ANNOUNCER: Tonight on Showcase with Barbara Kellar, president and CEO of the Taft Museum of Art, Becky Beaulieu.

Stay tuned.

Showcase starts right now.

[MUSIC] KELLAR: Hi, I'm Barbara Kellar, and today we have as our guest a really beautiful new addition to the crown of Cincinnati.

And it's Becky Beaulieu, who is the new director of the Taft Museum.

And we are so happy to see you and to talk to you because Taft Museum is just one of the greatest things we have here in Cincinnati.

And we want to know how you're going to run it and are we going to like you doing it?

Yes, we are.

We are very much.

But we want to talk to you.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

BEAULIEU: Sure.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Barbara.

I've heard that it is a rite of passage now to come and speak to you if you're joining, especially the cultural scene around here.

So I really appreciate it.

But my background is that I have been working in museums for over 20 years.

I started when I was in high school, so I started so young.

Really young.

But I just fell in love with museums and was passionate about it from a very early age.

And I originally started working in education and curatorial departments.

My first internship was at the Farnsworth Art Museum, which is in Rockland, Maine, where I worked for the Wyeth family, so Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth.

So I cut my teeth at an early age with living artists and the work of museums.

KELLAR: Tell us, just as an aside, what were they like?

What was that like?

I mean, talk about, oh, my gosh, icons of America.

BEAULIEU: Absolutely.

And it's as simple -- KELLAR: Tell us what that was like.

BEAULIEU: It's as simple a story as I decided to write a paper in high school on the Wyeth family, reached out to the museum to ask for help with their archives.

And the head of what's known as the Wyeth Center, which is the research library in the Wyeth family, shared my paper with Jamie Wyeth.

And he said, "Seems like, you know, she really has a lot to say.

Why don't you see if she wants to come and help us out?"

KELLAR: Oh, my gosh.

BEAULIEU: So for two summers, I went and my family would be on vacation in Maine where my parents were raised.

I would drive myself every day to the museum.

KELLAR: In Stockbridge?

BEAULIEU: No.

So this is in Rockland, Maine.

KELLAR: Oh, okay.

BEAULIEU: And I would drive in every day.

I would just go and some days I would see Jamie or I would see Andy, and other days I wouldn't see anyone.

But you know, who really ran the show there?

KELLAR: The wife.

BEAULIEU: You know it.

KELLAR: Yes.

BEAULIEU: Andy's wife, Betsy.

Betsy was in charge of all the business.

She was the one, she would call, when you pick up the phone, say, "Wyeth Center."

"Becky, it's Betsy.

Give me," fill in the blank.

And so that's how it went.

She called the shots.

KELLAR: You never really talked to the Jamie and Andy?

BEAULIEU: I didn't talk too much to Andy.

He wasn't there all the time, but he did come and he visited.

This is an infamous story that the further away we get from it, people increasingly don't believe me.

It's a famous story of Andy coming to the Farnsworth one day with Helga, and if you know -- KELLAR: Oh, God, Oh, yeah, I know.

BEAULIEU: The Andrew Wyeth story you know that in the '80s there was an infamous exhibition of previously unknown nudes done over a period of years by Andrew Wyeth of one subject, Helga, who -- KELLAR: She lived in the same town.

BEAULIEU: She did.

She did.

So she was, you know, he actually would paint her both in Maine, in Rockland, as well as in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

Betsy did not know about Helga.

No one knew about Helga.

And it was a massive national story and really rocked the art world.

Well, what people may not know is that they maintained a lifelong friendship.

KELLAR: Friendship?

BEAULIEU: Yeah.

I don't know any details.

KELLAR: Friendship.

BEAULIEU: But one thing that Andy would do would be to come to the Farnsworth Museum without anyone knowing he was there.

One day he came with Helga.

And he would go up to people in the galleries, unsuspecting visitors during the peak season of July in Maine, and he would look at a painting that he had done with Helga kind of egging him on.

He'd say, "I don't know.

I think this guy is full of it.

What do you think?"

And just ask people what they thought for fun.

So I was there one of the days that he did that.

So, that's my favorite Andrew Wyeth story.

KELLAR: Yeah, but what did his wife do?

What's her name?

Betsy?

BEAULIEU: Betsy.

KELLAR: What did Betsy, wife Betsy do when he bought Helga?

BEAULIEU: These are the lives of artists, Barbara.

I have no idea.

It was one of those, those mysterious stories.

But they were friends right up until his death.

And Jamie was very active, his son, James Wyeth.

So Jamie was really active during the time that I was involved, and this was in the late '90s.

So that was my first experience in an art museum.

KELLAR: Wow.

No wonder you thought it was interesting.

That's really a story.

Did he sell those paintings of Helga?

BEAULIEU: Yeah, they went up to auction.

Andy also was well known for painting portraits of friends.

So at the time that I worked there, he actually did a portrait of the woman who was in charge of the Wyeth Center, the director of that research institution, and gave it to her as a wedding gift.

And it was this beautiful, maybe, you know, 18 by 24 painting that he had done of her just as a wedding gift.

KELLAR: Oh, wow.

BEAULIEU: And so he -- there were plenty of things that were just traded amongst friends and family.

But obviously, those are some of the most valuable pieces at auction in American art are from the Wyeth family.

KELLAR: Are his prices still steadily high?

BEAULIEU: Yeah, they're still very high.

KELLAR: Artists will have highs and lows.

BEAULIEU: Right.

And his is actually increased because of his recent death.

I think he passed away in 2016 or 2017.

Whenever that happens, and you know that they have concluded producing work.

KELLAR: Of course.

BEAULIEU: That's when the prices go sky high.

KELLAR: Exactly.

Well, that is certainly an interesting way to start out.

And so let's see.

Let's get -- we digressed.

BEAULIEU: We digressed.

I apologize.

KELLAR: Yeah.

So no.

And your venture, you grew up in Milwaukee.

I grew up in Milwaukee.

My family's originally from Maine.

Both my parents are Mainers and I grew up the first eight years of my life in New Hampshire.

Then my family moved to Milwaukee and I lived there until I was 18, went to college in Washington, D.C.

So I really identify with the Midwest and have lived in a number of different places.

After college, I moved back to Milwaukee for a couple of years, got my first master's in art history.

Then Chicago, New York for another master's, and then my PhD in Boston.

And then after living in Maine and Connecticut, we finally had the opportunity to return to the Midwest.

So it's been 15 years since I've lived here, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be back.

KELLAR: You know, you're coming to the Taft at a great time because there are no -- there's always a problem, but there are no major problems.

They have the new -- the renovation and they had the -- were you here when they had the installation, I guess they called it, in the front yard?

BEAULIEU: No.

I've seen the pictures of it.

KELLAR: I went over when they were putting it together and put sticks in those of our viewers who were able to see that in front of the Taft Museum was -- it was truly unique.

BEAULIEU: Well, it gets people talking, right?

KELLAR: Yes, gets people talking.

Yes.

It was twigs that they put together in different forms.

And it lasted a year till the twigs disintegrated.

But we had a show about it.

Deborah came and talked to us about it.

But that -- Do you think you would ever do something like that, some special something or other?

BEAULIEU: Well, absolutely.

I mean, I think one of the fabulous directions that a lot of historic sites like the Taft Museum where we're moving is we're really looking at ways that we can be creating experiences that are unforgettable, inimitable ways that you can engage with the history, the grounds, the collection of the Taft Museum.

So these are things that we're seeing a lot of institutions do that I think are really wonderful in this generation of leadership.

So in terms of what Deborah did for hosting contemporary artists, that's absolutely something that we would continue and I think we would look different every time and it would be something that would be a partnership and definitely a direction that we will continue to go in.

Because for us, what we want to do is make sure that we continue to engage people with the story of the Taft's and to make sure that we always have that permanent collection on view for people to experience.

In addition to that, we want to make sure that we are taking on projects that speak to our mission and speak to that high degree of artistry, but bring it into the 21st century to make sure that we're finding ways to create a balance between the historical value as well as the contemporary one.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Refresh our viewers memories about who built the Taft.

BEAULIEU: Sure.

So, The Taft is really known as the Taft Museum because of the residency of Charles and Anna Taft.

KELLAR: But they didn't build it.

BEAULIEU: They did not build the museum, well, the building was actually built as a residence in about 1820.

It is a neo Palladian building.

KELLAR: [indiscernible] BEAULIEU: Yes, that was -- that was commissioned by Martin Baum, and it continued for a couple of generations before it actually became the home of the Tafts.

And it was during that time that they really built their collection and built up their relationship with the City of Cincinnati as major philanthropists and really encouraged the artistic heritage.

It was through them that the Fine Arts Fund was really established as a citywide initiative, which we now know is Arts Wave and supports so many wonderful organizations throughout the city.

So at this point, we really are able to trace our lineage as a public institution to Charles and Anna Taft, though the building itself dates over 200 years old.

That's why we just celebrated our bicentennial campaign, which really stabilized the building, allowed us to refresh the exterior and was a necessary and I think very welcome preservation project.

And just as you said, Barbara, kind of sets the stage for a whole new era at the museum.

KELLAR: I have one little story to tell.

The CET auction, this was many years ago, and they had this large, very large, heavy, heavy silver platter.

And I had seen it a distance, but the workers aren't allowed to bid.

So they put it up and someone bought it, came and looked at it and didn't want it.

And then somebody else bought it and came and saw it and didn't want it for the same reason.

And so they said that it was the end of the auction and they said, "Would you like to buy it?"

They said, "People come, but it has all this writing on it and they didn't want it because it had the writing on it."

And I said, "Well, sure."

So I started reading it.

It was presented to Martin Baum by the firefighters of the city in recognition of his help and whatever, and it had the date.

And I read that Martin Baum, and I thought, "Oh my goodness."

So of course I bought it.

And it's in my dining room and it's so heavy, obviously, give it to Taft Museum if they want it.

But it's there and it's so heavy it would take three waiters if it had food and China on it to lift it up.

But I thought, "Two people looked at it and said, 'Eh, it got all that writing.

I don't want that.'"

But Martin Baum.

BEAULIEU: And see, you knew that because of your -- KELLAR: Yeah, because I was docent at the Taft museum in the olden days.

Yes, I was in the first class of docents at the museum.

So, yeah, I really love it.

I was there before they, what do you call it?

Deaccessioned, some of it.

Which ones?

I don't remember.

BEAULIEU: Are you talking about some of the works that were discovered to, we'll say, have improper provenance.

KELLAR: Right.

That's a good -- improper provenance.

BEAULIEU: So those works actually, I'm not familiar with those works because they far predate me.

But there are a number of works that we've kept in the collection and, as you know, just had a show on Fakes and Forgeries and Followers, which really explores some of the history of those works that are discovered to be inauthentic.

And when we say inauthentic, we mean not properly ascribe to the right artist.

So probably the best known example in our collection has been a self-portrait by Rembrandt that was always considered to be by Rembrandt, and then was discovered to actually be by a follower of Rembrandt.

Many of these artists were known to have schools of students who would study alongside them, would work in their schools or their ateliers.

And it was an opportunity for artists to become professional under the auspices and the advisement of a master artist.

But a lot of times, because it was coming out of that studio, it wasn't named to John Smith working in Rembrandt's studio.

KELLAR: How does the museum all of a sudden know that it's not what they thought it was?

BEAULIEU: There's a couple of things that have taken place in the past few years that have really increased interest in this.

The first is advances in technology.

One of the ways in which we were able to really obtain the right information was through X-ray technology that was handled with some conservation workers at the University of Cincinnati.

So that was actually something where you take the works and you X-ray them, you look at the pigment that was used, you look at some of the techniques.

And you're able to determine did this actually take place at that time?

They were saying this is a 16th century work, but that pigment actually wasn't available in Europe until the 19th century.

So that kind of really technical work, there are people who have incredible expertise in that.

The other thing that's really gained a lot of prominence in recent years is the concept of repatriation and the return of objects to their rightful owners.

So we have seen this a lot in terms of any history where there has been looting.

The most infamous example is obviously Nazi era looting of cultural artifacts.

KELLAR: That history could go on.

BEAULIEU: Exactly.

But there are a number of different areas in which we review that.

There's war.

There is also when there has been kind of the taking over of certain areas, the resettlement of areas, such as has happened in the United States with Native American resettlement.

Because of that, there's a lot of talk of how we return some of those objects to their rightful owners and/or their homeland.

KELLAR: Just sometimes it just starts with theft.

Someone steals it.

BEAULIEU: Absolutely.

It's worth a lot of money, they take it.

KELLAR: And then they sell it to somebody in the United States.

BEAULIEU: And that person doesn't necessarily know.

KELLAR: Right.

They don't know they're buying something stolen or misappropriated or whatever.

There was a couple of years ago, a guy in New York who was discovered to be the forger of this incredible amount of paintings that they found.

I can't remember his name, but that's -- How do -- you don't have someone come through and look at each painting.

How do you designate the ones you're going to talk about that somebody said, who is somebody that says these might not be right?

BEAULIEU: Well, it's a mystery that's still being solved.

That's what's fascinating about it.

So what we rely on is documentation, is the history of ownership, which is what provenance is.

So we rely on that information.

And then as people do research, we learn more.

So if your next question will be, so, is it possible that there are works that we could discover are not authentic?

In every museum in the world that's a possibility, absolutely.

KELLAR: It's like cold case files for murder.

BEAULIEU: It is.

KELLAR: Yeah.

If you go back and and the new brain looks at the -- and has different and more modern technology, as you said with the X-rays, I think that's a really, really interesting.

BEAULIEU: It is, like, forensic conservation.

KELLAR: One of the things, and I can't remember which painting it was.

Well, I had on my show Carl Sampson, who is a very well known, wonderful portrait artist.

And they had said to us after the discovery that the reason they were suspicious of this painting was the hands.

And we talked about a little bit about hands are the most difficult thing to paint.

Now, who would have guessed that if you're not a painter?

BEAULIEU: If you're not looking for that.

And even along those lines, there are certain artists who have signatures in how they do things.

So they'll do the hands the certain way.

They'll do a light source a certain way.

If you ever look at the French artist Georges de Latour, there's a very specific way that he has a hidden light source, usually it creates a really dramatic effect on the rest of the piece.

So, there are those things that you can look at, but often it's incredibly hard.

You look at some artists that were known to train many others.

Sometimes they would start a work and then another artist would finish it once they had gotten it on the road.

KELLAR: So, lots of things have been up for discussion and this person says yes, that person says no.

And so nothing has ever been decided.

If our viewers would also watch Antiques Roadshow, you would learn a lot about how to look.

And those things are so specific.

There was one on last night, the guy had an actual Rodin, which the appraiser thought.

But he said it has to be authenticated, somebody other than he.

But if it were real, it was worth a half a million dollars.

BEAULIEU: It's unbelievable.

KELLAR: But he said, even if it's not real, it's worth $10-20,000.

But for a Rodin, you have to go to a special committee.

And so there are all sorts of really fascinating ways to look at and discover art.

BEAULIEU: Well, that's exactly it.

And, you know, when I look at it, there are people who fall in love with pieces that may have no monetary value.

KELLAR: Exactly.

BEAULIEU: But serve a very precious role.

KELLAR: I have a lot of those.

BEAULIEU: Yeah, we all do.

You know, I do as well.

So there's sometimes -- that's one of the great things about art.

Sometimes it speaks to you and you just say, you know, "I really -- I want that.

Or I know that's just a poster, but I want to remember that great show I saw."

KELLAR: That's what you love.

BEAULIEU: And when we talk about our role in museums, our job is not to be gatekeepers.

Our job is to consider every one of us who works in a museum from a security guard to the director, we have an educational and front facing role.

We are there to be a public service institution as much as anything else.

So we want to invite people to enjoy, appreciate and value art.

That's our job.

It's a, I think, a subtle but really important shift from the idea that museums were really only a place for rich people and the very educated.

We're really moving away from that.

KELLAR: You have to.

BEAULIEU: Yeah.

KELLAR: Gosh, I was at the museum for something a year or so ago and speaking, when you speak of security guards.

And this security guard, female, was standing there and she said something very soft.

And I thought I said, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

And I thought she was telling me that I needed to go here or there or stay off of there.

And she said, "I love your show."

And I thought, "Oh, my gosh, a security guard at the Taft Museum likes my show."

That's really -- that's a confirmation.

BEAULIEU: Yes.

KELLAR: I really -- I just absolutely love that.

I thought, "Yeah, she knows art and so she wants to know more about it and watch it."

Yeah, I think that the museum because of its size is so much easier to handle.

You can go there and see everything.

BEAULIEU: Yeah.

Yeah.

KELLAR: And you don't have to go and see one or two places and then it's more than, and then go back and whatever.

You can see it all, but then you can revisit it and do you still, do you have lots of kids school tours.

BEAULIEU: Oh, my gosh.

Yes.

Well, this is the first year that we've really been able to organize school trips since 2020, obviously, with the pandemic.

So because of that, we have been absolutely full to the gills with kids since we started the program again in September.

So that has been really, really popular.

And just for the reason that you said, the size of the Taft is an asset.

It is not something that we look at as a deficiency.

KELLAR: No, no, no, you're not acquiring stuff.

BEAULIEU: No.

You know, we're really -- we're really focused on our specific kind of niche that we have in Cincinnati.

And that's something I love about this cultural environment is that you have the Cincinnati Art Museum for your incredible, rich, encyclopedic, wide spectrum of art.

We have that and how incredible to have that here.

We have the contemporary museum.

If you are looking at what's happening right now, right in this moment with art in the environment.

And then when you want to know about kind of rich collections, you want to know about the history of collecting, you want to see masterpieces in an intimate setting, that's when you come to the Taft Museum.

And to that reason, that's why I've always worked in small and mid-sized museums is because I respect that our goal is to amplify and to serve that personal experience with art.

KELLAR: I think the fact that the Taft Museum was a house.

BEAULIEU: Yes.

KELLAR: And I mean, I love old houses.

And you sort of envision yourself in there and try to think what it was like.

And I think they've certainly kept it as much as possible -- BEAULIEU: Sure.

KELLAR: -- the way that it was.

And I would think that kids would be enthralled with the different art.

And if they're good -- do the teachers come in too?

Who -- do you have docents?

BEAULIEU: We have docents.

We love our docents.

The docents are not going anywhere.

They are an extremely valuable part of the team and they serve as the first experience that many children have with art.

So they work very closely with our team of educators to create experiences that are specific to the youngest learners, to those that are in middle and high school, to working with colleges and adult learners.

So we try to incorporate opportunities to engage and educate at every phase of life.

You're never too young or too old.

KELLAR: To enjoy art.

BEAULIEU: Absolutely.

KELLAR: Yeah.

And some of those paintings, which I remember so well, were just absolutely fascinating.

I mean, you could stand there and look at them, some of them, a couple of the Turners were, oh, I just absolutely love the collection.

And you're not - The Taft doesn't acquire new things.

BEAULIEU: Right.

KELLAR: The art museum will acquire.

It's not the Taft.

BEAULIEU: Right.

KELLAR: It's not the Contemporary Art Center, just your collection as it is.

So you don't have things stashed away in the basement?

BEAULIEU: Not really.

KELLAR: That aren't on display.

BEAULIEU: It's typical for most museums to be able to show a maximum of 10% of their collection at any time, just given the ratio between what's in storage and what's on the walls.

We aim to usually show about 20% of what we have.

Now, before you say, "Oh, that still seems so low," we have a collection that only numbers around 800 in the Taft collection.

We do bring in works, acquire works that are not part of that original collection that have some kind of historic or contextual value.

So decorative arts, furnishings as we think it may make sense, but for the most part, our job is to really elevate those core works.

So we try to rotate through as much as we can with our permanent collection.

So part of the work that was done as part of our bicentennial project was to reinstall the historic house in the original historic house structure.

And so that was really fun because that brought up a lot of new works.

And then we try to do special exhibitions, like the Fakes, Forgeries and Followers Show, which showed works that have been part of our collection, but in a totally new light and with new educational value.

KELLAR: Yeah, well, this -- we could go on forever.

We need to have part two.

But we can obviously see that The Taft Museum is in good hands and we thank you so much and look forward to lots of years of your stewardship of our precious Taft Museum.

And thank you so much for coming.

It was wonderful and we hope to see lots of you.

BEAULIEU: Thank you so much, Barbara.

I appreciate it.

ANNOUNCER: Join us next week for another episode of Showcase with Barbara Kellar right here on CET.

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