About that Kara Walker piece

If you've been to the Menil recently, you've surely seen the giant Kara Walker silhouette piece now up in the newly rehung Modern and Contemporary gallery. (If you haven't been to the Menil recently, now is a really great time to go!)

I saw a friend yesterday who works at the Menil, and I asked her what exactly the collection owns: the actual paper silhouettes? The stencil? The right to reproduce the work?

She explained that the Menil owns the stencil used to make the work; when it's removed, they don't have to preserve the thin paper attached to the wall. However, not just anyone can remake the work using the stencil. They had to get one of Walker's assistants to come to Houston to "make" the work for the space. Apparently it was a bit of a budget buster, but everyone agrees it's worth the cost to have such an amazing work on display.

Here is a similar work from Walker, if you're not familiar. This isn't the same one as at the Menil.