美国国家公共电台 NPR 100+ Monet Masterpieces Are On View In Denver — How Did The

 

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

When you look at a painting on a museum wall, you might think about the artist and their technique. You probably don't think about what it took to get the painting on that wall. A show now at the Denver Art Museum through early February brings together more than 100 paintings by Claude Monet. And Colorado Public Radio's Stephanie Wolf tells us about the huge effort to get them all in one place.

STEPHANIE WOLF, BYLINE¹: Sarah Cucinella-McDaniel is like a travel agent for art. As Denver Art Museum's chief registrar², she booked the itineraries³ for nearly 120 Monets from more than 70 lenders around the world - museums, as well as private collectors.

SARAH CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: It is a lot. There are many, many spreadsheets.

WOLF: Her day started unexpectedly around 1:45 a.m., when one of her nine Monet shipments for the day arrived at the museum hours ahead of schedule. She takes a break from dealing⁴ with all of that - or at least she thinks she's taking a break.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: We've coordinated⁵ with the embassies at all of these countries of things that are importing.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE RINGING)

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: I thought I turned everything off.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE RINGING)

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: That is my customs broker⁶.

WOLF: Do you get to know your customs broker pretty well?

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: We are very good friends. We talk at all hours of day and night.

WOLF: The first thing Cucinella-McDaniel does in this process is convince lenders that the museum will take good care of all of these treasures because the works of Monet, an impressionist master, are worth a lot of dough⁷. This year, a painting from his "Grainstack" series sold at an auction⁸ for more than $110 million. Sotheby's says that was an auction record for an impressionist work.

The Denver Art Museum won't tell us the combined value of its show, nor how much it costs to insure, citing security reasons. That's standard, according to the American Alliance of Museums. The museum did, however, get help from a federal program that reduces insurance costs for international exhibitions.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: We work exclusively with companies that do fine art transport.

WOLF: The art travels by plane and truck, with multiple drivers taking turns at the wheel.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: So all of their drivers are trained to handle high-value goods.

WOLF: The works are packed in custom crates⁹, sometimes even double-crated, to reduce the effects of shock and vibration¹⁰. Plans can go sideways - canceled flights, bad weather, trucks breaking down.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: Scenarios¹¹ like that are a nightmare. You know, I just cringe just thinking about it.

WOLF: They might have to delay or redirect a shipment, even store it in warehouses¹² temporarily.

All of the paintings travel with couriers. In this case, it's Felicitas Klein. She came from Germany to Denver with an 1884 Monet painting of villas¹³ in the Italian town of Borgidhera (ph), never letting the art out of her sight. Klein is also a conservator. And once the painting is unboxed, she scans it with a magnifier. A group of photographers look on.

FELICITAS KLEIN: What I'm doing is comparing the outgoing condition report with now the condition of the painting after the travel. And I'm comparing the losses, the cracks, if something has changed.

WOLF: That condition report is kind of like when you rent a car, and they note all the dings before you drive off.

KLEIN: It looks good.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: OK.

KLEIN: Maybe we check the frame now.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: OK.

WOLF: The frame also fared well, a relief for everyone, including Sarah Cucinella-McDaniel, who stands nearby.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: You have images of the frame?

KLEIN: Yes. Yeah.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: OK.

WOLF: Cucinella-McDaniel says it's too easy to get caught up in the chaos¹⁴ of this job.

CUCINELLA-MCDANIEL: And forget, like, I am in the presence of a Monet that most people haven't even seen on a wall. And I'm looking at it under magnification. This is a pretty unique experience.

WOLF: The tens of thousands of people who have already been to the Denver Art Museum show can appreciate these Monets without having to travel long distances or knowing what it took to get the paintings from there to here.

For NPR News, I'm Stephanie Wolf in Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAFT PUNK'S "VERIDIS QUO")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 registrar   

n.记录员，登记员；(大学的)注册主任

参考例句：

• You can obtain the application from the registrar.你可以向注册人员索取申请书。
• The manager fired a young registrar.经理昨天解雇了一名年轻的记录员。

3 itineraries   

n.旅程，行程( itinerary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Submit weekly status reports and monthly itineraries to Region Vice President. 每周递交工作报告，每月递交工作计划给总经理。 来自互联网
• Big Ticket ItemsBig Savings-Complex international itineraries can offer opportunities for significant savings. 复杂线路节省更多：复杂的国际航线其实有更多的省钱机会。 来自互联网

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

8 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

9 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

10 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

11 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

13 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。