Lawrence's art collection teaches in many ways
By
Frank C. Lewis
Instructor in art history and
director of exhibitions and curator
of the Wriston Art Center
Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2007
At the Wriston Art Center Galleries, the study of works of art begins, quite
literally, even before an object is out of the box. A new acquisition is always
an exciting time for an art museum; it increases its holdings while offering
a new object for research.
For the staff of the Wriston, a new gift straight off the shipper’s truck
starts an educational journey that seldom ends. Gallery interns or members
of the art history department’s Internship in Museum
Practice course
observe and assist as the work of art is carefully uncrated, learning about
the necessity for safe packaging and the proper procedures for handling works.
Objects undergo an immediate “condition report” procedure in which
the students look for and record signs of wear and any signs of mild or potential
damage and become aware of the ways that light, temperature, and humidity can
affect objects even when stored in the most optimal of conditions. Condition
reporting also helps the students look carefully so that, even when the style
and subject matter may be new or unfamiliar, interns begin to develop sensitivity
to different mediums and the visual and surface qualities of a particular method
of execution. Documenting the piece through photography gives our students
an opportunity to discern the finest details and subtleties; magnification
of a work through the lens brings to light aspects that might otherwise be
overlooked.
Invariably, questions arise and an informal seminar situation develops in which
the curator explains the historical context of the work and the many ways in
which it contributes to both art history and to the museum’s holdings.
For example…
Last year, we were pleased to receive a gift of 51 patchboxes, or Trifles,
from late 18th-century England. This generous gift from Barbara Wriston offered
students in the Museum Studies class a wonderful opportunity for developing
skills in connoisseurship, as they compared the variety of highly detailed
images of various sites throughout England, including Brighton, Salisbury,
Knight’s Bridge, and, of course, London.
We also used the works as a springboard to discuss the increasing desire to
travel in early modern Europe; the beginnings of consumer culture, as objects
like the patchboxes started to be produced in multiples to satisfy the growing
market; and the importance of the sites for which they served as souvenirs.
When one student discovered a small silk dot, about the size of the end of
a pencil eraser, in one of the boxes, I shared with the class the functional
use of patchboxes. These small containers were used to store artificial beauty
marks that would be strategically placed to enhance the visual impact of an
individual’s eyes or lips. They were also frequently used to camouflage
smallpox scars on the face and neck.
After a chorus of “yucks” and “eeeeuws” from the students,
the conversation ranged from 18th-century notions of beauty; to the pulling
and studying of some William Hogarth prints in our collection (The
Harlot’s
Progress), which showed an 18th-century “working girl” already
marked by such scars; and finally to both Marilyn Monroe’s and Madonna’s
signature beauty marks. Thus a small item, a mere “trifle,” became
the impetus for a wide-ranging discussion of a particular culture and its history.
Early Steichen and a young Elvis
Although our holdings in photography are minimal, photography professors Julie
Lindemann and John Shimon often bring classes into the print-study room to
look at how non-photographic artists render the landscape, in order to encourage
their students to think about some of the distinct aspects of photographic
imagery.
Of particular interest is a landscape watercolor by Edward Steichen. Early
in his career as an artist, Steichen decided to devote himself to photography
and destroyed a majority of his paintings. The watercolor in our collection
is thus rare and an illuminating glimpse into the artist’s early interest
in nuance and mood.
Both professors were elated when Lawrence acquired a portfolio of photographs
of Elvis Presley taken in 1956 during a concert tour through Wisconsin, a gift
from Vinje Dahl ’62. Photography classes discussed journalistic photography;
the unique characteristic of the camera’s ability to capture a brief
moment in time; and how photography has contributed to ideas surrounding celebrity,
fame, and nostalgia. These photographs document what, for many of the students,
seemed to be almost ancient history, albeit a history that still resonates.
Impressive Expressionists
For Elizabeth Carlson, assistant professor of art and art history, the La
Vera Pohl Collection of German Expressionists is an opportunity to let students
actually handle (carefully and with gloves) prints and drawings by artists
included in major art history texts. Such direct contact with works by artists
of an almost-mythic stature excites students in ways that slides and digital
images never can.
On a day when Professor Carlson had scheduled a print-study room session for
a class in modern art, the galleries received a painting by the American surrealist
Walter Quirk as a gift from Wenda Habenicht. Staff and interns had literally
uncrated the painting that very morning, and Professor Carlson was able
to walk students through some of the stylistic characteristics of Surrealist
art, including its dreamlike and atmospheric landscape, strange hybrid creatures — half
mammal, half amoebic; and an ominous tree that resembled an atomic mushroom
cloud, certainly something much on the minds of the viewers who would have
seen the work when it was created in 1947. While the iconography of such a
work can easily be seen in reproduction, the surface characteristics of the
painting reminded students of the importance of the “object” that
informed so much of surrealist art.
Wriston on loan
The staff of the Wriston Art Galleries is committed to the idea that its holdings
are teaching collections. Any student or member of the Lawrence community
is encouraged to make an appointment and see firsthand any and every object
in our collections.
In addition to showing works in our own community, the Wriston is frequently
asked to loan some of its objects to other museums and galleries. Most recently
we loaned 19 works (17 of them from the La Vera Pohl Collection of German Expressionists)
to the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University for an
exhibition, From the Trenches to the Street: Art from Germany, 1910s-1920.
Of particular interest was Vom Totentanz Anno 1915, a portfolio of prints by
the artist Otto Wirsching, the only complete portfolio of this work known to
exist.
While we can never promise any donor that their gift will be on permanent display,
we can assure them that we can and will provide constant access. We warn visitors,
however, that visits may contain surprises and be addictive