The Rose blooms again

EDITORIAL | ART AT BRANDEIS | Globe Editorial

July 02, 2011

TWO YEARS ago, former Brandeis University president Jehuda Reinharz couldn’t see beyond the university’s financial problems, so he stumbled into an ill-conceived plan to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its renowned collection of modern art. Supporters of the university-owned museum had a better vision - one that led to the recent court settlement keeping the museum open and its collection intact.

The fight over the future of the Rose wasn’t only about saving paintings by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and other giants of 20th-century art. The Rose, in many ways, represented the boldness of an era in which artists experimented with new forms - and in which university founders displayed the energy to build Brandeis into a world-class institution in just a few decades.

Current Brandeis president Frederick Lawrence understands the connection. “This is a place born of the mid- to late 20th century of America, and you feel it when you walk the campus,’’ Lawrence told the Globe. “The Rose is a big piece of that.’’

Under the terms of the settlement, the Rose remains open and keeps possession of its prize collection, while the university can raise money by loaning or renting works of art to other institutions. It opens the way for the renovation of the museum and the hiring of a new director. Some of the plaintiffs aren’t enthusiastic about leasing parts of the collection. But trust has been restored on campus, making the entrepreneurial approach possible. Like most first-rate museums, the Rose owns more works that it can display.

One upside of this controversy has been greater visibility for the museum on the Waltham campus. At the time of the threatened closure, curators were trying to provide the campus and public with a strong balance of shows by new artists and exhibits from the permanent collection. Now, with the legal entanglements out of the way, the Rose can grow again.

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