Matt Foss, director
As much as I would like it to, the international art world does not conform to my personal schedule. While sometimes it works out that assistant director / collections curator Amalia Wojciechowski and I are already in New York for major art fairs or auctions, most often, it doesn’t. While our predecessors, Kathy Foley and Jane Weinke, had plenty of stories of making acquisitions for the Museum’s permanent collection in unconventional locations or circumstances, I think Amalia and I have taken the cake.
Twice in the past calendar year, a major art auction occurred during my son Brooks’ sporting events. Because we work in tandem, it is important and beneficial for the Museum when Amalia and I are near each other when the auctions take place in person or over the phone. To her credit, Amalia has been willing (I think because she finds the novelty of it funny) to meet me in some strange places to acquire artwork for the Museum’s collection.
In spring 2025, Amalia graciously agreed to meet me at the Kennedy Park baseball complex for “picture day” before one of my son’s baseball games. Because I was also coaching that team (channeling my inner Lou Piniella), the photographer and I wrangled my players for individual and team photos, at the same time Amalia and I were on the phone with Christie’s, bidding on a treasure by the German-born Surrealist Max Ernst. If we hadn’t been successful that day, I think she would have been a little upset as she spent the better part of a Tuesday evening watching 9-year-olds do their best to field, hit, and throw like big leaguers.
A few weeks ago, a major auction at Sotheby’s took place during the second game of a doubleheader for my son’s basketball team. Fortunately, I was not coaching this one and could enjoy the game and monitor the auction from the stands. While I would normally never have my laptop open during my child’s sporting event, opportunities to acquire certain artworks for the Museum’s permanent collection only happen once, and the chance to acquire these works for the enjoyment of our audiences forever is an important moment.
So, among the smell of fresh popcorn and omnipresent sound of squeaking shoes, Amalia and I sat in the stands and watched the auction and the action on the hardwood. Once again, we were successful, acquiring a beautiful William Merritt Chase still-life, another important name in art history that is new to the collection.
Although it may sound odd that we’re in baseball parks and gymnasiums while these events in New York or other major cities are happening, life continues, and we do what we can to be the best versions of ourselves at home and at work. On the other hand, we have had a strong rate of success in these “unusual” locations for acquiring artwork. With my daughter, Lucy, learning how to curl-she recently received lessons from the U.S. Paralympic Curling Team member Matt Thums-it might be a sheet of ice where the Museum acquires its next masterpiece.
