The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) in California opened its newly renovated main lobby and galleries, completing the first two stages of a five-part master plan unveiled in 2015. The total cost of the master plan, which involves extensive improvements for the museum’s 1914 building and the re-installation of its collection, was initially projected at $50m. The museum’s director and chief executive, Larry J. Feinberg, admits that it has already spent that much on the project, partly because of unforeseen costs such as the difficulty of seismic retrofitting to withstand earthquakes and the need to replace the institution’s main and upper floors.
With a collection of 27,000 works encompassing the arts of the Americas, Asia and Europe, SBMA serves an audience of around 150,000 annually and is a notable West Coast attraction.
The pandemic postponed the unveiling of the renovations from the fall of 2020 and then from last spring. For visitors entering this weekend, the most noticeable changes will be in the entry area and the galleries beyond. The ticketing desk, which used to jut out on the right as one entered, has been moved to its own alcove on the left. Now there is uninterrupted space leading to Ludington Court with its striking arches and an eclectic mix of works, prominent among them the prized Lansdowne Hermes, a second-century Roman sculpture on a new six-foot pedestal.
It is surrounded by a salon-style hanging of American and European paintings by such artists as Hans Memling, George Romney and William Merritt Chase–a nod to the tastes of Wright S. Ludington, one of the museum’s creators and a donor to its founding collection.
Most of the paintings have not been on display in recent years. “It’s a way of really allowing us to show the richness of the collection by making the best, most economical use of the limited wall space that we have,” says Eik Kahng, assistant director and chief curator of the museum.
Feinberg is especially pleased with the new second floor over the McCormick, which adds 1400 sq. ft of exhibition space and will be the first devoted to contemporary art. The centre of that gallery now features a large mirrored orb sculpture by Anish Kapoor surrounded by works by Laddie John Dill, Helen Frankenthaler, Kori Newkirk and others.
A much-anticipated exhibition, Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and his Sources, has been put off till 27 February.
