Legends Obsessed With Making Lists

Artist Adolf Konrad's packing list. (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 17:15 GMT

Now through September, the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in Washington, D.C., is exhibiting Lists: To-Dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, And Other Artists’ Enumerations, a display of lists made by legends like Picasso.

Curator Liza Kirwin says anyone who’s ever gotten satisfaction from checking off a to-do list can relate to the exhibit.

The lists give a glimpse into the personal lives of artists and document exactly what they were obsessing over at the time.

For instance, a grocery list found in painter Franz Kline’s pocket when he died proves that even the “macho” artist had chores.

Other memos include Gordon Newton’s $100 expense report for rent, food, and “bad habits,” and Adolf Conrad’s illustrated packing list of everything he needed to travel.

Kirwin dubs painter Oscar Bluemner the most compulsive list-maker because “he made lists of lists.”