{"id":644,"date":"2009-06-04T13:49:57","date_gmt":"2009-06-04T20:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2009\/06\/the_american_historical_art_bo\/"},"modified":"2009-06-04T13:49:57","modified_gmt":"2009-06-04T20:49:57","slug":"the_american_historical_art_bo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2009\/06\/the_american_historical_art_bo.html","title":{"rendered":"The American historical art boom. Is it a bust? Not in Seattle."},"content":{"rendered":"

As Tyler Green noted today<\/a>, American historical art is popping up all over:<\/p>\n

The National Gallery<\/a>, the Met<\/a>, the Huntington<\/a> and the Nelson-Atkins <\/a>have all opened major American presentations this spring. (The Met isn’t done: Its American paintings and sculpture galleries open in 2011.)
\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Opening next year in Arkansas, Crystal Bridges (collections link here<\/a>) is sure to transform the field. <\/p>\n

In the meantime, Green wondered the following:<\/p>\n

On a morning when an American president born in Hawaii to a Muslim
\nKenyan father and a Kansasan mother is speaking about Islam, Israel and
\nthe United States at Egypt’s Cairo University, while back home a Latina
\nvisits Capitol Hill to drum up support for her landmark nomination to
\nthe Supreme Court and while New Hampshire becomes the sixth state to
\noffer state-level marriage equality, does it make sense for our art
\nmuseums to present American art galleries that present American art as
\nit might have been considered in 1935?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Really, 1935? There wasn’t a great deal of enthusiasm for historical American in 1935. Let me first say I’m happy to have a dog in this race. When the Seattle Art Museum<\/a> reopened in 2007, it was (for the first time) with an American wing<\/a>. What is old hat in this material on the East Coast is less so in the West and especially in the Northwest, where its absence has been nearly total.<\/p>\n

The problems in building these collections are dramatic. American historical art is now a big crowd pleaser. With the best material increasingly hard to come by, it’s tempting to offer second tier work from stars rather than shake up the field with first-rate work from lesser knowns. <\/p>\n

Because it apparently went for the former, Christopher Knight found the Huntington lacking, here<\/a>. So did a well-informed blogger going by the name of Los Angeles County Museum On Fire<\/i>, here<\/a>. (Who? Who knows? On the Web, nobody knows if you’re a curator at one of the institutions you deplore. Or not.)<\/p>\n

(For this topic, we need Robert Hughes back at his peak. Failing that, we can reread American Visions<\/i><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

SAM shines in the quality of what it has collected. Starting late, it came on strong with the best material. <\/p>\n


\nSAM signaled its intentions in 2005, with a small exhibit organized by
\nPatti Junker, then new curator of American art (a new position, as well): A<\/i> Quieter
\nSpirit<\/i><\/a>, featuring four paintings by Frederic Edwin Church<\/a>. It was a gem
\nfew expected to see at SAM, that has strengths in Asian, African,
\nNorthwest Coast Native American, historical European decorative,
\npost-WWII modernist and contemporary art.<\/p>\n

But 19th-century American?
\nUntil recently, SAM didn’t own enough to fill a closet, never mind a
\nsuite of galleries. For most of the museum’s history, its enthusiasm
\nfor the subject could be expressed in negative numbers.
\nWhen Mrs. Paul C. Carmichael left the museum an 1854 Church painting
\nthat had been in her family for generations, A Country Home<\/i>, her 1965
\nbequest sounded almost apologetic, as if she were hoping SAM would be
\nkind enough to shelter her ugly ducking.<\/p>\n

The museum sheltered it in storage.
\nSAM was not alone in its indifference to its country’s art history.
\nJunker says historical American art was an under-the-radar field until
\n1976, when celebrations of the nation’s bicentennial brought it new
\nprominence.<\/p>\n

America always embraced its writers. Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau,
\nHawthorne and Melville were (to greater and lesser extents) celebrated
\nin their own time, and their work has continued to grow in stature.<\/p>\n

But American painters and sculptors were blank spaces on their
\ncountry’s mental map. The greatest 19th-century figures, such as
\nWinslow Homer and Thomas Eakins, were esteemed but in a niche context:
\npretty good for Americans. Even Hudson River painters who wowed the
\nmasses with their landscapes were judged to be also-rans when compared
\nwith artists in Europe of the same period.<\/p>\n

American Impressionism? Why bother?
\nAmericans were busy building a nation. Even early in the 20th century,
\nwhen it came to our own art, we didn’t have time for it. <\/p>\n

Fast-forward to 1976. American artists had moved easily onto the
\nworld’s stage 30 years earlier, but few museums or art historians were
\nmaking major claims for all but a handful of earlier figures until
\nafter the bicentennial.
\nJunker, an art history student at the time, realized the field was ripe
\nfor reconsideration and got her master’s degree at the University of
\nMichigan because it was one of the few places in which she could focus
\non the subject.<\/p>\n

Had SAM begun collecting early American art in the 1970s, it could have
\npicked up prime material for a small fraction of its current value.
\nThanks to the bequest of the Rockefeller Collection of American Art,
\nthe M.H. de Young Memorial Museum<\/a> in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park
\nhas the best and most extensive 19th-century American art on the West
\nCoast.<\/p>\n

SAM can’t catch the de Young on quantity but is working to approach the
\nde Young on quality. Small but great is its mantra.
\nGiven its meager acquisitions budget and the soaring cost of the
\nmaterial, the ambition would be laughable were it not for a handful of
\nSeattle collectors, including Tom and Ann Barwick and Bill and Melinda
\nGates, who concentrate in the 19th century. <\/p>\n

In early 20th-century American art, there’s Jon and Mary Shirley and
\nBarney Ebsworth. Allan Kollar is the key local dealer for this
\nmaterial.
\nFew museums buy their way into prominence. They rely on the acuity of collectors who donate what museums can’t afford to
\npurchase, which is why collector care and feeding is such a crucial
\npart of a museum’s mission.
\nGood museums inspire people to become collectors and respond to the
\npassions of the collectors who are already active and collectors the museum encourages to be so. <\/p>\n

Junker’s was the first clear signal that SAM is responding to a new
\npassion in its collector base. When the time comes to donate, SAM wants
\nthese people thinking Seattle, not Washington, D.C., Boston, New York
\nor San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Soon after Tom Barwick and his late wife, Ann, began collecting in the
\n1970s, he tried to reach out to local museums. First, he went to the
\nFrye, which seemed like a natural home for his interests. Ida Kay
\nGreathouse, director at the time, was collecting 19th-century\/early
\n20th-century American art when no other area institution was
\ninterested.
\nBeing a rugged individualist, Greathouse didn’t want advice from
\nBarwick or anybody else. Backed by the Frye’s endowment ($92 million
\nbefore the crash), she didn’t need him. <\/p>\n

All would have been well had he been a yes man or she willing to hear
\nhim out. He wanted her to aim higher, and she resented it.
\n“She was frugal,” said art dealer Kollar. He said he once asked the
\ndirector of a New York gallery that regularly sold her paintings why
\nshe wasn’t getting A-list material, and the dealer told Kollar she
\ndidn’t want to pay for it. Getting a bargain by a big name was more
\nimportant than getting the best available, said Kollar.<\/p>\n

Next, Barwick approached the University of Washington’s Henry Art
\nGallery, where he got a warm reception from director Harvey West. Two
\nexhibits followed, dear to Barwick’s heart: “American Impressionism” in
\n1980 and “William Merritt Chase” in 1983, the latter opening here and
\ntraveling to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
\nAfter Richard Andrews was hired as director in 1987, Barwick knew the
\nHenry was heading in a contemporary direction. <\/p>\n

At that point, he turned to SAM.
\n“The interest of a few people can transform a museum,” said Junker.
\nBarwick is a transforming force. He made it possible for SAM to acquire
\na rare John LaFarge window at auction in New York in 1987 (Peonies
\nBlown in the Wind<\/i>, 1893-1908) and was key to the acquisition of an
\n1809 Rembrandt Peale portrait in 1989.
\nThe museum organized a Friends of American Art council in 1993,
\nspearheaded by Barwick and his wife. Quietly, SAM’s choice American
\nholdings grew: In 1990, Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Mount Rainier, Bay
\nof Tacoma — Puget Sound<\/i> from 1875, and in 2000, Albert Bierstadt’s Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast<\/i> from 1870.<\/p>\n

Both Microsoft co-founders — Bill Gates and Paul Allen — are high-end
\nart collectors, but while Allen’s holdings range widely, from tribal to
\nPost-Impressionism and contemporary, Gates is increasingly focused on
\nhistorical American material.
\nJunker refused to say whether she’d even seen Gates’ collection. (We
\nknow she hasn’t seen Allen’s. Fromer modern art curator Lisa Corrin
\nsaid, to her knowledge, no SAM curator ever has.)<\/p>\n

Business Week writer Thane Peterson mentioned a few of Gates’ purchases
\nin a 2001 article, The Art of Being Bill Gates<\/i><\/a>.
\nAccording to Peterson, Gates owns Winslow Homer’s Lost on the Grand
\nBanks<\/i> from 1898, paying $36 million for it in 1998. For Childe
\nHassam’s The Room of Flowers<\/i>, Gates paid $20 million. George Bellows’ Polo Crowd<\/i> from 1910 cost him $27.5 million, and William Merritt
\nChase’s The Nursery <\/i>from 1890 was a steal at $10 million.<\/p>\n

Gates has ties to SAM. For one thing, his stepmother, Mimi Gates, now retiring, was director for 14 years. When he gets around to donating, SAM would have to work hard
\nnot to be first on his list.
\nSince the mid-1990s, the Shirleys have been crucial SAM backers. When
\nthey choose to give away their early Calders, among other treasures,
\nSAM has every reason to be hopeful. <\/p>\n

And Barney Ebsworth, long associated with the National Gallery in
\nWashington D.C., lives here and parties with fellow SAM trustees. When
\nEbsworth’s passing art on, SAM hopes he’ll love his new friends more
\nthan his old.<\/p>\n

“Think of the money made in Seattle in the last couple of decades,”
\nsaid Kollar. “This is one of the few cities in which collectors can
\ncompete for the material if they choose, and they do. There is no
\nreason why Seattle can’t be the leading museum in this field on the
\nWest Coast.”<\/p>\n

Of the four Churches in the 205 exhibit, one (and the least significant) is owned by the Amon
\nCarter Museum<\/a> in Fort Worth, Texas. SAM owns A Country Home<\/i>, and the
\ntwo others, both masterpieces, belong to unnamed Seattle collectors.<\/p>\n

Church needed to amaze his 19th-century neighbors to get their
\nattention at all. If art wasn’t awe-inspiring, there was no reason to
\nwaste time on it, unless it was the work of an itinerant portrait
\npainter making a record of the family, or a silversmith hammering out a
\nteapot and spoons.<\/p>\n

There was practicality, and there was spectacle.
\nThe spectacle still works. Evening After a Storm<\/i>, painted in 1849 when Church was 23 years old,
\nhas orchestrated depths. A small red cabin tucked into the left-hand
\ncorner and a horizontal expanse of rocky ledge are the prelude in the
\nforeground. Against the ledge is an abandoned wheel covered in ivy, a
\npuny human effort obscured by vegetation. Look beyond it into the
\nvalley, where animals lean into light and a row of trees cast long
\nshadows. Behind the valley are mountains, distant in layers, and the
\nsky, a dark purple bruise lifting its heavy drama off the earth.<\/p>\n

In Europe, the romantic sublime was crumbling castles. In America,
\nwrote Hughes in American Visions<\/i><\/a>, it was nature. <\/p>\n

If American nature
\nwas one vast church, then landscape artists were its clergy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Tyler Green noted today, American historical art is popping up all over: The National Gallery, the Met, the Huntington and the Nelson-Atkins have all opened major American presentations this spring. (The Met isn’t done: Its American paintings and sculpture galleries open in 2011.) Opening next year in Arkansas, Crystal Bridges (collections link here) is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}