Burn it down.
4
No children under 12? Unbelievable for an educational institution. No critical mention of this in the article. All of the museums I know of in the Washington, DC area welcome children. If the fragile nature of Glenstone is the issue, Glenstone could hire more people at a living wage to provide security for the exhibits.
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@Leroy Miller Children have a bad habit of asking all the wrong questions, for instance:
"Mommy, how come the nice lecturer doesn't want to explain that the Martin Puryear sculpture, produced by an African-American artist, references slavery and the bloody French rebellions in Haiti and France that overthrew people just like the owners of this museum?"
Paul Werner
Editor, WOID
2
Tax shelter? Maybe.
Vehicle through which you can increase the relevance and, in turn, the value of your art investments? Yes.
That's the real story here... I don't think an art critic has the guts to admit it.
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@Ian
Pump and dump? That's what auction houses are for.
Sustaining the fantasy that there's a demand for this kind of stuff? Sure, but not as means of increasing the value of one's investment: rather, as means of justifying the "public utility" of the investment and hence the tax break--which in this case is not so much aimed at the art objects themselves, since after all the investors could have got the same break simply by donating their artsets to a museum.
The aim is to justify the investment in new construction and maintenance, which have the immense advantage over mere passive assets like artworks, that they offer continuous opportunities to claim deductions. That's why, at this point in time, there's more museums being built than there are artworks available to fill them.
Signed, an art critic
4
OK, so these rich art patrons get tax deductions for creating beautiful spaces for us to visit and expand our knowledge and enrich our lives. Please tell me why religious groups don't pay taxes. They add nothing at all to society in spite of all the moralistic hogwash spewed from the pulpits. Nonreligious people are just as moral and get no such tax benefits.
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God, I think I can pick out twelve invasive species!
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I hope the cafe isnt near that swamp. I don't like mosquitos!
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What is happening with that swamp? Looks like alot of work.
1
Was the architecture premised on T. S. Eliot? Ticky Tacky?
2
I have been to Glenstone several times, including to evening film events. The expansion appears very promising, as well as necessary, as up to this point Glenstone has been somewhat underwhelming, with very mediocre architecture. It’s also somewhat precious and pretentious. I wish that they had used the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen as their “model” - to me its the gold standard of the private art museum experience. Unpretentious and unfussy with a beautiful integration of art, architecture and landscape.
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Oh great - rich republicans who are getting tax payer funds to open a museum to feed their ego.
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@Andrew
Excellent "model" choice, thank you.
The Louisiana Museum, a short train ride from the center of Copenhagen, is as close to perfect as I've seen (and, I've seen plenty).
Let us hope more of these "private museum" owners make the trek to Copenhagen and become inspired.
3
@Andrew I went to Glenstone last weekend. Only a handful of the art owned by the foundation is on display. I'll bet there is a lot of it on display in the Rales residence though, inaccessible to the public, but owned by the foundation, and providing the owners with tax benefits. The whole thing is a preening ego driven vanity project and a monstrous tax scam, ultimately funded by the public, as art classes and art education are scaled back in public schools due to lack of funding.
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Perhaps private museum owners could temporarily display a piece or two of their art collections at their local McDonald's ... just display it behind bullet proof glass.
Simple but "too complicated" of course ... but it's all tax deductible.
6
After reading the first two paragraphs of this article I re-read the opinion peace by Bill and Melinda Gates and the comments made by readers.
I then finished reading the article.
Art can be beautiful, inspiring, perplexing, challenging. I enjoy visiting art museums and visit exhibits thousands of miles away using the internet.
But we are on the path towards a global crisis from climate change, income inequality and lack of access to financial and physical access to birth control, affordable housing and quality education. It is difficult not to read this article and think that this money might have been better spent.
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They are such snappy dressers too.
2
Art museums are nice and this one appears to be especially so. But who made the real effort that endowed these benefactors with their outiszed wealth? Why not help rebuild Puerto Rico with these funds? Or if they insist upon using their wealth for arr, they should pay for art education in classrooms across MD and DC.
We make choices every day and this one speaks to narcissism and greed. Humility and respect are what the US needs, not one more showcase of misbegotten wealth. There are many better choices for this money than this.
9
With free admission, the Raleses are doing a public good. I don't care if they get a tax deduction. I care that people get to see art rather than having it accessible only to the wealthy.
12
You should get to go for free - as a tax payer you are paying for it!
3
At the very least, there should be some sort of accountability mechanism in place for these sort of tax-deductible private ventures.
Some law that states that after a certain period (perhaps a few years after the original owners' death), the local or state government gains full ownership of the assets.
If the public is really benefiting from the operation, there should be no shortage of citizens and their representatives willing to see it continue as-is under public control. If it's really just thinly veiled tax-dodge, the assets can be sold off to fund more worthwhile public goods.
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@Carbon
They should never be placed into the governments hands. Look at what the government you are talking about. It has absolutely no interest in anything to do with art unless you're willing to concede that at least Melania likes fashion designers. I don't mean that fashion is not an art form, but that is her only appreciation of the wide vast field of art.
The current administration, senate, and congress, and soon the supreme court, care so little about beauty and preservation that they have worked in perfect unison to destroy the protections put into place for the environment, national parks system, and educational system.
Art is not only about something pretty to hang on the wall of your foyer or a statue out next to pool. It is a recorder of the society's new and health at any time, just like music is. To trust an ever changing government with the preservation of any form of art is very much like trusting your 8 year old child to make your budget for the next year.
13
One only has to look at how the Detroit Institute of Arts almost lost their art only to be saved by the Grand Bargain to see that art should not be owned by the city or public.
7
Brava! You forgot to mention, in conjunction with Milania, her husband's penchant for portraits of him in tennis togs and those Time magazine covers. The latter perhaps a paean to illustration or photography celebrating Philistines.
6
I find some of the comments here to be a very of-the-moment misunderstanding of how art and artists have been funded throughout much of history. Without the patronage of the wealthy, or of wealthy institutions such as the Catholic Church, we wouldn't have much art to enjoy. How many of you complaining about wealth inequality bemoan funding cuts to the NEA, which is really just another patron, albeit tax-funded, and a convenient target for conservatives? My wife and I live about two miles from the Glenstone, and we have enjoyed it with our children and my parents multiple times. Perhaps that's why we received an email to see the expanded facility and its collections, and will be there on October 6. Simply because the museum is now receiving more national attention, and therefore the laws of supply and demand are in play, doesn't mean that this museum is a simple tax dodge. We waited patiently for ticket availability at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, along with everyone else. (And let's remember the original source of the Smithsonian's trust fund.) I think there's a little more nuance here than a simple bashing of the wealthy. I'm happy to have some of my tax dollars support art and culture, even if that's as a result of a tax break to others. I'm less happy to have my tax dollars support profligate lifestyles.
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@David
You state: "I'm happy to have some of my tax dollars support art and culture, even if that's as a result of a tax break to others."
I suspect exactly zero commenters here mind tax dollars supporting art and culture. There is however no necessary link to your second clause. Why in the world would it have to result in a tax break to the extraordinarily wealthy?
I'm very glad someone was able to view the art at the Glenstone.
As for those who support the arts with a small portion of their wealth, thank you, appreciate that.
4
@David
Is there a cafe there?
@SannityThose tax breaks incentivise the wealthy into creating public spaces like this.
Some people are happy to spend their wealth enriching the public good.
Some people are happy to do the same only because of the tax implications that come along with it.
I am okay with it when the tax break is for things like this. Corporate welfare is the real issue I have when it comes to tax breaks and funneling public money to rich people.
1
The museum sounds lovely, as are the Frick and it’s ilk, but the proliferation of private museums is also a reminder, even to those of us who love art, that we live in an age of the radically unjust distribution of wealth. They did not proliferate in the 1950s and sixties. They are fair only when high taxes on wealth insure a much more robust safety net.
25
@Kathleen James-Chakraborty- ‘radically unjust distribution of wealth’. It’s called free enterprise and it’s results are earned in various ways with great risks.
To share the spoils is just. Thank you Mr. and Mrs Rales.
I’ll be over in the Spring and hope to see foxes running the estate as they did in the grounds former years.
1
Rich Republican billionaires who don’t want to pay taxes should not be lauded no matter if they have a museum or not.
7
It’s convenient to criticize about the tax breaks or how they chose to spend their money, but much like the Broad Museum, Raleses are providing their works to the public for FREE and in an incredible venue. Based on what I’m reading it appears they are dedicated to this project rather than loosely loaning their works solely for tax breaks and to increase the work’s value.
I have no problem with private museums. Sure getting tickets will be challenging for awhile as expected in anything new. By limiting the tickets you protect the artwork and make the experience more enjoyable by limiting the crowd size. They already do this in other popular museums around the world like the Borghese Gallery in Rome (which charges a fee).
18
If we didn't have art patrons, artists could never make the fabulous art that the Rales's have collected. I was so grateful to be included in media tour today and this was a great, great experience. Please just go see it--so what if you have to wait two months.
18
It takes some pretty twisted logic to feel concern for dwindling school art programs (most likely due to inadequate funding) and then somehow see the solution as spending $200 million to expand your private art temple with very limited capacity.
The number of art teacher-years that kind of money could have paid for or subsidized is insane.
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@Carbon
Did you vote Republican in the past 50 years? If you did, then you are one of the people who has voted to cut school funding.
7
The mega-rich not paying their fair share. How American.
33
As viewers we are expected in enter into too many arenas of pretense. So we go to the Internet, away from life, Art and the art of living...moving instead towards a new form of Autism. Add to that the notion that so many great works are essentially now rendered as “bragging pieces” - rather than expressions of vitality or beauty or living Art - and you begin to see why so many altruistically inclined creative people end up getting into the restaurant business instead.
3
It would be nice if I were a 'collector' so that I could deduct the market value of contributed art. But as the artist and creator, I am only permitted to deduct the 'materials cost' of my piece of art when I donate it to a charity for fund-raising, not the market value that my paintings sell for. I'm clearly in the wrong business.
36
Oh please. "Public"? Go to their site, and you will see that there are exactly 0 available tickets for future showings.
My tax dollars are literally simply handed over to private individuals, and extraordinarily wealthy ones at that, with absolutely no benefit to me. A system built by the wealthy, for the wealthy, under the guise that a greater good for mankind is somehow served. How about they provide the funds for that service, and not foist the cost on the rest of us?
30
@Sannity - this place is most definitely public. I am not wealthy and have no connection to the Raleses; I am simply an art lover. I went there in July for the first time and it was a wonderful experience; I've been eager to tell people about it ever since. Having visited before, I received an email about the the new spaces and the date they were re-opening and was able to make a reservation before they were all booked up. The docents were polite, engaging, and knowledgeable. There was plenty of water and insect repellent made available, and clean, well-stocked restrooms. All entirely free of charge. If you'd like going to a museum and where you'll feel like you're the only one there, this place provides that feeling; made me very grateful for their approach. I hope you'll try to go when the new opening excitement dies down - I can't recommend it highly enough.
17
@Sannity
I believe if you take the local dedicated bus to the museum you will be admitted.
FROM THE WEBSITE
The Montgomery County Ride On bus makes several daily stops at Glenstone on its 301 route. Ride On passengers are guaranteed entry to Glenstone with no reservation required through the end of April. A full schedule and route is available at www.rideonbus.com.
3
Just how open is this museum? How many tickets in a block? The aerial view doesn't show much of a parking lot, if that's any indication of the kind of traffic the museum can handle. Wondering how many tickets a day would justify tax benefits to the reclusive billionaire.
13
@lostinthoughtfran - I was there in July; cars were parked along the road onto the property. Docents were there to direct us, offer umbrellas, etc. I don't know how many people the book in a day, but once you're there you can stay until closing, even if you're the first appointment.
9
The Rales should build a special exhibition space to display their tax returns and other correspondence with the IRS about using art as a tax haven.
It could be done so tastefully that Trump might be inspired to emulate it.
These people's tax returns are the real art being created.
27
These rich people need to pay their fair share of taxes. No one is fooled by their attempts to create public images of themselves as benevolent modern-day Medicis. This is tax avoidance plain and simple. As Leona Helmsley bragged, back in the eighties, "only the little people pay taxes." It remains true to this day. The artworld is complicit with maintaining this sham.
4
Art is unambiguously a commercial activity and should not enjoy any type of special tax benefits.
20
Most museums today are little more than tax-deductible storage units where the wealthy can store their art.
27
It must be hard to be a billionaire, so little time to spend it all. Sure they could pay taxes like the rest of us, but they don’t want to be like us. And so they shelter their income, moving it off shore to banks or onshore to private museums. Vast armies of accountants and lawyers enlisted to find deductions, small squads of artists to paint the fig leaves with which they can hide their fortunes behind. While the rest of us worry about mortgages and monthly bills, they have to have bigger struggles...worrying about how many hours they must open their doors up in order to appear benevolent. Thankfully, the grey lady will lend a sympathetic ear while they tell their tale.
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@Ben
Vote and change what you don't like. There are many more people like yourself than there are people like the Rales. If you don't vote then you are just as responsible as are the people who have voted in this current system and the ones leading up to it. If you vote for Make America Great Again, well Ben, you are the problem and it is only fair that you should suffer just like the rest of us under the current administration.
2
I tried to reserve a ticket to see this place, and they are fully booked for the next two months, and not taking any reservations until November, and who knows how quickly those will be snatched up. Much of the art is outdoors, so cold weather is not the ideal touring time. I'm not feeling much of a public benefit so far.
34
@Alyson Reed
Have you ever been to the Louvre? They have the Mona Lisa on display. There are so many people in that room trying to see it that there is absolutely no hope of a person in a wheelchair ever getting close enough to ever see any part of it. It is so noisy that you can not hear yourself think.
I went to Monet's garden. It is about 35 minutes from where I live now. People of all ages come by the bus loads in the spring and summer. I tried once, on crutches this time. It was gorgeous but also chaotic and loud. I was tired and hurting half way through.
We live in a crowded world hungry for something to satisfy the soul. I choose off times to go to museums and public displays. Usually at a discount. A little hot chocolate or mulled wine offset the inconvenience of a chilly day. In the winter, if there is snow, it is a different aspect of beauty and it is quiet.
9
The expansion of arts patronage in the US is a direct consequence of the preferential tax treatment laws that wealthy individuals, their foundations and corporations aggressively lobby for at the city, state, and federal level. While these professionally managed tax avoidance strategies further deplete tax funded programs, they also have an impacting relationship with how the vast majority of art institutions and artworks themselves are now governed. The list of collected and exhibiting artists becomes very familiar. All the artists in this collection are the same list of blue-chip asset class artworks one sees too much of. No real diversity, nothing actually experimental, all very economically and intellectually safe works.
And I am stunned by the artist Roni Horn's comments. How troubling to hear that Horn does not care about tax avoidance by the wealthy. And the claim that her work is not highly sought after and visible in the secondary market, is just not true. Horn's works, particularly the solid cast glass sculptures, are regularly found in collections everywhere.
57