A Look at the Collection : Three more Crystal Bridges paintings were announced at a public event Tuesday night.
Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Photograph courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Robert Henri’s 1908 oil painting ‘ Jessica Penn in Black With White Plumes, ’ was one of three more pieces announced as part of the growing permanent collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art at a public event held Tuesday night.
As Chris Crosman, chief curator of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, dove into his presentation on the artists and stories behind the pieces of art in the museum’s permanent collection on Tuesday night, a second layer of sounds and conversation quietly moved through the Wal-Mart Community Room at the Bentonville Public Library.
It was a night to show off, in more depth, the growing permanent collection that will make Crystal Bridges one of the premier arts institutions in the world. But it was the “ ahhs, ” the “ I never made that connection before ” and even the fingers that pointed in the direction of the large projection screen that seemed to take the excitement to another level.
“ Is it common for the bottom of or a portion of a painting to be left unfinished ? ” asked one attendee during a question-and-answer session.
Another attendee wondered, “ Will there be furniture, photographs and sculpture in the collection ?”
Still another interested resident asked, “ What’s the criteria for an artist to be represented in Crystal Bridges’ collection ? ” and “ How did Alice Walton develop her expertise in this field ?”
As these and other questions were being posed — and while Crosman delivered his presentation, titled “ A Look at the Collection” — mini conversations developed among audience members. On a couple of occasions, while Crosman explained the story of agriculture in the United States portrayed in Thomas Hart Benton’s 1934 oil painting “ Ploughing It Under, ” an older gentleman leaned toward the person next to him and said, “ I remember when that was happening. ”
In a sense, that’s exactly what those responsible for building the permanent collection have been attempting to do — not only amass a thorough representation of American art, but also tell an accurate story of American history by way of visual material and stimulation. For attendees like Jerelyn Lowe of Bella Vista, that’s where the excitement existed.
“ I’m so excited, ” said Lowe, who moved to northwest Arkansas from California three years ago. “ Arkansas is going to be so well represented in the arts — and American history — from now on. This is all still such a big surprise to me. To have something like this here. To know it’s coming. I’m going to (Northwest Arkansas Community College ) right now as a student, trying to learn more about art and art history. ”
Carol Cooper, Lowe’s art instructor at NWACC, wore just as excited an expression on her face as she listened to Crosman.
“ I’m leaving here thinking, ‘ What an incredible opportunity for my students, ’” Cooper said. “ This is going to be in our backyard. You just can’t have a more valuable resource fall into your lap. I’ve been teaching art for 18 years, and for my students, this community, this region to be receiving a gift like this — it’s beyond my wildest dreams. ”
Crosman went into detail about the significance of such paintings as the historic “ Franks Family Portraits, ” George de Forest Brush’s “ The Indian and the Lily, ” Romare Bearden’s “ Sacrifice” and others, while managing to work in three more previously unannounced works that will adorn the 25, 000 square feet of gallery space scheduled to open in northeast Bentonville in 2010. Masterworks announced as part of the permanent collection on Tuesday include John Mix Stanley’s 1855 oil “ The Buffalo Hunt, ” Robert Henri’s 1908 oil “ Jessica Penn in Black With White Plumes” and Fairfield Porter’s 1963 oil “ October Interior. ”
With that, new stories were unveiled. Like how Stanley, at one point in his career, created a series of Indian portraits in the Tahlequah, Okla., area, a short distance over the neighboring Oklahoma border.
“ He was at the center of the movement out west, ” Crosman explained of Stanley. “ What we have is an artist who was very much involved in the expeditions to California, New Mexico. … He was on the route for the Union Pacific Railroad. He experienced these things firsthand. He experienced these Indians’ life on the plains. ”
Henri’s “ Jessica Penn in Black With White Plumes, ” as Crosman said, displays “ a tonal kind of essay. ” He explained that most portraits created prior to “ Jessica Penn” were societal portraits, but this 1908 oil painting portrayed a “ working girl. ”
Porter’s “ October Interior, ” on the other hand, serves as an example of an artist “ looking for the abstraction in representation and the representation in abstraction, ” Crosman said.
The questions continued to flow. And many of those questions were followed with answers that drew even more “ oohs ” and “ ahhs. ”
“ Will there be any Georgia O’Keeffes in the collection ?”
“ She’ll be well represented, ” said Bob Workman, Crystal Bridges executive director.
The answer that stirred the audience most followed the question, “ How many pieces of art will be in this collection ?”
Workman answered, “ We could fill 30, 000 square feet with (Alice Walton’s ) collection as it stands today. ”
“ As excited as so many people are about Crystal Bridges, I don’t know that it’s possible to put our arms around how big a deal this actually is, ” Lowe said. “ I really don’t. ”
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