The International: then and now

The Carnegie International will have some weird art in it.

That’s the nature of contemporary… The Carnegie International will have some weird art in it.

That’s the nature of contemporary art — it’s challenging; it’s different from the norm; it’s usually not a picture of a man on a horse. And, at times, it’s a little weird.

But was it always that way?

Back in the day (around 1900), when the International was still a young brainchild of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, the International was as progressive as any exhibit, loaded up with Impressionists (think Claude Monet’s style) and American Realists (e.g. Winslow Homer, who painted the pictures you’ve probably seen of kids running in fields).

The difference, according Pitt lecturer Ken Neal, was that those pictures still looked like, for example, a cute baby. Neal, the author of a book on the early stages of the International, also said the crowds attending the early International exhibitions were usually a mix of social classes, including many working-class families.

For those who weren’t looking at the art on a conceptual or critical level, there was still some delight in seeing a sunlit lawn or delicate flowers, even if they were a little turned off by the weirdness of impressionism, which was still new to Pittsburgh.

Of course, it was also free then. There weren’t color reproductions or Al Gore to create the Internet, so this was the only chance people had to see that much great art. And it wasn’t like most families were going to stay home and watch the game on ESPN or make it a Blockbuster night.

“The sort of person who would go to an International in the 1890s wouldn’t even think of going today,” Neal said.

So there remains a challenge of how to get non-art lovers to the International these days. After all, Richard Serra’s “Carnegie” doesn’t look like a cute baby; it looks like a big, metal rectangle outside the museum.

According to museum spokeswoman Robin Dannahower, the Carnegie Museum of Art has adapted to the challenge with education.

“They put an awful lot of time and effort into education,” she said of the Carnegie’s efforts, which include more than 20 different programs, including tours, workshops and school programs. Tours, according to Dannahower, are a primary way to acquaint people with the art and the context, so that some of the weird stuff makes a little more sense.

“Just about any day that someone comes into the museum, they’ll be able to go on a docent-led tour,” she said, and recalled a time before she worked at the Carnegie when the International tours helped her develop a new understanding of the art.

The first Internationals were also not very Pittsburgh-oriented, according to Neal. Because of the Carnegie’s competitive ways of curating the exhibition — unlike many European exhibitions, the International rejected artists they’d invited to submit — many Pittsburgh artists simply didn’t get their art in the show.

That was good for the museum, which built its collection around the few pieces a year it would buy from the International, but not exceptionally good for Pittsburgh, because most of the pieces moved on after two months, and a local art scene couldn’t exactly spring up. Of course, in Paris, London, New York or even Philadelphia, that wasn’t a problem because they already had the best artists in the world.

As Neal put it: “It was in Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t part of Pittsburgh.”

Again, times have changed. The mission of the Carnegie International has evolved into not just an art exhibit, but a touchstone for all sorts of organizations and efforts in Pittsburgh to connect and work together.

One of those efforts to coincide with the International is a three-day symposium at Pitt in the beginning of November, which will bring critics from all over the world to discuss what life is like since Sept. 11, 2001. That matches up well with the International, which is the Carnegie’s first since 2000.

According to Dannahower, the “track record” of the International has helped connect the community.

“I guess it has a more … philosophical tone to it,” Dannahower said of this year’s exhibit. “I think everyone is trying to look at the history of the International and saying ‘How can we make this longer and better?'”