Two particular instances come to mind where this has frustrated me. The first was in 2007 when several of us went to see the museum's exhibition: Ike Taiga and Tokuyama Gyokuran: Japanese Masters of the Brush. It was a truly exceptional exhibition studying the artistic style and influence of Taiga and Gyokuran. A piece by Tokuyama Gyokuran entitled Orchids struck me as particularly beautiful. Much to my dismay, the gift shop offered no reprints of any of the pieces from the exhibition, let alone Orchids.
Again in 2008 I visited the museum with my brother and pops for the exhibition: Transcending the Literal: Photographs by Ansel Adams from the Collection. Again, no reprints of any pieces in the collection. I didn't have any single one in mind, more I wanted just about all of them!
As the pieces that I am most attracted to are generally not the super popular ones (think van Gogh's Starry Night), it is near impossible to find reproductions anywhere. However, after doing a little more digging on the museum's website, I have discovered that you can order reproductions of just about any piece of work the museum has in its collection!
Orchids is on order as we speak. The service isn't exactly cheap, but it is definitely not expensive either. As far as I am concerned, it is certainly worth the price if you want a piece that is not reproduced. I have a feeling this is an under-utilized service by the general public. Either that or I'm an idiot and didn't know this service is common-place. Hopefully, one day, they will be able to reproduce miniatures of the sculptures in their collection. I would love to have Rodin's The Burghers of Calais.
