Not on View

Are museums becoming cemeteries of art?

Public museums were founded to make masterpieces accessible to everyone rather than keeping them hidden in private collections. Yet a staggering amount of their holdings remains locked away in storage—including most of Georgia O'Keeffe's work and nearly half of Pablo Picasso's oil paintings. Why is so much art kept out of sight? In this post, we unmask the reality of museum collections. (Shown here: Mary Cassatt’s "Child in a Straw Hat," currently in storage at the National Gallery of Art.)

Mary Cassatt, Child in a Straw Hat

The most common argument for keeping so many works out of sight is simply a lack of space. Yet when major museums renovate, why do they give architects the freedom to build vast, empty caverns that lead into cramped galleries? I would rather view more art than pay homage to architectural excess. Give us more Schiele and a sensible environment for displaying masterpieces. (Shown here: Egon Schiele’s "Dancer," currently in storage at the National Gallery of Art.)

Egor Schiele, The Dancer

The art you actually get to see in museums depends largely on curatorial taste. If you admire Paul Cézanne or Claude Monet, you are in luck—their works rarely stay in storage. If, on the other hand, you prefer Mark Rothko, you are out of luck: roughly 90% of his paintings remain tucked away in storage. (Shown here: Mark Rothko’s "No. 13," part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, currently not on view.)

Mark Rothko, No. 13 (White, Red on Yellow)

Artworks donated to major institutions by artists, collectors, and benefactors frequently languish in storage, whereas purchased works are far more likely to be put on display. Donors might consider gifting pieces to smaller museums instead, where they have a much better chance of being showcased for the public to enjoy. (Shown here: a work by Georgia O’Keeffe from the Brooklyn Museum collection, currently in storage.)

Museums are generally prohibited from selling works held in storage. Yet if institutions were permitted to sell even a fraction of a percent of their stored collections to other public venues, the proceeds could fund free admission forever. (Shown here: Pablo Picasso’s "Seated Woman," part of the MoMA collection, currently not on view.)

Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman

On average, museums display only about 5% of their total collections. The pieces on view are typically rotated among their most culturally significant masterpieces, while niche or less prominent works may never leave climate-controlled, darkened vaults except for conservation. (Shown here: Alexander Calder’s "Untitled," part of the Tate collection, currently not on view.)

Alexander Calder, Untitled

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in Iran holds an extraordinary collection of Western art that rarely sees the light of day, having been largely deemed degenerate following the 1979 revolution. While the museum occasionally lends select masterpieces to international institutions—such as Jackson Pollock’s iconic Mural on Red Indian Ground—works depicting nudity or homoerotic themes, like Francis Bacon’s Two Figures Lying on a Bed With Attendants, remain strictly hidden away. (Shown here: Jackson Pollock’s "Mural on Red Indian Ground" and Francis Bacon’s "Two Figures Lying on a Bed With Attendants.")

Jackson Pollock, Mural on Red Indian Ground

Francis Bacon, Two Figures Lying on a Bed With Attendants

Numbers don’t lie: Tate displays roughly 20% of its permanent collection, the Louvre shows 8%, and the Guggenheim a mere 3%. While fragile works and research-only items explain a small portion of these numbers, they cannot justify the staggering volume of art kept hidden from the public. After all, art is only truly alive when it is on view. (Shown here: Canaletto’s "Santa Maria della Salute," part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, currently not on view.)

Canaletto, Santa Maria della Salute

It is deeply humbling to be an artist. Realizing that even if you achieve success, your work may ultimately languish in a museum storage vault—perhaps never to be seen by the public again—is a daunting thought. Yet artists will always continue to create because art matters, especially in our darkest moments. Here’s hoping museums eventually stop being cemeteries of art.

The statistics in this post are drawn from a 2016 Quartz survey. While specific percentages may have shifted slightly over time, the survey remains a compelling reflection of the staggering volume of art kept off display in museum storage.