 14 08:21:00 PDT 2012


Chuck Grimes writes:


> I had a theory once that I could assemble a show of Caravaggio's work
> and cause the closure of the show
> after the first day by public officials--something
> along the lines of a riot over gay rights.

Heh. But first you'd have to overcome the biggest obstacle: no one has more than a few pieces from Caravaggio, and they notoriously hate each other and won't loan them out. The article that started this thread is a good example: a small church in the center of Rome that has a Caravaggio! Oh, how the Uffizi or the Borghese would kill for it! There are some 10 other works that are "onesies" in churches around Italy. I think there are only about 70 total surviving works, and the largest group is -- wait for it -- 8-9, at the Borghese (several of which are never shown). The Met has 4, the Louvre has 3.

There was a show put together for his 400th anniversay of his death a few years back that managed to scrape together 24 in the same show. The Kimbell in Dallas put together what is probably one of the largest show of Caravaggios ever in the US last year, and they managed to get 12!

/jordan



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