Talk:Ima Hogg/MFAH Correspondence

Art donated by Hogg

There are a number of images of works donated by Miss Ima on the museum’s website:

Highlights from Bayou Bend: http://www.mfah.org/collection.asp?par1=6&par2=1&par3=66&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=4&eid=&currentPage=

Also here: http://www.mfah.org/bayoubend/collection.asp?par1=1&par2=1&par3=1&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&currentPage=

This area shows some of the more than 25 period room at Bayou Bend with a few of the individual items photographed. Native American Art: http://www.mfah.org/collection.asp?par1=12&par2=1&par3=77&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=4&eid=&currentPage= Frederic Remington paintings: http://www.mfah.org/collection.asp?par1=3&par2=1&par3=37&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=4&eid=&currentPage= These were originally collected by her brother Will. They went to her when he died and she gave them to the MFAH in 1943.

Her tastes were eclectic. In 1939 she also gave the museum over 100 works on paper – drawings, watercolors and gouaches by such major European and American artists as Sargent, Cézanne, Picasso and Klee.

As far as particular pieces that were special to her, the museum’s most recent publication on Bayou Bend might be helpful to you. Published for the 50th anniversary of the gift of Bayou Bend last year, it highlights 50 pieces that Miss Ima purchased as well as 50 pieces that have been added to the collection since the estate came under the museum’s care. The book is: America’s Treasures at Bayou Bend: Celebrating Fifty Years by Michael K. Brown.

Excerpted from an email to The Fat Man Who Never Came Back from an MFAH archivist.

Elcobbola, do you know offhand in any of these images are likely PD candidates? If not, I can work on getting permissions from the Rights and Reproductions department (I have a contact there as well). Just let me know which (if any) of these images you think would make a nice addition to the article (some of them are not copyable, due to a goofy, protective web interface.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 22:35, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

There's a lot of work by Frederic Remington. As he died in 1909, all of his works should fall into PD (life of author +70 years). I can take a look at others this evening. ЭLСОВВОLД _talk 22:42, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Were the Remington works from Ima or from her brothers? Will leave the choice to you, Elcobbola -- whatever will dress up the article the best and will be the easiest to write up the image tag for. Thanks TFMWNCB !! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:46, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Spectacular. I know we already have a lot of Remington's images in Commons. I was also thinking it would be great if I could get them to release one of those interiors of Bayou Bend to us. I can work on that; which one do you folks like the best? This one?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 22:48, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Up to you ... maybe we can work in two paintings? We should aim for a unified "feel" for the article, though ... things that work with what we've got so the images aren't too ... disparate ... ??? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:49, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Okay, we'll focus on paintings for now (though, personally, I think this thing is unbelievable; and even if it was originally owned by her brother, I think it's still relevant since Miss Ima was the one who donated it) Also, would it be worth someone getting a copy of that Bayou Bend book via interlibrary loan or something--or would this research stray to far from the topic of the woman herself? How important is this subject to the article?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 22:54, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Rights and Reproductions is ready to release images to us

[To Rights and Reproductions person]:

I am an editor of Wikipedia, a multilingual project to create a complete, accurate, and open-content encyclopedia.

Some of our best writers have organized a drive to rewrite and research the article about the great Texan Ima Hogg in an attempt to elevate her article to the prestigious "featured" status level. We are near the finish line and believe that our entry on Miss Ima is among our best-written, best-organized and most thoroughly researched of all our biographical articles (special thanks to your museum's archivist Amy for assisting us in our research).

However, one thing our article still lacks are adequate images of some pieces acquired by Miss Ima and her brother. My colleagues and I are very interested in the following image of a Native American doll:

http://www.mfah.org/images/art/art336.jpg

We are also interested in any of the following Bayou Bend interiors: http://www.mfah.org/bayoubend/images/room1.jpg http://www.mfah.org/bayoubend/images/room2.jpg http://www.mfah.org/bayoubend/images/room5.jpg http://www.mfah.org/bayoubend/images/room6.jpg

Is there any way your museum can release one or more of these images for our project's use? What would acquiring such permission entail?

I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have about our project and hope to hear from you soon.

Warmest regards, [TFMWNCB's real name]

---

[Dear Fat Man]

Thank you for your message! I think this is a wonderful project and it will be nice for Miss Hogg to get the recognition that she deserves. We shouldn’t have any problems with granting your request. I’ll need a couple of things from you, however, to begin with.

The nature of your project means that there won’t be a physical presence for it, but I do need a “real” address for you so that I can send you our reproduction contract. We’ll be happy to let you use the images free-of-charge, but it is our policy to have all such requests governed by a license. If you can send me your address, we can get started. Is there any way, also, that you can send me the address and phone number of Wikipedia’s “home base”? We like to have this information in our files.

I hope this isn’t too much trouble.

Thanks!

[Rights and Reproductions Contact info]

I need help

The email above is potentially great news (I can forward it to a trusted user upon request); I think we can potentially use any of the photos above, and possibly some other ones. However, I need some advice on how to proceed from here. Should I send her the wording for some of our free licenses? Should I forward our correspondence to one of the OTRS addresses? Should I send her the Foundation's contact info? The Fat Man is not knowledgeable about such things.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 22:56, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

• Raul654 (talk · contribs) knows what to do with this sort of thing. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:12, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Do you think it's worth the effort? Basically, any of the Bayou Bend images or photos of sculptures, etc., that can be found here could potentially be donated. Would they enhance our article?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 23:18, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually ... no. I thought ... (I could be wrong) ... that from what Elcobbola said ealier somewhere else, we could just as easily download that Peale artwork we found on a website somewhere and upload it to the article, so we don't need to bother MFAH. But I could be completely wrong ?? You're triggering my Image Allergy. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:44, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Raul is higher on the Wiki totem pole than I will ever be, so I certainly second the recommendation to seek his input. My recommendation, for what it’s worth, is, if you wish to pursue obtaining these licenses, that you forward correspondence to the foundation so that they may proceed as they see fit. Involvement of a contract means real legal implications come into play. We’re neither authorized nor qualified to act as Wikipedia agents, so I suspect it would be best if our involvement ended.

To offer my own speculation, I doubt the museum would ultimately be comfortable with the relatively unrestrictive licenses we would have to offer them. A free license to Wikipedia is a free license to anyone; if the museum’s policy is such that it requires documentation and recording of those to whom license has been granted, it seems doubtful that the Wiki “model” would be compatible. The article is adequately illustrated for my taste, so perhaps it would indeed not be worth the effort. Sandy is correct in that most, perhaps all, of the images from the galleries I’ve seen are in the PD and can be uploaded without the museum’s involvement. ЭLСОВВОLД _talk 00:40, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm sure you both are right. As much as I like the wacky Native American doll and the glossy interiors, I'm sure our free substitutes are sufficient for a great article. I'll thank the museum for their time; thanks for your input.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 00:52, 28 March 2008 (UTC)