Bellsouth Secrets Revealed
BellSouth was one of the first communications companies in America, founded in 1879. It had monopolies in the southern part of the US, until it split up in 1984 and created other phone companies like Florida's GTE and Southwestern Bell. The company has made billions over its 126 year history, but that is not what this post is about. For five years between 1992-1997 they were a major player in video games consoles (they manufactured Sega Genesis) but that is also not what this post is about. I would like to give an insight into the BellSouth art collection, as part of a larger collection known as the "BellSouth Collection of American Art."
The company gained acclaim in the mid 90s when they built an art museum in Atlanta. The museum was used for both public and private functions, from weddings to big art opening parties. There were plans to build another wing on to the Museum, but that never came about. The Museum was closed for renovations in late 1998 and remains closed today (although there are talks about reopening it).
BellSouth had one of America's largest corporate collections of artwork including over 3,000 paintings, sculptures and post-impressionist pieces. They focused mainly on early 20th century and post-impressionist art, including pieces by Degas, Cezanne and Van Gogh. The BellSouth collection was among the first corporate art collections to be displayed publicly. BellSouth's collection was purchased for $150 million over the course of 25 years.
Many staff members were part of the initial building of the collection, but then moved onto other things like fiber optics. This lead to many more people trying to take credit for their contribution.
While most people try and build their collections quietly, BellSouth wanted to be open about their efforts. They geared the art museum towards both public and private functions and ushered in an era of corporate patronage in fine art.
Unfortunately, what followed was a series of disastrous moves that cost the company millions. Their first errors came when they sold off one of their prized pieces, "Golden Iris" by Van Gogh for $4.6 million. They then quickly purchased it back for $5 million because they thought it would be difficult to resell so soon.
BellSouth's most costly mistakes started in 1995 when they accepted a collection of 400 paintings from the University of Georgia worth around $15 million as a gift. The University had had no place to store the artwork and offered to give it to BellSouth if they would build an art museum at their headquarters in Atlanta (which they did).
BellSouth was also involved in the construction of a building in Atlanta, designed by architect Richard Meier. The building was to be filled with a mix of art from the BellSouth collection and pieces from other sources. It would have been one of the most expensive collections on display in Atlanta at $50 million.
The idea was to build pre-fab pieces in the shape of cubes, on a base that would be covered with glass in order to view the artwork underneath. The project required eight glass and steel pavilions, each housing works by different artists. The BellSouth art collection would take up just two of these Pavilions.
A piece by Van Gogh titled "The Poet's Garden at Les Vieux Arques" was part of the collection. It was to be displayed in one of the glass pavilions, with a price tag of $3 million. The artist's self-portraits were also to be displayed.
The Richard Meier project was estimated to cost $50 million, but that did not include the money for the art. It is unclear how much BellSouth spent on constructing the building for their art collection, but it was thought to be in excess of $15 million and it was all taken out of their own funds.
BellSouth was forced to put the project on hold when they were accused of fraud in connection with their sponsorship of the 1996 Olympic Games. The BellSouth collection was stored away in crates after the museum closed and has not been seen or heard from since.
The BellSouth Company also sold off some of their other corporate art collections. Two pieces, "Champion" by Robert Indiana and "Untitled (Pink)" by Jasper Johns were sold for $5 million each.
The future of BellSouth's art collection remains to be seen. There are rumors that the company still owns thousands of pieces, but will never show them again. It is rumored that the company still own some works by Van Gogh and Picasso, but are refusing to sell them.
To learn more about BellSouth's art collection, check out an article written by Matt Burt at The New York Times.
For photos of BellSouth's corporate art collection, click here.
If you have any insights into the BellSouth Collection of American Art please post it in the comments below! [ARTICLE END]
Every summer I seem to take a vacation from the blog for a couple of weeks. It could be due to the fact that I'm getting older, but there might be something else going on as well - maybe it's just stress. I took an extended vacation from photography this summer, as I seem to rarely find the time to shoot at night anymore. I'm sure it's because of my new obsession with "Night Vision" but there will be no more posts about the topic for now.
I was still able to visit a few friends over those two weeks, but mostly it was for relaxation and visiting friends. I did a little bit of research on antique cameras, and found some nice ones that would have cost me too much money if I had found them three years ago. It seems that prices are beginning to rise again as many people are looking at quality old cameras (like in the past).
I also found some intriguing old cameras in a flea market, but they were too cheap to get my interest. I'll probably buy an old camera in the future, if they are still available.
I've been a little disappointed with the lack of blog traffic over the last couple of months. I'm still encouraging people to subscribe as always and post anything good you come across. I'm sure that people are just busy and having fun during the summer months so things should pick up soon again!
I must say that the weather is looking rather nice this week, which makes me wish it would last for another month or so! It's nice to finally be able to walk around without wearing jackets and boots.
Conclusion
The BellSouth Collection of American Art is one of the biggest corporate collections of art in the United States. The collection has over 6,000 works by more than 2,000 artists in it. The collection contains some of the most important pieces of American art from the 20th century.
The company that owns BellSouth is currently struggling financially and is about to lose millions because of their bad investment decisions. Rumors have circulated for years that some pieces from their collection are still at a large corporate facility in Atlanta, but there's no evidence to support this claim.
I do hope that someone eventually comes up with enough money to buy all the works from Bellsouth and put them on display for all to see once again.