1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: a show that unveils history one day at a time. 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: I'm Gabelusier, and today we're investigating how one of the 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: most acclaimed art museums in the world made the rookie 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: mistake of displaying a piece of art upside down. The 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: day was December four, nineteen sixty one. The director of 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art realized that 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: a picture had been hanging upside down for the past 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: fifty seven days. The work in question was titled lur Bateaux, 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: or The Boat. It had been made by Henri Matisse, 12 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: one of the most influential French artists of the twentieth century. 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: Matisse died in nineteen fifty four, and by the end 14 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: of his life his poor health had prevented him from painting. 15 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: Rather than stop creating, the artist shifted his focus to 16 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: the medium of paper cut collage. He would cut out 17 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: pieces of paper and arrange them with gouache paint to 18 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: create abstract scenes or designs composed of simple lines and shapes. 19 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: This late career work was displayed at the Museum of 20 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: Modern Art in an exhibition called the Last Works of 21 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: Matisse Large Cut Gouoshes. The exhibition opened on October eighth, 22 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one, and for nearly two months no one 23 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: noticed that one of the key pieces had been hung 24 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: the wrong way. In the museum's defense, lur Bateaux is 25 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: a little confusing at first glance. Executed in nineteen fifty three, 26 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: just a year before the artist's death, it depicts the 27 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: image of a blue boat sailing on curving purple waves, 28 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: with clouds above it. The bottom half of the picture 29 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: shows a stylized version of the boat and clouds to 30 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: represent their reflections in the water. That symmetry is a 31 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: big reason why the picture was hung upside down. Either 32 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: way you look at it, the image looks almost the same. 33 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: Lur Bateau was one of forty guage paper cuts brought 34 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: over from Paris and hung on the ground floor of 35 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: the Museum of Modern Art. It was the only one 36 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: to be hung incorrectly. In the error when unnoticed by 37 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: the curators, the rest of the museum staff, and even 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: by Matisse's son Pierre, who was himself an art dealer. 39 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: All told, more than a hundred and sixteen thousand visitors 40 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: towards the exhibit and never caught the mistake. But one 41 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: person did. Her name was Genevieve Abert Wall Street stockbroker 42 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: and former resident of Paris, who proved a bit more 43 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: observant than most. She came to the Matisses show three 44 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: times in total, and from her first visit she couldn't 45 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: shake the feeling that something was off about leur Bateaux. 46 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: On her third visit, she finally put her finger on 47 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: the problem. She realized that the boat at the top 48 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: of the image was less complex than the boat on 49 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,679 Speaker 1: the bottom. It didn't make sense that Matisse would make 50 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,839 Speaker 1: the reflection more defined than the boat itself, which only 51 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: left one option it had been installed upside down. Ah 52 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: Bet bought a copy of the exhibition catalog and found that, 53 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: sure enough, the image in the catalog didn't match the 54 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: one on the wall. She took her proof to the 55 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: nearest museum security guard, but he remained unconvinced, arguing that 56 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: it was open to interpretation and also that maybe the 57 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: catalog had been misprinted it. He told her quote, you 58 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: don't know what's up and you don't know what's down, 59 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: and neither do we. We can't be responsible for the printers. 60 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: As you might imagine, Albert wasn't satisfied with that response, 61 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: so she made her way to the next guard, who 62 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: directed her to the information desk. However, since it was 63 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: Sunday evening, the curatorial staff wasn't available to speak with her. 64 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: Rather than return for a fourth visit, Albert decided to 65 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: voice her complaint to The New York Times The next day, 66 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: on December four, the paper called Monroe Wheeler, the museum's 67 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: director of exhibitions, and gave him the bad news. He 68 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: was understandably embarrassed, and when asked what had led to 69 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:53,720 Speaker 1: the error, he replied, quote just carelessness. Of course, that 70 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: carelessness wasn't all his own. Alicia Legg had been the 71 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: assistant curator responsible for the installation, so it was her 72 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: call on how to hang the picture, though of course 73 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: Wheeler had final approval. Leg told The New York Times 74 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: that the confusion had less to do with the front 75 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: of the picture than with what was on the back 76 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: of it. The reverse side had labels from previous exhibitions 77 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: that were put on upside down, as well as deep 78 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: screw holes, which suggested it had been shown upside down before. 79 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: When Wheeler ordered the picture to be re hung, he 80 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: and leg took a closer look and found fainter less 81 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: noticeable screw holes on the correct side of the frame. 82 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: The mistake had been fixed within two hours of Wheeler 83 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: being notified, but unfortunately very few people got to see 84 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: the correction. The exhibition was set to close that very day, 85 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: which means that Le Batau was only displayed correctly for 86 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: a few hours before it and the rest of the 87 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: exhibit was taken down own. The New York Times ran 88 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: a story on the blunder the next day, much to 89 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: the museum's chagrin. I'm sure when Pierre Matisse heard the news, 90 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: he said quote Mrs Obert should be given a medal. 91 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: Although she never got one, she'd be happy to know 92 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: that Lrbata is now part of the permanent collection at 93 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: the Museum of Modern Art, where it hangs at last 94 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: right side up. I'm Gabe Louzier and hopefully you now 95 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: know a little more about art history today than you 96 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,679 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you want to keep up with the show, 97 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 98 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: t d I HC Show, and if you have any 99 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can send them my way at 100 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: this day at i heart media dot com. Thanks as 101 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 102 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 103 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class. For more podcasts 104 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 105 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.