J. Carter Brown Interview (page: 6 / 6) Director Emeritus National Gallery of Art	Print Interview

During your tenure at the National Gallery, you dramatically increased the collection, the facilities, the programming, the attendance. Can too much success be a problem?

J. Carter Brown: The so-called "success problem" is basically that you lose your privacy. People want to snip stuff off your lapels, and you feel it's undeserved, and it gets in the way. So there are trade-offs. However, as compared to the alternative, I'm not knocking it.

What gives you your greatest sense of satisfaction?

J. Carter Brown: A peak experience from the arts. Being in a concert hall, or in front of a great painting, or a work of architecture and getting that buzz and that shiver down your spine.

Retrospectively, I guess my greatest sense of satisfaction is the East Building of the National Gallery. Again: luck and timing. I was there when we had this extraordinary donor in Paul Mellon, and helped choose an extraordinary architect, I.M. Pei, with whom I worked for 10 years on this project. And to have it voted by the rank and file of the American Institute of Architects as one of the ten best American buildings of all time is rather satisfying and, people have voted with their feet. They come in there, you watch them as they enter the building, and you watch that jaw drop, and they put their finger on the name of the architect that's carved in the wall. We can't now get the oils out, we just leave it. And, people are enriched by what goes on there, and by the experience of being there. So, that does give one a certain sense of satisfaction of being a small part. I was one of a whole number of people who made that happen, but luckily I was part of it.
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Regardless of the field, what do you think are the personal characteristics that are important for achievement? For succeeding?

J. Carter Brown: The Academy of Achievement has about the best list I've ever seen, from vision and perseverance to integrity. It's hard to think of anything else. A lot of it is hard work. There are trade-offs. You have to put in the hours, but a lot of it is being sensitive to other people. There are more ways of skinning a cat than rubbing its fur the wrong way. There's no point breaking a lot of crockery unnecessarily.

What do you know now about achievement that you didn't know when you started out?

J. Carter Brown: I am deeply aware of the dimension of luck. It's so important to be prepared to receive it, but it is a major factor. There's no question.

If a young person comes to you for advice, what do you say to them?

J. Carter Brown: I think everybody has a bent, and the key is to follow that bent. So much human wastage comes from people who are doing things with their lives that they really aren't happy with. And, to recognize that it doesn't have to be a financial success to be living the most productive and rewarding kind of life. If that is your bent, go to it. It must be great fun to be a tycoon, but not everybody has that gift. And, I see so many people struggling away in law firms or brokerage houses and not really happy, waiting for the weekend when they can get out and tinker, or do what they really want to do. So, do what you really want to do. That's why God put you on this earth.
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Mr. Brown, what has the American Dream meant to you?

J. Carter Brown: I am so proud of being an American. I happen to have had a lot of forebears who also took advantage of the American Dream, starting in the 1630s, and were able to take advantage of the system and make very rewarding business decisions. But, to me it has to do with a freedom for self-realization, and that we don't have to be coerced. We have this extraordinary affluent society, fabulous resources, and one should feel that America can offer opportunity to people who really put in, and not simply take.
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We're so glad you found the time to do this. Thank you.

Well good. I'm delighted.

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