- A Different Kind of Order (The Thelonious Monk Story)
Sheet (each): 6 15/16 × 10 3/16 in. (17.6 × 25.9 cm)
Frame (each): 11 5/8 × 14 11/16 in. (29.5 × 37.3 cm)
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Based in Los Angeles, John Baldessari is one of the most influential conceptual artists of his generation. This installation consists of five photographs that were matted, framed, and then hung askew. The sixth frame contains an anecdote about jazz musician Thelonious Monk that illuminates the concept of the work:
"There's a story about Thelonious Monk going around his apartment tilting all the pictures hanging on the wall. It was his idea of teaching his wife a different kind of order. When she saw the pictures askew on the wall she would straighten them. And when Monk saw them straightened on the wall, he would tilt them. Until one day his wife left them hanging on the wall tilted."
Baldessari began as a painter but in 1970 dramatically renounced his painting career and vowed to make only Post-Studio Art. Here, he not only demonstrates the literally tilted frames of the Monk story but also creates an analogy for a different type of order in the representation of art. By tilting his own frames, Baldessari asks viewers to consider why they were so committed to a perfectly straight frame when there is more than one way that an object can be presented.
Provenance[Sonnabend Gallery, Inc., New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1978.
Exhibition History"John Baldessari," The New Museum, New York, March 14–April 28,1981; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands, May–October 1981; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, November 13, 1981–January 1982; The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, January 14–February 21, 1982; The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, March 6–April 16, 1982.
Regional S.P.E. Conference, North Texas State University, September 21–October 30, 1982.
"Evocative Presence: Twentieth Century Photographs in the Museum Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 27–May 1, 1988.
"Lost and Found in California," James Corcoran Gallery, Santa Monica, California, July 15–September 7, 1988.
"John Baldessari Retrospective," The Museum of Contempoary Art, Los Angeles, March 25–June 17, 1990; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, July 12–September 9, 1990; Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., October 16, 1990–January 6,1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, February 3–April 28, 1991; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July18–October 20, 1991; Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, November 10, 1991–January 19, 1992.
"Finders/Keepers," Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, May 10–August 3, 1997.
"Contemporary Art and Photography: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 30, 2001–February 3, 2002.
"Contemporary Photography from the Collection of the MFAH," Museum of Fine Arts Houston, August 15, 2003–January 4, 2004.
"A Different Kind of Order," Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, March 3–July 4, 2005.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
"THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES / JOHN BALDESSARI RETROSPECTIVE / 3/25-6/17/90 MOCA 7/12-9/9/90 SFMOMA / 10/16/90-1/6/91 Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden / 2/3-4/28/91 Walker Art Center / 7/10-10/13/91 Whitney Museum of American Art / 11/21/91-2/13/92 Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal / JB 022 A DIFFERENT KIND OF ORDER (THE THELONIOUS MONK STORY), 1972-73 / ... "
"THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON / ... / CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTION / 10 March - 2 April 1983, Glassell School; ... / ACC:78.4. ... "
"BALDESSARI, A Different Kind of Order... / ... MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON LN:88.27 ... "
"LN:90.7 A Different Kind of Order ... / from THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, / HOUSTON (see loan agreement for more information)
"Sonnabend 420 West Broadway New York 10012 / Artist John Baldessari / Title A Different Kind of Order / ... / Reg.# 3336"
"THE NEW MUSEUM / 65 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 10003 ... / JOHN BALDESSARI: WORK 1966-1980 / ... / LOAN #: 120F / ... / LENDER: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas"
"DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES / REMOVE THE D-RINGS. THE MEASURE- / MENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN CALCULATED SO THAT THE PICTURES WILL HANG AT ..."
"SEIFERT-VERLAAN INC / 24 LAIGHT STREET / NEW YORK, N.Y. 10013"
"Baldessari #3336"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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