Prying these priceless works of art out of the hands of their lending institutions was a negotiation process worthy of a Vince Ready labour-mediation intervention. But Thom, the curator of the exhibition "Protean Picasso: Drawings and Prints from the National Gallery of Canada & Selected Paintings from International Collections," was up to the task.
"We felt it would be desirable to take that exhibition and add some paintings to it and allow people to see more of Picasso's work, and what his achievements were," said Thom. "That became my responsibility."
And an onerous responsibility it was -- and still will be until the paintings are safely returned to their owners, a group that ranges from individual collectors in Vancouver to institutions around the world.
At stake are "hundreds of millions" of dollars' worth of Picassos, the closest figure Thom can put to the value of the art in the exhibition that is hanging on the walls on the main floor of the VAG. Prices vary widely on Picasso art -- from what was recently billed as some of his more affordable work in a London auction of more than 200 Picasso ceramics and prints with prices that started at $2,070, to a record $104 million US paid for his 1905 masterpiece Garcon a la Pipe.
"The whole process involves visiting institutions, writing letters in which we say, 'this is the painting we want, this is why we want it and this is how it will fit into the exhibition,' " said Thom. "You do the necessary research and ask for specific works of art instead of saying, 'do you have any Picassos and would you lend them?' "
"Of the 59 I guess I got rejected by 50 of them, and in some cases I got rejected more than once," said Thom. "I'd ask for painting A and when they said no, I'd ask for painting B," he said. "My goal behind bringing the paintings together was to show as wide a range as possible of Picasso's paintings.
"It was very desirable to have examples of cubism and examples of the blue period, to have a later example of his work when he brings a variety of streams of influence together in his work."
Thom had to go fairly far afield to find the Picassos for his exhibit. There are not many in public hands in Canada and the national gallery agreed to lend out its entire stock of Picasso paintings -- a total of two.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts agreed to lend two pictures for the exhibition. A third was given to them by Picasso's widow Jacqueline on the condition it never be lent. The Art Gallery of Ontario agreed to lend one painting -- the rest they wanted to keep hanging on their walls in Toronto.
In Paris, Thom hit pay dirt. The Musee National Picasso -- Picasso central when it comes to works by the great artist, agreed to lend three paintings to the VAG, including Le Sculpteur, the painting that you'll see highlighting the exhibition in advertising posters and fronting the catalogue.
"We were lucky enough, sometimes in this business people will respond to your request because of working relationships you have established in the past," said Thom.
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut turned out to be one such connection, with its director Willard Holmes a former director of the VAG.
"He knew who I was and when the letter came he knew the quality of the projects we are capable of doing here," said Thom. "Sometimes one of the big struggles is that people don't know who you are -- why should they lend something like a Picasso when they have no idea who you are and how the gallery works."
"Once people agree to lend these paintings, then you have to go through the whole process of trying to arrange to get them here, to arrange for couriers, to arrange the necessary insurance and all those kinds of things that can be elaborate in and of themselves," said Thom. "The Musee National Picasso for example, doesn't build crates, so you have to arrange for people in Paris to build crates for them to their specifications.
"Once they've agreed to the specifications, the crates get made, they get transported to the museum and then a courier comes and since there are no direct flights from Paris to Vancouver, there had to be a stopover in Toronto."
Considering that the airlines have been known to leave people short of their suitcases on a quick hop within the country, doesn't the thought of consigning Picassos to their care cause Thom to lose a little sleep?
"You don't want to lose your luggage when it is two crates with three paintings in them from the Musee National Picasso," said Thom, who barely will have time to relax before the whole process is reversed when the show ends on Jan. 15.
Add to that the special stipulations from each lender, like the St. Louis Art Museum's condition that the VAG could only have its Picasso if it was transported in a climate-controlled truck -- the cab of which has to be changed at the border to meet differing Canadian regulations -- with a courier and the entire affair begins to sound like the script for a sequel to Ocean's 12.
Once the logistics are taken care of, there was the arrangement to be made with noted Picasso scholar Neil Cox to write an essay for the catalogue of the exhibit. Cox will also be in Vancouver to speak in December.
The entire show, which includes all the costs of bringing the art to Vancouver, from building the crates to paying for to couriers accompany the art from its institutions, has a budget of about $150,000.
Some of the costs are covered by the presenting sponsor, in this case AIM Trimark, and the gallery gets advertising help from media sponsors, including The Vancouver Sun and CBC radio and television.
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