The Gathering, 2010
The Investigation of Object TH 1988.18
Rembrandt's 100 Guilder Print
In 2008, while working at an archive of an unnamed institution it was discovered that an etching by Rembrandt Van Rijn was missing from the collection. According to a letter on file it was approved to be sent out for restoration in 1998. However, no record was ever found to confirm that it was sent out for treatment. It was last accounted for in a 1990 inventory.
Months were dedicated to digging through files and paperwork. After attempting to track the object starting with it’s provenance, port of entry, and adoption into the collection, the paper work dropped off and a more rigorous search began. E-mails were sent and searches commenced, until one afternoon in 2009 I received a letter from the head of the institution asking me to halt the investigation with no explanation offered.
While the particular piece’s rarity and monetary value hold no comparison to the Rembrandt cut from it’s frame during the 1990 Gardener Museum heist, the unnamed institution continues to guard the knowledge of the prints disappearance.
The comprised collection is a mostly accurate account of the investigation and uses the circumstances as a model to explore Jean Bauldrillard's object value system. The use of forgeries, falsified documents and originals, bring into question ideas surrounding institutional value, market value as well as historical, cultural and sentimental values.
Months were dedicated to digging through files and paperwork. After attempting to track the object starting with it’s provenance, port of entry, and adoption into the collection, the paper work dropped off and a more rigorous search began. E-mails were sent and searches commenced, until one afternoon in 2009 I received a letter from the head of the institution asking me to halt the investigation with no explanation offered.
While the particular piece’s rarity and monetary value hold no comparison to the Rembrandt cut from it’s frame during the 1990 Gardener Museum heist, the unnamed institution continues to guard the knowledge of the prints disappearance.
The comprised collection is a mostly accurate account of the investigation and uses the circumstances as a model to explore Jean Bauldrillard's object value system. The use of forgeries, falsified documents and originals, bring into question ideas surrounding institutional value, market value as well as historical, cultural and sentimental values.
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, 2010
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, 2010
I. Correspondence
This series of the collection contains letters of correspondence between 2008-2009. They are records of inquiries conducted about the missing Rembrandt.
Fri, Oct 17, 2008 "....When you say the "storage closet" do you mean the silver vault on the second floor to the left as you come up the stairs? And are you saying that they were there throughout your tenure and that you knew of them missing after you left?..."
II. Documents
This series contains articles replicated by the artist such as: provenance of purchase, documents and photographs from 1929-1940 as related to the search. Names and other restricted information have been changed.
Provenance, 2011
III. News Articles
This is a collection of news articles organized in two parts. At the left are news clippings from 1922-1996 reporting thefts of artworks by Rembrandt Van Rijn. At the right are articles from 1910-2005 reporting fraudulent Rembrandts. The collection exists in book form.
V. Photographs
Photographs were created between 2009 - 2010. The images document the search for the missing Rembrandt as well as examine broader systems of value using Rembrandt and his work as a model in this exploration.
Self Portrait, 2010
VI. Book
Below is a limited edition book titled Finding Aid: The Investigation of Object TH 1988.18. It covers the investigation into the missing Rembrandt and tracks the artist's own investigation into different systems of value using Rembrandt as a model. It is framed and organized in a manner that mimics the vernacular of an archival finding aid. It contains correspondence, documents, photographs and writings surrounding the investigation.
