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The South Street Seaport Paper
The Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum is a public institution in NYC, that contains many different forms of media and research materials as well as being a historical museum. It recently went through a renovation that united both the library proper and the residence of 'Jack' Morgan, J.P. Morgans' son. It began its life as the private library. As early as 1890 J.P. Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts, early printed books, and old master drawings and prints. Morgan was a notable collector of books, pictures, and other art objects, many loaned or given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (of which he was president and was a major force in its establishment), and many housed in his London house and in his private library on 36th Street, near Madison Avenue in New York City. His son, J. P. Morgan, Jr., or Jack made the Pierpont Morgan Library a public institution in 1924 as a memorial and kept Belle da Costa Greene, his father's private librarian, as its first director. As a museums experience, it is far from perfect. In an simple architectural context, there's as a disconnect between the library, the new addition and brownstone of Jack Morgan. Even though great care and money was spent on a 'brand name' architect, the new addition does nothing other than provide shelter between the two buildings. It is stylistically so different that it fails to unify the two older buildings. The exposed elevator seems like a superficial concession to get a rise from visitors. The overall foot print of the building claustrophobically feels plopped in between the two older buildings. Unifying the facade on Madison Avenue, the building is a disappointment.
One enters the museum and immediately has to deal with purchasing tickets and forfeiting over their coats and extra baggage. Entering the large space that is central to the museum concept, there is little wayfinding signage to guide visitors to the library and study. Turning right one can see a block of terminals with art on their screens and a uninviting gallery. There is little signage and guide systems to the museum. There's little printed takeaway material to give to visitors to describe the overall exhibition space, or specific exhibitions. There is little wayfinding signage to get one through the whole museum. There was a very sparse groupings of people, but in the basement there was a large group of people attending a film screening. The admission fees were appropriate to the attendees income. The museum is on Madison Avenue, in a place that is very conducive to attendance by the constituents. It is easy to access, and is safe and well light. The museum is well served by several forma of public transportation. The museum presumably offers interesting benefits and a pleasant atmosphere, and the implications of noncontroversial material. The attendees might be thought of attending for all three reasons to varying degrees. Most seemed to be attending for educational reasons, less for reverential reasons, and a few for social reasons. The people who were there seemed at ease and comfortable with their settings, as if they were frequent visitors to this museum or museum like it. Most people talked to the guards as they initially entered the museum and got directions.
As an interactive experince thge museu leave much to be desired. The most interactive thng are tyhe row of computer terminals. Which I doubt most of the over 50 year old attendees could manage or understand. The exhibtsd used tradioonalk display technoiques. There was little imagination used to showcase the collection. There was no concept learning.
In the adjacent floor gallery there was an exhibition the library manuscript collection. While the collection itself was impressive as objects of art, the exhibition was unimaginative in its display of artifacts. The was a bafflingly large amount of copy in the attendant display materials on the walls. No one read the exhibits display text. If one asked the guard one could get directions to the study and library respectively. There was no wayfinding signage to get in to the galleries themselves. One entered through a discreet doorway into a hallway that presumably led to the study. It was aptly guarded by a man of color in his early thirties. In the study, I noticed about ten people, all between the ages of 40 and 70, of both genders. Several of these people were couples. Some appeared to be non-Americans and non-english speaking. I toured the museum on Saturday morning at approximately 11:00 am. There is absolutely no wayfinding signage in the study. There are no text displays to describe the exhibits. The room itself is handsome, and was once describe as the most beautiful room in the United Sates at its inception. There are several gorgeous works of art in the room, which are numbered. There are several copies of a directory of the artwork in the room, but that provides only a superficial amount of information regarding the room.
When one leaves the study, one enters a hallway which leads to a small room and another hallway to the library. There is little wayfinding signage here. There is a small office to the left as one enters the library. It was originally the director of the library's office. In the library there is a total absence of information. There is a solitary guard, stoically standing watch. If someone wanted to know how the user got up on the second tier of the library, they wouldn't know unless they asked the attendant guard. It is a real disappointment as the visitor is overwhelmed by the size and quality of the library, as well as the artwork in the room. Of particular note was the tapestry on the far wall.
Overall the total lack of information in these two rooms was consistent with the museums seeming attitude towards the visitor. The gift shop was particularly well stocked with the typical knock-offs of the museum's properties for easy consumption. There was a well appointed dining room, which nobody was using.
One issue of the note. The overwhelming majority of the attendees to the exhibits were older Caucasians, whereas the majority of the museum guards and employees were people of color. Again, I visited the museum on a Saturday morning. The were no single visitors besides myself, and I was able freely move around the museum. There were several large groups of older people, many smaller groups and couples. All seemed to be well dressed and of more than adequate means.
Overhearing the visitors, one might notice them discuss the exhibits in general, and several of the particular pieces of artwork. But the exhibits themselves didn't seem to provoke long, intense conversations. In the study, people lingered and looked at the artwork while examining the printed brochures. Some almost toppled the artifacts. The guard did little to aid visitors other than glower and look disinterested. People generally seemed entertained and satisfied with what they experienced. No one complained about the lack of information or the somewhat primitive brochure. In the library several people mentioned the artwork and the tapestry which was at its time the most expensive article ever produced worth more than several castles. The guard offered the information regarding the hidden stairway that provide access tot he second and third tiers of the library. It was assumed he had been asked that question often, as he off red it without prompting.
For the most part, people lingered or spent very little time in the library, noticing the books but not really examining them. Perhaps perusing the statue and tapestry more. Still they didn't stay more than 5 minutes. In the study people seemed to stay longer with the examination of the artwork and reading of the brochure. In the study people grouped around the desk and circulated around the room stopping on each piece of art. The objects seemed to draw more attention that the paintings.
It was ironic that in the library very few visitors examined the actual books themselves, and were more impressed by the tiers. They moved rapidly through the room, leaving quickly.
People seemed stumped and perplexed by the rooms and the paths they followed through the tour. In the study people tarried longer, and seemed to focus more on the artwork.
The security guards play such a passive role in some ways, but in other ways they were active in the explanation of the rooms. Which is not the optimum purpose of guards.
The library was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials. The structure is an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America's Age of Elegance. Completed three years before McKim's death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece.
Morgan was an American financier, banker, philanthropist, and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thompson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. He financed the creation of the Federal Steel Company merging the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses to form the United States Steel Corporation. He bequeathed much of his large art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and to the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford, Connecticut. Morgan and his partners had financial investments in many large corporations. He was one of the wealthiest men in the world. One gets the impression that the original purpose of the collection was to showcase Morgan's bombastic wealth and ego. Now the collection seems disjointed from the whole museum and seems an afterthought to the new architectural development and commercial endeavors.