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| Sam Doyle, Jake, Our Best, 1978–1983. LACMA, gift of Gordon W. Bailey in honor of Jackie and Rachel Robinson in recognition of the museum's 50th anniversary |
Sam Doyle's portrait of Dodger great Jackie Robinson has been donated to LACMA. Titled
Jake, Our Best, it's one of 14 works of American self-taught art recently given by museum supporter Gordon W. Bailey. The Robinson picture, by Gullah culture (South Carolina) artist Doyle (1906–1985), is executed in house paint on battered metal. Bailey promised the painting to the museum on its 50th anniversary, and it was featured in the exhibition"Black American Portraits" (2021–2022). Bailey has also donated a Doyle painting on wood,
Gulf 7¢, in honor of Ed Ruscha,
an admirer of Doyle's art.
Works by Chris Benchetler, Roy Ferdinand, Mary L. Proctor, Samuel Pace, Herbert Singleton, Mose Tolliver, Purvis Young, and Malcah Zeldis are included in the latest gift. Over the years Bailey has made multiple donations of art to LACMA and to museums from coast to coast.
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| Sam Doyle, Gulf 7¢, 1983–1985. LACMA, gift of Gordon W. Bailey in honor of Ed Ruscha |
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| Samuel Pace, Le Cafe Bohemia, 2021. LACMA, gift of Gordon W. Bailey |
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| Herbert Singleton, Voodoo Protection Stump, 1990s. LACMA, gift of Gordon W. Bailey |
Comments
Yes, donations will fall under the "it's the thought that counts" and "don't look a gift horse in the mouth." But there's a Jerry Perrenchio and then there's a Gordon W Bailey.
Bailey's gift should presumably be displayed in the Broad building, although lots of contemporary art - plenty of it - has been and is being shown in the Resnick galleries too.
Meanwhile, the yet-to-open Geffen will have lots of windows. Plenty of them. Which further reduces exhibit space for various types of artwork, contemporary or otherwise. So does that mean a work by Sam Doyle will be or won't be stuffed into the Geffen? Or jammed into the Broad? It certainly may be squeezed into the Resnick.
As for the Price/Goff building, since a major athlete from Japan is playing for the Dodgers, and since Jackie Robinson also once played for them, will Doyle's work fit LACMA's Japanese Pavilion too?
Hollywoodreporter .com:
Workers at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)...announced Wednesday they are aiming to form a union...The new labor alliance would represent over 300 museum staffers....
“Many employees are struggling with wages that have not kept up with the rising cost of living in the sixth-most expensive city in the world. At the same time, employees in virtually every department continue to absorb expanded responsibilities and workloads, often without additional compensation, due to high turnover, limited resources, and positions that have been vacated or frozen,” the letter reads. [End quote]
I recall when staffers of the Marciano museum several miles to the east of LACMA in 2019 went out on strike. That at least symbolically (if not in other ways too) made that operation go kaput.
"High turnover" and "limited resources" sound like among the reasons the museum regrettably has become way too much like the Fresno Art Space and Wellness Center.
As for the director of LACMA and his love of contemporary-contemporary-contemporary, I wonder if staffers in the department of Au Courant are being given way too much work and responsibilities, while others sit idly by twirling their thumbs?
Meanwhile, LA's economy (not helped by January's huge fires, a plummeting entertainment industry and a post-Covid world) isn't exactly in great shape right now.
Although there are reports that LACMA is thinking of changing its official name to the "Hooterville Museum of Contemporary Lifestyle," the number of its employees is quite modest.
... It goes without saying.