tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25132620216000118312024-03-12T18:31:53.310-05:00Dallas Art History by Sam Blainadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-16734320306029435132014-07-07T22:15:00.001-05:002014-07-07T22:15:18.840-05:00Recently, Sam Blain had this to say about Peter Simek's article, "The Most Successful Dallas Artist Ever" (David Bates) which appeared in DMagazine.com, in February 2014:<br />
<br />
"I'm still trying to digest this article, since February...and, it's just not happening. Perhaps it's the title of the article. I realize, David Bates is getting quite a bit of press; but, to say he's the "most successful Dallas artist ever" is really stretching things. Maybe Peter Simek is able to pull this off with D Magazine, since it's a regional publication. For historical reasons, the story still doesn't play right. There have been artists in Dallas' past who have gained much more international prominence in the art world, than David Bates...which almost makes this Simek article appear to be a publicity piece, rather than an article of any historical merit. It's not fair to David Bates and his work, it's not fair to dealers representing him... and, it's certainly not fair to a quite a number of other Dallas artists...such as: Jim Brooks (pioneer member of the Abstract Expressionists), Noel Mahaffey (pioneer member of the Sharp Focus Realists), James Surls, Chapman Kelley (whose Wildflower Works projects have probably had more international press coverage than any Dallas artist in history), Everett Spruce, Bob Yarber and Alexandre Hogue. I'm happy for David Bates' success; and, I'm sure he'll even grow, stylistically, in the years to come. I think we can count on it; but, to say he's the "most successful Dallas artist ever" is absolutely delusional."adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-39173966142730740352013-12-11T19:36:00.004-06:002014-07-07T22:16:22.815-05:00UPDATE: New York Times' Roberta Smith, you were right. Case: Dallas Museum of Art's integrity drowned by money<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Council of Artists' Rights recently sent out an email UPDATE to inform and
educate the taxpaying public about U.S. public museum issues. Here's
the email:</div>
<h3>
</h3>
</div>
<br />
<h4>
UPDATE: New York Times' Roberta Smith, you were right. Case: Dallas Museum of Art's integrity drowned by money</h4>
<br />
December 2, 2013 <br />
<br />
Dear ally of artists' rights: <br />
<br />
Since launching our eblast ten days ago, we have subsequently learned that an independent third party has exposed to the world the fatal flaw in the charitable donations structure that was passed into law in 2006. That loophole in the law allowed some prominent Dallas families to sell off promised artwork that ostensibly was part of the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. <br />
<br />
Those donor families in 2005 had gifted their $400 million art collections to the DMA as a so-called "irrevocable bequest." And the following year the DMA featured 300 of those works in their museum exhibition, "<a href="http://www.dma.org/PressRoom/Archives/dma_205673" target="_blank">Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art</a>." It published a lavish catalog praising the generosity of the donors. But not long after the exhibition ended, two pieces were forever pulled from the museum's future and sold for a combined $57.2 million. Those transactions allowed private art market speculators to reap a financial windfall at the expense of U.S. taxpayers via a public museum and its secretive private partner, the Foundation for the Arts. Recently the FFA was tied to the museum in a <a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/10/after-returning-looted-antiquities-dallas-museum-of-art-scores-long-term-loan-of-etruscan-treasures/" target="_blank">DMA press release</a> when some looted antiquities were returned to Italy. <br />
<br />
Writing for Columbia Journal of Law and Arts in May of 2013, Harvard educated Alicia C. Beyer detailed the legal--but ethically untenable--charitable donation structure that was part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Beyer has since moved on to become a U.S. federal tax law expert in the private sector. <br />
<br />
On pages 481 and 482 of Beyer's analysis, <i><a href="http://www.lawandarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/3-Beyer_post-format.pdf" target="_blank">Gone but Not Forgotten: The End of Fractional Giving and the Search for Alternatives</a></i>, she wrote, "Nevertheless, museums have made some major acquisitions, demonstrating the potential of this donation structure despite its shortcomings. For example, the Dallas Art Museum recently acquired the $2.5 million Gehard Richter painting <i>Stadtbild Mü</i> jointly with two major donors. This work was a significant addition to the museum's already exceptional Richter collection, as the painting is a prime example of the influence of World War II on Richter's work." <br />
<br />
<i>Stadtbild Mü</i>, like the Jeff Koons <i>Balloon Flower (Magenta) 1995 - 2005</i>, and the Mark Rothko, <i>Untitled, 1961</i>, were part of the $400 million alleged "irrevocable bequest." All three works were included in the DMA's hefty five-pound catalog. The Koons and Rothko work got pulled from the DMA's future and sold on the private art market for $25.8 million and $31.4 million, respectively. Obviously, millions of dollars in profit went to the art collectors; because the sales were private, the names of other profiteers in that network remain in the shadows. <br />
<br />
What remains to be seen is whether or not <i>Stadtbild Mü</i>, too, gets yanked from the DMA and sold by a whole different group of art market speculators. Again, there is no guarantee this sale, and many others to follow, will not happen; these are merely temporary promised gifts accruing much financial prestige via the DMA. <br />
<br />
<br />
Beyer goes on to say, "But, unlike fractional gifts, which give the museum a property interest at the time of the initial gift, <b>promised gifts are just a promise. Thus, there is always a danger that the donor will renege on promised gifts</b>. Indeed the enforceability of a donor's promise is often an open question. While section 90 of the Restatement on Contracts provides that a charitable pledge is binding, even in the absence of consideration or reliance, many states do not follow the Restatement, leading to variability in the enforceability of those promises. <b>Furthermore, museums generally do not want to need to sue donors or their estates to enforce promises</b> (emphasis added)." <br />
<br />
<br />
So, is the tax-paying public being served by its public museum, the Dallas Museum of Art and the private Foundation for the Arts, while the museum's intransparency allows shrewd art investors to pull valuable artwork--and sell it--from the museum's "irrevocable gift" inventory? <br />
<br />
Cc:<br />
<br />
U.S. Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley via U.S. Postal Service<br />
135 Hart Senate Office Building 7013 1710 0000 4144 0117 <br />
Washington, DC 20510 Certified Mail<br />
Tel. (202) 224-3744<br />
Fax: (202) 224 6020adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-24947039101258308722013-11-24T14:06:00.000-06:002014-07-07T22:16:02.006-05:00New York Times' Roberta Smith, you were right. Case: Dallas Museum of Art's integrity drowning in money.<h3>
New York Times' Roberta Smith was right. Case: Dallas Museum of Art's integrity drowning in money.</h3>
<br />
The Council of Artists' Rights recently sent out an eblast to inform and educate the taxpaying public about U.S. public museum issues. Here's the email:<br />
<br />
November 20, 2013<br />
<br />
Dear ally of artists' rights:<br />
<br />
One can imagine Dallas arts critic Peter Simek's jaw dropping open as he read a portion of a Dallas Museum of Art press release about that museum's recent return of looted antiquities belonging to Italy. <br />
<br />
What gave Simek great pause was the DMA's acknowledgment of its joined-at-the-hip dealing with the secretive and powerful Foundation for the Arts (FFA). Reporting for D Magazine's FrontRow, in his October 31, 2013 article, "<a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/10/after-returning-looted-antiquities-dallas-museum-of-art-scores-long-term-loan-of-etruscan-treasures/" target="_blank">After Returning Looted Antiquities, Dallas </a><br />
<a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/10/after-returning-looted-antiquities-dallas-museum-of-art-scores-long-term-loan-of-etruscan-treasures/" target="_blank">Museum of Art Scores Long Term Loan of Etruscan Treasures</a>," he revealed his uneasiness with the arrangement, "...this sentence jumped out at me in the press release: 'The transfer was completed in collaboration with the Foundation for the Arts and Munger Fund, which held ownership of three of the works for the benefit of the Museum.' He continued, "...But this little detail does highlight the <br />
complications that arise when you have a private foundation acting on behalf of a public museum." So now we learn that the 50-year old FFA, an entity whose original purpose was handling contemporary art, is also involved in stolen antiquities. Altogether, the machinations of this <br />
circumspect and private group is to control the publicly-owned Dallas Museum of Art...shame, shame! <br />
<br />
The FFA. was founded in 1963 at the time of the merger between the Dallas Museum of Fine Art and the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art. Its announced goal was to hold the DMCA's small art collection independently and only until the "wedded" museums were proved successful as one unit. In the event the DMFA/DMCA merger did not work out, the FFA was to be dissolved. And everyone expected the DMCA's separate art collection to be donated to the DMFA within a short period of time. The leadership of the Friends of the DMFA, Charles Miles (then-sales executive with IBM) and Dr. Vernon Porter (then-scientific researcher with Texas Instruments) were startled to learn that in <br />
the 1970s, the FFA began soliciting monetary donations via the DMFA's annual report!<br />
<br />
Simek's long term wariness of the FFA is justified. In the 1970s, When Virgina Lazenby O'Hara mistakenly named two separate legal entities, the DMFA and the FFA as recipients of some $4.5 million Dr. Pepper stock, a lawyer of the Friends of the DMFA advised that the DMFA's fiduciary responsibility was to seek sole public ownership by the DMFA instead of jointly with the private FFA. Unfortunately for the public's interest, warnings by the local Artists Equity and the Friends of the DMFA were not heeded. Actually, the DMFA denied having any interest in the stock gift, the largest one until that time for any Dallas arts organization. An audiotape of the dishonest means of duping the Dallas city council investigation and the public's interest can be accessed <a href="https://soundcloud.com/cfar" target="_blank">here</a>. The tape was created and archived by Dallas artists' rights activists. Now fast forward a half century to the present: witnesses--those who were there--from across the country are willing and able to step forward to testify at a moment's notice about FFA shenanigans.<br />
<br />
In 2002, Christine Biederman wrote about the then-current DMA's exhibition, "European Masterworks: The Foundation for the Arts Collection at the DMA." The incisive article appeared in the Dallas Observer, titled, "<a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/2002-03-28/culture/butt-nekkid/" target="_blank">Butt Nekkid</a>," subtitled, "The DMA presents a fig leaf of an exhibition that hides little and reveals much, none of it good." In it, Biederman boldly described the FFA as a "legal fiction." <br />
<br />
In 2006 a DMA exhibition featured works culled from a 2005 "irrevocable bequest"--valued at $400 million--by three prominent Dallas families. The exhibition was barely over when the donors Rachofskys pulled their "gifted" piece, a Jeff Koons sculpture, "Balloon Flower (Magenta) 1995-2000," out of the museum's future and put it up for auction. It sold for an eye-popping $25.8 million. The artwork had been purchased in 2001 by the Rachofskys for $1.2 million. The FFA was no doubt aware of that DMA acquisition, but how much of their clout influenced the museum's decision to allow such an "irrevocable bequest" to transpire in the first place? According to page four of the <br />
exhibition's catalogue, "<a href="http://www.dma.org/PressRoom/Archives/dma_205673" target="_blank">Fast Forward: Contemporary Collections for the Dallas Museum of Art</a>"--published by the museum in conjunction with the show--regarding the Rachofsky's bequest to the museum, "Unless otherwise noted, all works illustrated in this catalogue are either partial or promised gifts to the Dallas Museum of Art or are currently in the permanent collection." "Balloon Flower" was reproduced twice in the catalog. And on page 21, in former DMA director Jack Lane's own words, "The grand utterly transforming moment came in 2005 when the...Rachofskys...joined to commit to the Museum by <b><i>irrevocable bequest</i></b> their entire collections..." (emphasis added). <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTx8BCIdlag/UpJfj-2ynMI/AAAAAAAAAmk/iIkIEIW_Qvk/s1600/balloon+flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTx8BCIdlag/UpJfj-2ynMI/AAAAAAAAAmk/iIkIEIW_Qvk/s640/balloon+flower.JPG" height="640" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balloon Flower (Magenta) 1995 - 2005 Jeff Koons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
On May 18, 2010, Michael Granberry of the Dallas Morning News surfaced the disconnect between theory and reality in his article, "<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20100517-Dallas-art-collector-s-suit-says-9300.ece" target="_blank">Dallas art collector's suit says Rothko resale violated secrecy</a>." What triggered Granberry's interest was a 2007 secret sale of a Mark Rothko work and <br />
resulting scandalous U.S. District Court lawsuit. The Rothko work, too, had been a part of the $400 million "irrevocable bequest" and featured in the DMA's "Fast Forward" exhibition. The Rothko piece fetched $31.4 million at auction.<br />
<br />
On May 23, 2010, Granberry, in his article, "<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/michael-granberry/20100523-Arts-Notes-What-does-an-1591.ece" target="_blank">What does an 'irrevocable gift' mean to DMA</a>?" jumped all over the sale of "Balloon Flower, (Magenta 1995 - 2005)" with a pointed interview about it with then-DMA director Bonnie Pitman. To say the least, the sale was a financial windfall for two art collectors, the Rachofskys.<br />
<br />
On May 25, 2010 Simek did some good analysis in his FrontRow piece,"<a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2010/05/in-wake-of-rothko-sale-questions-loom-over-2005-donations%E2%80%99-impact-on-museum%E2%80%99s-future/" target="_blank">In Wake of Rothko Sale, Questions Loom Over 2005 Donations' Impact on Museum's Future</a>." Referring to the Neo-Pop Art movement of the 1990s and with Rachofsky pulling of Koons "Balloon Flower, (Magenta)" out of the museum's future, Simek said, "The DMA is now out a significant work by a major artist." Simek raised the legitimate point about the DMA's possible future appetite for a Koons sculpture and what one might cost at that point. (Actually, a week ago a Koons "Balloon Dog (Orange) sold for $58.4 million. New York Times' Roberta Smith was spot on in her article of November 13, 2013, "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/arts/design/art-is-hard-to-see-through-the-clutter-of-dollar-signs.html?_r=1&" target="_blank">Art is Hard to See Through the Clutter of Dollar Signs</a>.") Simek ended his article with, "Again, like Granberry, I am raising questions here. Answers will require more time and space." There has been no follow up by Simek, so it is safe to conclude that his final sentence is code that screams: my <br />
bosses won't allow me to reveal the whole truth about this and the FFA.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R5eRbsXMwMs/UpJgFvy-ljI/AAAAAAAAAms/t0lFYQs6KnU/s1600/mark+rothko+untitled.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R5eRbsXMwMs/UpJgFvy-ljI/AAAAAAAAAms/t0lFYQs6KnU/s640/mark+rothko+untitled.JPG" height="640" width="546" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Untitled</i>, Mark Rothko</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
In late 2010, the introductory chapter of art historian Sam Blain's<a href="http://www.dallasarthistory.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=1" target="_blank"> Dallas Art History blog</a> raised questions about the FAA's involvement with the DMA. That blog's scope is deeper and broader in looking at the ongoing issues at the museum. Among other questions posed to the DMA, the blog weighed in about the O'Hara bequest, Blain asked, "Why is the Foundation for the Arts even allowed to exist as part of a publicly-funded institution (DMA)...considering, for this reason lone...Foundation for the Arts board member Fred Mayer's having conned Mrs. O'Hara on her deathbed into changing her will, leaving her millions of dollars to his foundation, rather than the DMFA (her original <br />
intention)?" <br />
<br />
Once the Council of Artists' Rights (CFAR) became aware of the museum's search to replace outgoing DMA director Bonnie Pitman, on May 11, 2011, we sent an eblast, "<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/69924836/Part-II-U-S-Art-Museums-Must-Follow-This-Leader" target="_blank">Part" - U.S. Art Museums Must Follow This Leader</a>," which also targeted contacts at the DMA and its search committee. The note strongly recommended for them to add then-Indianapolis Museum of art director Maxwell Anderson as a search committee member. We never imagined the best scenario in which Anderson would accept the DMA directorship. On hindsight, that was an uncanny "call to action" that CFAR made to the DMA's headhunters! <br />
<br />
And Immediately after Anderson assumed the directorship at the DMA in 2012, a small group of local visual artists requested a "meeting of support" with him. That meeting reached fruition in January of 2013. The overarching purpose of it was to express their solid backing of Anderson. The FFA was among the topics discussed. Anderson received a handout copy about the meeting's structure which consisted of <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/186761969/DMA-Meeting-Outline-20131121" target="_blank">A Clear View: The Case for DMA Transparency and its Future</a>, a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/186761011/DMA-Meeting-Presentation-Synopsis" target="_blank">Presentation Synopsis</a>, and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/186760117/DMA-Meeting-Attendee-Bios" target="_blank">Participant Biographies</a>.<br />
<br />
As recently as February 6, 2013, Simek brought up the issue of transparency at the DMA in an interview with Anderson that appeared in D Magazine called, "<a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/02/interview-maxwell-anderson-on-turkey-art-exchange-the-arts-district-and-the-market-part-3/" target="_blank">Interview: Maxwell Anderson on Turkey, Art Exchange, the Arts District, and the Market (Part 3</a>)." Citing examples of ethically questionable behavior by the DMA, such as how it allowed a Rothko painting, an "irrevocable gift," to secretly leave the museum and which later fetched $31.4 million at auction. Simek challenged Anderson. Anderson's reply was that he is comfortable with the concept, which he characterizes as "a new model." But what exactly is the "new model?" Museum staff and savvy contributors know that only a very tiny fraction of offered artwork will ever become part of a museum's permanent collection. And what of the federal income tax deduction angle and the implications for the well-heeled donors of the several hundred million dollar bequest? Are the museum and the tax-paying public being taken advantage of by three prominent Dallas families? And what of the families with lesser means, who cannot reap tax deductions of the magnitude of those who are better off financially? Is the general public being forced to make up paying the difference of such wealthier <br />
donors who take mammoth federal income tax deductions? Is the DMA giving select patrons a license to steal?<br />
<br />
Anderson's "new model" posture does not dovetail well with his previous declarations about how art museums should be run as when he detailed the guidelines in his wonderful paper, the well worth reading "<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/186753696/A-Clear-View-the-Case-for-Museum-Transparency" target="_blank">A Clear View: The Case for Museum Transparency</a>." <br />
<br />
A strong negatively-tinged perception of the DMA is born out of repeated missteps by it; that the FFA was aware and knowingly participated in the "looted antiquities" transactions. Successive generations of DMA museum trustees have allowed such a blemished culture to flourish for 50 years. <b><i>And it is such a culture that is on track to thrive into the foreseeable future</i></b>.<br />
<br />
So, in a nutshell, does the FFA call the museum policy shots behind closed doors, or is it the DMA director? Should the DMA board of trustees immediately sever its ties to the FFA? It is these and other questions which begin to percolate whenever another DMA "questionable behavior" item makes headlines. <br />
<br />
It is well known that U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has in the past championed <a href="http://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact/Whistleblowers.cfm" target="_blank">investigations</a> into the operations of 501(c)(3)nonprofit organizations like the DMA. In a recent press release Grassley delineated some of his goals, "That to-do list includes my efforts to ensure the nation's tax laws strengthen Americans' longstanding tradition of charitable giving and protect taxpayers from subsidizing wrongdoers who misuse nonprofits for their own good."<br />
<br />
What will Sen. Grassley do with all this evidence and testimony about a private foundation's 50-year run of power and influence over a public museum?<br />
<br />
Cc:<br />
Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley via U.S. Postal Service<br />
135 Hart Senate Office Building 7008 1140 0000 7276 0265<br />
Washington, DC 20510 Certified Mail<br />
Tel. (202) 224-3744<br />
Fax: (202) 224 6020<br />
<br />
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adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-27257415160140403342013-05-05T19:38:00.000-05:002013-12-17T11:12:34.844-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 14 In 1983 my extensive land and aerial survey of Chicago revealed a large area at the south end of Chicago’s lakefront Grant Park that appeared to show some promise for a noncommissioned Chicago Wildflower Works site. I was disheartened to learn that area was heavily used during the warm months by the general public and police for softball games. The next site was the final choice, Daley Bicentennial Plaza, at the north end of the park. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-01CZofDGAlg/UgWXiURcHqI/AAAAAAAAAhs/wWvtug3mOcE/s1600/chapman+kelley+cherrypicker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-01CZofDGAlg/UgWXiURcHqI/AAAAAAAAAhs/wWvtug3mOcE/s640/chapman+kelley+cherrypicker.JPG" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The noncommissioned Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 - 2004, looking north, Randolph Street in the distance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I drew up several possible plans for the site. The Chicago Park District and I settled on a diptych of ellipses, like many of my paintings. However, instead of being side by side, they were end to end, each ellipse being 150’ x 310’. The CPD issued a permanent permit for CWW on December 23, 1983. In 1983 and 1984, range scientist Dr. Thomas Jefferson Allen and I spent much time studying nearby Illinois prairies which helped us to select the dicotyledons or flowering plants for CWW. Eventually we learned that Ron Iverson was in the Illinois native plant business. I was convinced that he was the go-to guy for what I needed. He furnished us with soil plugs each containing six to twelve seedlings. According to my blueprint instructions, a professional crew planted 350,000 plugs (it took five full greenhouses to grow them) of Iverson perennials during the fall 1984 – spring 1985 season. The blueprint also specified soil treatment. However, when the seedlings became recognizable, some proved not to be native species. Fortunately, the “bad” plants quickly diminished from CWW. The alternative of using soil plugs instead of wildflower seeds cost me a few hundred thousand dollars more. Actually, cost was never an issue because artist Christo had inspired me after I learned that he self-funded his massive artwork. I had known him and Jeanne-Claude since the early 1970s. And right after Christo installed his Colorado “Valley Curtain” I was invited to spend an evening with both artists. During the 1980s the iconic duo traveled to cities in the U.S. By coincidence I crossed paths with them in several cities. In 1984 I worked at adjoining tables and created CWW lithographs at the Jack Lemmon Print Shop in Chicago. My admiration for Christo’s originality and talent only grew. He personally invited me to Paris, France to see his work, The Pont-Neuf Wrapped. Because I was committed to stay and work on CWW, I declined the invitation.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5b4oNcDjdw/UgWYwpUGC7I/AAAAAAAAAh8/HzB9gNKu3NI/s1600/chapman+kelley+cww+figures.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5b4oNcDjdw/UgWYwpUGC7I/AAAAAAAAAh8/HzB9gNKu3NI/s640/chapman+kelley+cww+figures.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 - 2004, looking south, Buckingham Fountain is in the distance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So by using seeds to create the Dallas Museum of Natural History Wildflower Works, I consider it to have been a great success that yielded a potpourri of colors. I could see future applications using seeds or seedling soil plugs or a combination. (In my complaint against the CPD to protect my artist’s rights, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals basically said that I was not the creator or author of CWW; that the wildflower seeds themselves created CWW instead of me! Those seeds were certainly secretive little buggers, weren’t they?)<br />
<br />
The many tenants of the surrounding commercial and residential buildings had great views of the Plaza. The nearby 400 E. Randolph Street building was home to some of our most ardent volunteers and supporters. The CWW was in effect their “front yard.” Working alongside the much appreciated help of over 100 volunteers, we maintained the CWW across more than 20 years. During that time the CWW cost the Chicago Park District virtually nothing. As a matter of fact, using the conservative amount of $5.00 per square foot, the CWW saved the CPD somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,600,000.00 across two decades! The amount does not include 15 years of tap water savings due to the CWW requiring only rainwater. In 2000 I requested the CPD to permanently disconnect the water supply to stop water leakage. The request was immediately honored. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2APhgkhbC8/UgWpFWggDqI/AAAAAAAAAiU/edIZyY_IM3k/s1600/chapman+kelley+white+blooms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2APhgkhbC8/UgWpFWggDqI/AAAAAAAAAiU/edIZyY_IM3k/s640/chapman+kelley+white+blooms.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The noncommissioned Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 - 2004, white blooms</td></tr>
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As part of a public relations thrust the CPD organized a luncheon at the Daley Bicentennial Plaza field house. My watercolor painting of the park--a panoramic capturing many of the surrounding downtown Chicago buildings—and a professionally prepared scale model with CWW in place, were central to the event. Dignitaries attending the luncheon included Bonnie Swearingen. Her husband, bank executive and oil tycoon, John could glance out of his office window to take in a superb view of CWW. Bonnie and John were instrumental in convincing me to move from Dallas, TX to Chicago to install CWW. Fatefully, also in attendance were members of the Friends of the Park, who were archenemies of the CPD and its then-superintendent Ed Kelly (no relation to me). I was impressed with the CPD’s openness in inviting them. <br />
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I began a tour of slide presentations and lectures to better inform the public and generate support for the CWW, including the following:<br />
1984 – American Society of Landscape Architects, Illinois Chapter (they sent a commendation to the Chicago Park District)<br />
March 7-8, 1985 - School of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m39ObHWg3wg/UgWomZLG78I/AAAAAAAAAiQ/tUytY155Hz0/s1600/chapman+kelley+cww+lake+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m39ObHWg3wg/UgWomZLG78I/AAAAAAAAAiQ/tUytY155Hz0/s640/chapman+kelley+cww+lake+view.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 - 2004, lake view</td></tr>
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April 2, 1985 - Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts<br />
April 3, 1985 – School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston<br />
April 24, 1985 – Buckingham Plaza, Chicago<br />
May 14, 1985 – Harbor Point, Condo Association Board and members, Chicago<br />
June 4, 1985 – 400 E. Randolph Street Building, Chicago<br />
August 8, 1985 – Midwest Institute of Park Executives<br />
September 24, 1985 – School of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois, visiting from Champaign-Urbana<br />
October 24, 1985 - Seventh International Conference on Urban Design, co-sponsored by The Institute for Urban Design in cooperation with the City of Chicago Department of Planning <br />
1986 - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, “Blooming Celebrations.” major fundraiser<br />
1985 - New England Wildflower Society<br />
1988 - School of Art and Architecture, Yale University<br />
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There were many other slide shows presented to various civic and garden clubs. The word began to spread about CWW. For example, on June 20, 1985, the New York Times published its “Flowers as Art in a Chicago Park.” Coincidentally, the same day the Christian Science Monitor published a front page article about CWW.<br />
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I was invited to make a special trip to show my slide presentation at a Friends of the Park board meeting at the Sears Tower (since renamed Willis Tower). FOP director Erma Tranter allowed me only five minutes for my presentation; the rest of the meeting was devoted to discussing how to bring the CPD and Ed Kelly to court to have him deposed. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-trCDoBwKp2M/UgWrgWdUW0I/AAAAAAAAAik/GRAH2NlOHCU/s1600/chapman+kelley+cww+overview.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-trCDoBwKp2M/UgWrgWdUW0I/AAAAAAAAAik/GRAH2NlOHCU/s640/chapman+kelley+cww+overview.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The noncommissioned Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 - 2004, overview</td></tr>
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After the meeting, attorney Alexander Polikoff (lead attorney in the landmark U.S. civil rights case Gautreaux et al. v. Chicago Housing Authority) asked me to allow his wife Barbara to interview me for a Chicago Magazine article. Barbara’s write up appeared in the July 1985 issue titled, Chapman Kelley’s Wild Idea. It was a very complementary piece, with full color illustration of CWW across two pages. However, the remaining article was a blatant attack on CPD superintendent Ed Kelly and the CPD; it was a most unfortunate political beginning. FOP and the “lakefront liberals” had successfully kept Richard M. Daley from becoming mayor of Chicago. Instead they supported mayors Jane Byrne and later, Harold Washington. The Polikoff family was very nice to me. During my extended hospital stay over the December holidays, they visited me and brought homemade cake. I met the entire family. They had me meet a group that was eager to see Chicago host another World’s Fair. <br />
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Co-founders of the FOP were Jim and Joanne Alter, (Joanne, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Sanitary District and formerly with the Water Reclamation District), and Lois Weisberg (served six years as head of Mayor Harold Washington’s Office of Special Events), and Walter Netsch, who possessed an egomaniacal personality and was on the staff of a major architectural firm in Chicago. Netsch, being somewhat of an art collector, had made himself look ridiculous by organizing an exhibition of his own paintings, something that is virtually unheard of in the profession. Lois Weisberg wished to create and distribute posters and banners throughout Chicago promoting CWW. She let it be known that Ed Kelly and the CPD approved her effort. However, we later learned that Weisberg had not received approval from either one. This signaled the beginning of the struggle for the FOP to gain control of CWW. It was not unlike the power grab of what had happened to me in Austin, TX and Dallas, TX. People in all three cities sought to exploit my concept by calling it their own idea.<br />
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The CPD refused to cooperate with Weisberg. Instead, they demonstrated a streak of bold independence by using two banners designed by me that were flown high and mighty in tandem with American flags at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-70614763328430477562013-01-10T20:25:00.000-06:002013-01-10T20:26:31.001-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 13<br />
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Transitions</div>
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After my Chicago Wildflower Works had begun its glorious blossoming in the mid-1980s, garnering great attention and commendations, some new gallerists in Dallas asked me to return there to give a photo slide show and talk of it. Their businesses were located on Fairmount St., as was my atelier. My wife Joan forewarned me that a very good male friend of ours would have a message for me at that event. Other than Joseph Hirshhorn, this friend was the most knowledgeable contemporary art collector I have known.<br />
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The friend did come forward with a message; it was that Dallas arts patron Margaret McDermott had told him that she had so missed the long talks that she and I used to have. He was to ask me to give Margaret a phone call the next time I was in town. My reply to him was that it was my friends who were “pushing up daisies” and that Margaret had “made her bed and would have to lay in it.” I well knew that this phone call invitation by Margaret could mean only one thing: it would be a tacit agreement to keep my mouth shut about her behavior. In return for my silence I would be handsomely compensated by Margaret to <em>again</em> become the best known and richest painter in Dallas—and probably anywhere else.<br />
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My reference to deceased friends was to those specifically who had killed themselves. One very good friend who committed suicide was considered by gallerist Ralph Kahn to be the best contemporary fine art collector in Dallas. The other suicide was a very promising young painter whose father was a board member of the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. Both deaths were largely attributed to the behavior of museum staff and board. In the last phone call from the art collector who took his life, he apologized to me for ending his public support of my work and those of other artists. He said that he feared retaliation from his wide network of Dallas business and social connections if he continued with our professional relationship. A different person, a very rich man whose family’s contemporary art collection is probably still the best in Dallas, told me that it was fortunate that his source of income came from outside of Dallas or that he too would not have been able to support my work.<br />
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In 1977, just after my Dallas/Ft. Worth Wildflower Works had begun blossoming and after a very successful exhibit at my atelier, I found myself in the fortunate position to save two other dear friends from committing suicide. These two friends shared a commonality with the prior two suicides: the Dallas Museum of Fine Art and its behavior. My counseling effort was all that the latter two friends needed to carry on. I sought no compensation during the time that I helped them. As a matter of fact, so intense was that period of my life that I made no paintings or drawings for an entire year.<br />
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My Wildflower Works offers a practical and aesthetically pleasing solution to humankind’s greatest problem: the growing scarcity of a drinkable water supply. However, some people in Dallas, Austin, and Chicago continue to hide, keep silent or spread negativity about the decades-long success of Wildflower Works. For example, then-director Jack Robinson of the Dallas Parks and Recreation District reneged on his promise to me to file an application to the Hoblitzelle Foundation to fund an exhibition designed by me that would benefit the Dallas Museum of Natural History and the National Wildflower Research Center (NWRC). Robinson went on to order the destruction of the Wildflower Works in Dallas despite an agreement to respect it.<br />
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When I sought to inform the NWRC about Robinson’s negative behavior (Robinson was an NWRC member at the time), executive committee officer Nash Castro refused to discuss it. The subsequent and unexpected firing of NWRC range scientist Dr. Thomas Allen signaled that organization’s radical change. The destruction of the WW, no follow up discussion of it and the Allen firing pointed to the change of NWRC’s original mission from a research-based entity to a clearinghouse of others’ research. This was all very odd because former first lady Lady Bird Johnson wrote a personal letter to me stating “…<em>you are the real pioneer</em>…”of the Wildflower Works, the model for NWRC.<br />
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In the early blossoming of the Chicago Wildflower Works we were led to expect the Smithsonian Magazine to publish an article on it. <br />
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Instead, I received a phone call from an out-of-state photographer asking me to meet him in Chicago. We met at the CWW site where he asked me if I personally knew of Lady Bird Johnson, her lawyer and accountant. I told him yes that I had met all three. He went on to say that while on assignment in Houston he met up with Lady Bird who invited him to Austin. He said that she entertained him royally and filled him with stories of the great plans for the NWRC. Wasn’t it ironic that the nearly identical description of the future of NWRC—floral beauty not requiring any tap water—was what he and I were staring at, the CWW? What puzzled him about his meeting with Lady Bird was that she made no mention of me, zero. I countered the photographer’s information gap of my work by furnishing him with evidence of the Wildflower Works predating the NWRC by at least seven years and my involvement with the intimate planning of the NWRC!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhB57FB5H6o/UOpGGcE1TGI/AAAAAAAAAdU/7nWn7Za0fUY/s1600/chapma+kelley+the+meeting+dallas+lady+bird+j.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhB57FB5H6o/UOpGGcE1TGI/AAAAAAAAAdU/7nWn7Za0fUY/s640/chapma+kelley+the+meeting+dallas+lady+bird+j.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laurence Rockefeller, Lady Bird Johnson and Chapman Kelley at planning meeting for the National Wildflower Research Center. Photo courtesy C. Kelley</td></tr>
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So he arranged for National Geographic Magazine to send a photographer and interviewer (twice) to Chicago to flesh out the CWW. For that photo shoot, the Chicago Park District furnished cherry picker-style equipment to enable some high-angle images, one image is below, to be taken for the following year’s National Geographic spring article. <br />
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Lady Bird was keenly aware of the very successful CWW which range scientest Dr. Thomas J. Allen and I had produced <u>solely</u> at my expense.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KZ43QM24Cek/UOuSjsOF1vI/AAAAAAAAAe8/KgtXDO9JUWs/s1600/ck+candoman+lady+bird+johnso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="560" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KZ43QM24Cek/UOuSjsOF1vI/AAAAAAAAAe8/KgtXDO9JUWs/s640/ck+candoman+lady+bird+johnso.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Personal letter from Lady Bird Johnson to C. Kelley "...you are indeed a 'can do' man."</td></tr>
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In the spring of 1986 National Geographic postponed their CWW article until 1987 so that it would not appear to be a “me too” piece like the Smithsonian’s planned write-up of the NWRC piece (which was not on CWW as planned). By the next spring the National Geographic article on CWW had instead morphed into one on the NWRC! We have since learned that for many years Lady Bird Johnson was a trustee with National Geographic. As a result of Lady Bird’s cozy relationship with National Geographic is it any wonder that the article on CWW never materialized? Spouses of politicians do reap rewards outside of office.<br />
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In 1988, after the Chicago Park District agreed to an out of court settlement in a 1st Amendment lawsuit in which I was the sole plaintiff forced to protect my Chicago Wildflower Works as "free speech," a freelance writer was engaged to do a story for Chicago Magazine about my work. When Chicago socialite Hope McCormick and oil tycoon wife Bonnie Swearingen learned of the “hatchet job” the article was launching, they refused to be interviewed for it. It was their way of casting a vote against the magazine’s hypocrisy: the magazine had previously published much positivity about the CWW. And when the magazine reporter got in contact with Dallas arts patron Margaret McDermott, she replied that she <em><u>may</u></em> have purchased something from me. That had to be the understatement of the century! Had she forgotten that I was largely the sole curator of her personal art collection or that she had purchased an early still life of mine from Atelier Chapman Kelley? Margaret failed to tell the reporter that she had bought and donated one of my “poplar series” works to the El Centro College and a large wildflower painting for the office of the Dallas Medical Center School’s top administrator. She also donated the work of other Texas artists that she purchased from my atelier for other Dallas city colleges. Furthermore, she purchased from my atelier original works by Arp, Henry Moore and Rodin. On top of that I had presented Margaret’s husband Gene with a framed painting of my work of his favorite cottonwood tree at their “farm” country home. The painting was moved to his room as he succumbed to illness. Some stranger…that Margaret. It’s strange as to why she would continue to fund the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center especially after it dropped “Research” from its title. Conducting plant research and publishing the results was the original purpose of the Center. One has to wonder if Lady Bird knew in advance that the site would eventually become only a personal monument erected at taxpayer’s expense; donors could list NWRC/LBJWC tax-exempt contributions as charitable deductions on their federal income tax returns. <br />
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It’s worth repeating that WW was overwhelmingly accepted by the general public as a stunning floral display. It yielded continuous blossoming across three seasons. During the winter what remained was sculptural beauty. WW thrived on rainwater, used no tap water, insecticides or fertilizer. From an environmental and ecological perspective it conserved precious tap water which city and suburban front laws, airports and other areas guzzle without end. Extrapolating this important water conservation aspect to local, state, national and international uses, one can immediately appreciate and understand the benefit to humanity.<br />
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Upcoming Memoir chapters will reveal efforts by others—that have taken place since my permanent return to Texas in 2006—to keep influential Dallas groups from knowing of the proven success of the Wildflower Works. I have learned that the Dallas arts blacklist is active and influential, just like decades ago, only more intense. Unfortunately for me, it has adversely affected my life as an art professional.<br />
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Since the beginning people have attempted to usurp my Wildflower Works concept; and in the dead of winter 2011, three appellate court justices in Chicago actually cobbled together a legal barrier to my <u>authorship</u> of it! More on that astonishing decision later. adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-80207067967681831462012-08-14T20:03:00.000-05:002012-08-16T19:55:58.422-05:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 12<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> An irrefutable track record of local
state and national publicity across many years, of what countless others have
said about my </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wildflower Works</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> concept (1976 to present) via their
correspondence and other documentation, the many meetings I conducted with my
slide shows, and of course my work in watercolor, oil and drawings and much
more is what directly influenced Lady Bird Johnson to establish the National
Wildflower Research Center (since renamed Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). In the years leading up to her decision to make the
NWRC a reality, what follows is a tiny sample of selected correspondence
coupled with a compelling narrative that underscores my assertion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> The November 1980 issue of <span style="color: magenta;">ARTnews</span> featured an article about my new medium for painting, <i>Wildflower Works</i>, with a photo of yours truly.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqqgF_dS48Y/UChcFIXkGzI/AAAAAAAAAZU/kJKha5YHBH8/s1600/andy+warhol.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqqgF_dS48Y/UChcFIXkGzI/AAAAAAAAAZU/kJKha5YHBH8/s640/andy+warhol.JPG" width="522" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The November 1980 issue of ARTnews featured an article about the new medium for painting, Wildflower Works. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Jim Street, Public Information
Officer of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport issued a three page press release
dated April 11, 1977, heaping praise on the Airport’s Wildflower Works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Robert Mac Doty, Director of the
Akron Art Institute wrote a letter dated April 19, 1977 saying, “…innovative,
delightful and lots of other adjectives for your divine new work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Again from Jim Street of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, penned a letter dated May 1, 1978, “…you have made a real
contribution to the Airport and I thank you for it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> The Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Board of Directors received a letter written by the Texas Wildflower Protection Society dated May 10, 1979, commending the <i>Wildflower Works</i>, “You are very fortunate to have such an ambitious, intelligent designer and artist as Chapman Kelley working with you.”</span>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yMut-iwl1-0/UCmfsOUsTDI/AAAAAAAAAac/_0h0uwjQvXA/s1600/chapnan+3+docs+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yMut-iwl1-0/UCmfsOUsTDI/AAAAAAAAAac/_0h0uwjQvXA/s640/chapnan+3+docs+4.JPG" width="510" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Again from Robert Mac Doty, this time
as the Director of the Currier Gallery of Art, wrote a letter dated December
18, 1979 saying, “<u>…the piece [news media article] didn’t mention all the good
work you did to support contemporary art and artists in Dallas. So there is a lot of the Chapman Kelley story
still untold</u>.” (emphasis added)</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-954aXMnzgas/UCmhrkqgbnI/AAAAAAAAAak/I0TvYbAZJOc/s1600/chapman+austin+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-954aXMnzgas/UCmhrkqgbnI/AAAAAAAAAak/I0TvYbAZJOc/s640/chapman+austin+2.JPG" width="442" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> It was not a total surprise when I
received a handwritten note with very encouraging comments from Lady Bird
Johnson dated June 2, 1980. Notably, this was <b><i>more than two
years</i></b> prior to the opening of the National Wildflower
Research Center in December of 1982.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfpnm6NF0BI/UCmjPY_fvKI/AAAAAAAAAas/cLHrKPUFS4g/s1600/chapman+austin+l.+b.+6.2.80.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfpnm6NF0BI/UCmjPY_fvKI/AAAAAAAAAas/cLHrKPUFS4g/s640/chapman+austin+l.+b.+6.2.80.JPG" width="450" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Louise Perry (spouse of E. Gordon
Perry Jr.) President of the Dallas Garden Club forwarded a copy to me of a
formal resolution in 1980 which states in part, "...the Dallas Garden Club
endorses the efforts of Chapman Kelley to plant wildflowers in public places
and does hereby encourage other such organizations, groups and municipalities
to commend and assist Mr. Kelley in this endeavor."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfSXU28ZAtCKrxGA816tO7f_I_pThYI246roaoX_qnbIE2G9JJK43EThyphenhyphenTW2msBX8yLxpgU2kfI3Ze_KjDKQOw4Hg_QblEIAL0shArZHGyIB7TRzgZpayNQMLmqvxDv9wBfi8FlPCfMhN/s1600/chapman+austin+resolution.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfSXU28ZAtCKrxGA816tO7f_I_pThYI246roaoX_qnbIE2G9JJK43EThyphenhyphenTW2msBX8yLxpgU2kfI3Ze_KjDKQOw4Hg_QblEIAL0shArZHGyIB7TRzgZpayNQMLmqvxDv9wBfi8FlPCfMhN/s640/chapman+austin+resolution.JPG" width="484" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Jack W. Robinson, Director of Dallas
Parks and Recreation wrote a letter dated August 18, 1980 confirming that a
resolution has been passed by the Dallas Garden Club for "...beautifying
open spaces in Dallas through wildflower plantings...it is most gratifying to
have the support of influential citizens in such an important community
project."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DNX5ZP2IVBI/UCmmwhp0xzI/AAAAAAAAAbM/BK8JFqlC52k/s1600/chapman+austin+8.18.80.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DNX5ZP2IVBI/UCmmwhp0xzI/AAAAAAAAAbM/BK8JFqlC52k/s640/chapman+austin+8.18.80.JPG" width="514" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Jane Scholl of the Smithsonian
Magazine in Washington D.C. wrote a letter dated April 6, 1981 informing me,
among other things, that just one more editor (of several editors) needed to
come on board so an article could be written about the <i>Wildflower Works</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bmyh3nTY5UE/UCmnyLlbSpI/AAAAAAAAAbU/gL1l3HIvjnI/s1600/chapman+austin+scholl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bmyh3nTY5UE/UCmnyLlbSpI/AAAAAAAAAbU/gL1l3HIvjnI/s640/chapman+austin+scholl.JPG" width="448" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> George Philip Huey Jr., Dallas Parks
and Recreation Assistant Director of Maintenance and Beautification penned a
letter dated May 21, 1981 saying the Dallas Museum of Natural
History/Wildflower Works "...can give us the impetus for more of the same
in other parts of town."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6QF_cjedPwhcp8p-zCkzwOFE823cLoPgLP7J5IoFr-ix_ZUBlNXaMaQcC1CuEdXW28t8P8s70s7YyClimdBewm3eFO3oG1CItUoN8_9x7YTsA-BxwZIcV-8QlwX-6-uhDXJvXZe84Yps/s1600/chapman+austin+p.+huey.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6QF_cjedPwhcp8p-zCkzwOFE823cLoPgLP7J5IoFr-ix_ZUBlNXaMaQcC1CuEdXW28t8P8s70s7YyClimdBewm3eFO3oG1CItUoN8_9x7YTsA-BxwZIcV-8QlwX-6-uhDXJvXZe84Yps/s640/chapman+austin+p.+huey.JPG" width="568" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Clyde D. Walton, landscape architect
with the state of Maine Department of Transportation wrote a letter dated
August 4, 1981 informing me that my broadcast commentary with Craig for Maine Public
Radio "...came off well..." and requested a Wildflower Works catalog
for Maine Governor Joseph E. Brennan and several others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3hYkRxjsMOw/UCmpTzua_YI/AAAAAAAAAbk/Hwsld2EfSi0/s1600/chapman+austin+clyde+d.+walton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3hYkRxjsMOw/UCmpTzua_YI/AAAAAAAAAbk/Hwsld2EfSi0/s640/chapman+austin+clyde+d.+walton.JPG" width="538" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Eddie C. Hueston, Superintendent of
Dallas Park Maintenance, wrote a letter dated September 24, 1981 saying, “Chuck
Finsley of the Dallas Museum of Natural History and Al Naugh of the [Dallas]
school system are meeting with us…to determine a site for the continuing study
of bluebonnet germination. This ‘spin off’ from the original <i>Wildflower Works</i>
is another cooperative effort we are happy to participate in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5HDnucuQtX4/UCmqDfqr8nI/AAAAAAAAAbs/cXQYpuOQpk8/s1600/chapman+austin+e.c.+hueston.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5HDnucuQtX4/UCmqDfqr8nI/AAAAAAAAAbs/cXQYpuOQpk8/s640/chapman+austin+e.c.+hueston.JPG" width="612" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> So Lady Bird Johnson was keenly aware
of my previous years' success as evidenced above, which began as early as 1976
and with the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport Wildflower Works and later the Dallas
Museum of Natural History/Wildflower Works.
In her heart she knew that the future NWRC would not fly without my
hands-on participation and top-tier guidance. She phoned her best friend Patsy
Steves of San Antonio, TX to have her ask me to approve and participate in the
steering of the future NWRC, which I did.
To feel most comfortable about the situation Lady Bird insisted that I
become a member of the NWRC's board of directors, executive committee and head
of the education committee and I did so.
What I brought to the NWRC was concept and plans for its beginning,
middle and long term viability. It was
something no one else had ever done or was capable of doing. I would soon regret my decision to get
involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Soon after coming on board I
recommended that the NWRC hire range scientist Dr. Thomas Jefferson Allen. Because Allen was at the time an employee
with the Texas Highway Department, we sought their approval prior to the hire
and they saw no problem. In the wake of
Dr. Allen becoming one of the staff, a meeting at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall,
Texas was convened to hear my <i>Wildflower Works</i> presentation which was that it
was the underpinning and driving force of the NWRC. The meeting included Laurence S. Rockefeller
(of the prominent Rockefeller family) and his wife Mary, and Nash Castro,
General Manager of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission of New Jersey. Rockefeller’s interest in the <i>Wildflower
Works</i> concept was stoked by that presentation.
After he left the Ranch it dawned
on him that he had an important follow-up question for me. Because Rockefeller
and Castro had attended my lecture at the same time, and after several months
had passed, Rockefeller asked Castro to refresh his memory. Castro felt that he could not answer
Laurence's query with authority. So Castro followed up with a letter to me
dated August 12, 1982 telling of his recent meeting with Rockefeller and his
question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ1gp4LKjDQ/UCmr98MBhlI/AAAAAAAAAb0/LaOfYoR7Pog/s1600/chapman+austin+n.c.+8.12.82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ1gp4LKjDQ/UCmr98MBhlI/AAAAAAAAAb0/LaOfYoR7Pog/s640/chapman+austin+n.c.+8.12.82.JPG" width="590" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The two-page letter I wrote seven
days later to Nash Castro dated August 19, 1982 clearly answered Rockefeller’s
question about how and why my <i>Wildflower Works</i> concept could solve the world’s
lack of potable water. We proved that
the <i>Wildflower Works</i> was acceptable to the general public, that it thrived
solely on rainwater, used no fertilizers or insecticides and bloomed
sequentially through three seasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k04xJ8YhqOk/UCms8__i3uI/AAAAAAAAAb8/2MgB67z-1Oc/s1600/chapman+austin+c.k.+8.19.82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k04xJ8YhqOk/UCms8__i3uI/AAAAAAAAAb8/2MgB67z-1Oc/s640/chapman+austin+c.k.+8.19.82.JPG" width="508" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_x-jz_X2uQ/UCmt85ekFZI/AAAAAAAAAcE/V_nkZeHFFSY/s1600/chapman+austin+c.k.+8.19.82+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_x-jz_X2uQ/UCmt85ekFZI/AAAAAAAAAcE/V_nkZeHFFSY/s640/chapman+austin+c.k.+8.19.82+2.JPG" width="428" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> And seven days later Nash Castro
penned a letter to Laurence Rockefeller dated August 26, 1982. In the correspondence Castro tells
Rockefeller, “I think his [Chapman Kelley's] statistics are rather impressive.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTi0xJ1L_uA/UCmu3nj4URI/AAAAAAAAAcM/WNwFl9A89gY/s1600/chapman+austin+n.c.+8.26.82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTi0xJ1L_uA/UCmu3nj4URI/AAAAAAAAAcM/WNwFl9A89gY/s640/chapman+austin+n.c.+8.26.82.JPG" width="638" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> As a result of my LBJ Ranch
presentation and Nash Castro's "middleman" role to help resolve
Laurence Rockefeller's concern, everyone was delighted to learn that Laurence
promised to make a donation to the NWRC of somewhere in the $250,000 range;
Margaret McDermott contributed $25,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Realizing that my use of a new medium
for painting, that of using wildflowers, coupled with its massive water-saving
properties constituted a major arts/science breakthrough and with just 40 days
remaining until the official opening of the NWRC, Lady Bird Johnson penned a
letter to me dated November 12, 1982. <b><i>"You are
the real pioneer!"</i> </b>she hand-wrote at the end
of her two-page letter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J7Df78Gb9fM/UCmvwfszX3I/AAAAAAAAAcU/qB4VJ3KvqVY/s1600/chapman+austin+l.b.+11.12.82.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J7Df78Gb9fM/UCmvwfszX3I/AAAAAAAAAcU/qB4VJ3KvqVY/s640/chapman+austin+l.b.+11.12.82.JPG" width="484" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fo5u6Ju-qg4/UCmw4mFJ9vI/AAAAAAAAAcc/Xus38wlZcf4/s1600/chapman+austin+l.b.+11.12.82.+2JPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="608" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fo5u6Ju-qg4/UCmw4mFJ9vI/AAAAAAAAAcc/Xus38wlZcf4/s640/chapman+austin+l.b.+11.12.82.+2JPG.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> On December 21, 1982, the evening
before the NWRC opening, Candice Land, Bonnie Leslie and my spouse Joan
accompanied me for an event with the NWRC's board of directors. The event was
organized, sponsored and paid in full by yours truly. Lady Bird was scheduled to attend. She was a no show. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The NWRC's official opening date was by design December 22, which marked Lady Bird's 70th birthday. One NWRC
board member who attended was socialite Bonnie Swearingen, wife of oil tycoon
John. Bonnie and I became friends as a result of her attending my art classes
in 1962 in Corpus Christi and where my work was shown at the Centennial Museum.
She and John became collectors of my work.
They convinced Joan and me go up to Chicago for several fundraisers,
across some years, at the Chicago chapter of the Boys and Girls Club they were
supporting. I contributed some paintings
to the events. In the fall of 1977 I was the Swearingen's guest and through
them I met Chicago mayor Michael Bilandic for the first time. That trip evolved into a press interview
about the <i>Wildflower Works</i>. All of this happened <b><i>a solid five years</i></b> before the establishment of the NWRC. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> After the birthday party for Lady
Bird, Bonnie and John came to our suite to see my slide show which included the
Dallas Museum of Natural History Wildflower Works and that showed the obvious
progress through 1977. It was on this
occasion that both of them invited me to come to Chicago to do a great work! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The morning after the opening,
December 23, 1982, I learned that a superintendent with the Dallas Parks and
Recreation had been added, at the last minute, to the NWRC board of directors
and executive committee. Alarmed at the unscheduled and unannounced change, I
phoned art collector Olga Hirshhorn for advice.
She told me to get an explanation from Lady Bird. I immediately scheduled a meeting with
her. Instead it turned out to be a
meeting held much later, probably the following month, and surprisingly only
with Lady Bird’s accountant and a lawyer.
That was certainly irregular and twice that I know of that Lady Bird had
skipped out of a commitment. At some
point I took parliamentarian Mary Jo Shotts with me to one of the NWRC
executive committee meetings; she was to furnish advice on meeting protocol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Much to my surprise I Iearned from
Texas Highway Department of Transportation landscape architect Craig Steffans
that Lady Bird had spoken with Dallas arts patron Margaret McDermott. Steffans conveyed to me that McDermott had
told Lady Bird that I had sued "her" (McDermott's) museum, the Dallas
Museum of Fine Art. McDermott was
referring to the 1975 class action lawsuit that advocated for Dallas' public
interest---an interest which unfortunately had no prior legal
representation---as part of the disputed Virginia Lazenby O'Hara $4.5 million
in Dr. Pepper stock shares bequest to the Foundation for the Arts (an ongoing
private entity) and the DMFA. I feared
that McDermott’s talk with Lady Bird had infected her with the blacklist and
that Lady Bird and her cohorts would
seek to eliminate me from the NWRC project. That would leave only one person to get
credit for my "big idea" of 1976, i.e. the <i>Wildflower Works</i>: Lady Bird Johnson. And I'm sure that McDermott desperately
didn't want me to continue receiving credit for this important arts and science
solution to the world's greatest future problem: managing the water supply. As
evidence of McDermott taking an adversarial position against Dallas' public
interest, at one NWRC executive meeting I played the audiotape for Lady Bird's
lawyer and accountant of the Dallas City Council hearings of the contested
Virginia Lazenby O'Hara $4.5 million bequest involving the DMFA; they heard
McDermott's testimony. (The audiotape hotlink and narrative is accessible <a href="http://www.dallasarthistory.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=1">here</a> in
the last paragraph of art historian Sam Blain's Dallas Art History Blog.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Within days of the NWRC opening
ceremonies I learned that it had been decided for NWRC to instead become a
clearinghouse to publish the results of others' research without NWRC actually
incurring the expense and risk of doing the hands-on work. I suspected that a ruse had taken place not
unlike the classical bait and switch ploy and that the hard research work would
never get done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">The NWRC was originally to be located in East Texas where Lady Bird had lived as a child.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> It was never made public as to why the NWRC
original site got switched to Austin suffice to say the new
site was located under Lady Bird's radio station towers and on land unusable
for almost anything else. The new NWRC
site was most likely used to favorable advantage on Lady Bird's federal income
tax return.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> At some point Lady Bird and I were
invited to jointly give a <i>Wildflower Works </i>presentation in Louisiana, we
accepted--but instead of keeping the commitment she sent a staff person as a
replacement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Since the purpose of the NWRC sprung
directly from and all about doing the research related to my <i>Wildflower Works</i>
concept, during one executive committee meeting I brought up the fact that a
current NWRC board member had ordered the Dallas Museum of Natural History/Wildflower Works be destroyed despite having a written agreement to the
contrary. Board member Nash Castro
responded by saying members could not discuss other member's business. The board member ended up doing a stint in
prison for unlawful sexual behavior while in a Dallas public park men's
room. The scandal was reported by the
Dallas newspapers. I felt that I had hit
the proverbial stone wall and so I had architect Peter Block pick me up from
the meeting. I declined a lunch
invitation from Lady Bird and never returned to another NWRC committee meeting.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> In the spring of 1983 the Allen's and
I were at the LBJ Ranch for a barbeque where Nash Castro, then-President of the
NWRC asked Dr. Allen for his resignation.
Of course Allen was now expendable to NWRC, but that freed him up to
work with me on the <i><a href="http://www.chapmankelley.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=9918&Akey=JLBDK6W2">Chicago Wildflower Works</a></i>, hurrah! Allen was a retired Texas A&M professor
so the lost income meant little to him.
Being such a kind and conscientious person, Allen would not have engaged
in double-dipping anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> So the initial aim of the National
Wildflower Research Center was to provide the scientific support for what range
scientist Thomas Jefferson Allen described as a new vegetative management
system based on my <i>Wildflower Works</i> concept.
The millions of dollars raised for the NWRC were expected to be used for <b><i>research</i></b>. That is how the project was
advertised and planned. Everyone I knew
expected that Lady Bird's name would eventually be incorporated into the
Center's name, but why in the world would "research" be dropped from
it? What happened? Had the NWRC's mission changed so radically?
Had Lady Bird and her handlers schemed behind the scenes to create an
organization using my "big idea" to raise lots of funds, then change
the entity's name, and eventually establish a memorial called Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center? Or had the Internal
Revenue Service intervened after receiving a tip that no research or
publication of such was forthcoming in NWRC’s new role as a clearinghouse? The IRS may have asked the NWRC for
evidence of plant research, and having not gotten any, forced the Center to
amend its name to reflect reality: the
gross lack of research activity. By
shifting the purpose and focus of the NWRC did Lady Bird and her minions dupe
Laurence S. Rockefeller, his wife Mary, Margaret McDermott and all of the other
initial contributors out of their donated cash?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> *******</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> These memoirs are a work in progress. Please submit information you may have to refresh my memory. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">Note: With the exception of the news media images, all of the above is my copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span><br />
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adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-60496892287318571622012-07-22T16:20:00.000-05:002012-08-18T19:54:24.191-05:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 11<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the early 1970s I was a delegate at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations or UNESCO, 16th Conference on the Environment, held in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Houston</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state></city></place>. The experience caused me to be more aware and empathetic about world-wide problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In March of 1976 at my Saturday art critique I challenged attendees with the proposition, "What would you do if you were able to do anything in the world?" After each student had been called on they turned the question back to me. By this time I was used to the conscious use of intuition that I had learned from author, inventor and futurist R. Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller at the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Illinois</placename></placetype></place> symposium called "Matrix for the Arts," in 1967 where I was a participant. The result of this learning had already brought me opportunities such as creating the Dallas-based art school the Northwood Institute, the Free University at Lee Park and the training of high school students in the arts as part of Mayor John Erik Jonsson's "Goals for <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place>" initiative. Once in a while I'd have the opportunity to share the following experience with others in my studio. I'd tell them how I had been travelling with my clients in their private planes. I suddenly realized that I could transpose both figuratively and metaphorically the flat concrete roads and runways of the new Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport with the nonfigurative elements of my paintings. The airport's general oval drainage areas among the runways were bordered with black top asphalt which mirrored the bands around the ellipses in my work; the only thing remaining was to install actual wildflowers in place of painted ones. Because of my close association with Françoise Gilot, Dr. Jonas Salk and Fuller's tutelage I realized the environmental benefits of cultivating wildflowers to an exacting new level, coupled with gaining the public's approval of a new aesthetic and replace the still-current preference for residential and commercial water-guzzling green lawns, that we should no longer tolerate because of the worldwide water crisis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> If wildflower cultivation and research could be pursued as I indicated, I predicted that unrealized food, fuel, fiber and medicines would be found which could allow for the easy development of the common uses of native plants in landscaping resulting in a marriage of the arts and sciences benefiting and bringing together humankind and nature in a vibrant working relationship. Everyone was rather flabbergasted at the possibilities of my D/FW Airport Wildflower Works. There was an immediate demand that I pursue the concept because with the support of those present, between 20 and 30 people, the idea might be discussed and either ignored, suppressed or misused by others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> So I went to <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place> acting mayor Adeline Harrison and she sent me to the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport board to share the idea. I offered to pay the entire cost of the wildflower seeds, which I did. The airport board assigned to me the airport's central area—four miles with 300 feet between the roadways. Johnny Pate was in charge of helping develop the seeding and entirely responsible for the upkeep. An offshoot idea was to harvest the seeds from the seed heads the following season and to sell them to anyone interested. The income generated from selling the seeds, tote bags and tee shirts, etc. to commission new works of art by other artists in a beautification effort for the Dallas/FW Airport. This was all previously documented and agreed upon between the airport board of directors and myself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The concept and effort gained immediate attention and garnered publicity around the <place w:st="on"><country -region="-region" w:st="on">U.S.</country></place> Subsequently, many lectures and honors came my way. Airport officials were shy about the premature media fanfare and wanted to wait until the following spring blossoming. Several tons of <i>lupinus texensis</i>, known as the Texas' state flower the bluebonnet, would by then have been sowed along with several hundred pounds of <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">phlox drummondii</span></i>, otherwise known as red flax, scarlet flax and crimson flax. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> To make my vision for the airport's wildflowers tangible, through the winter I painted watercolors madly—85 of them in 125 days! They were related to my earlier works as wells as the <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place>/Ft. Worth Wildflower Works. Historian Sam Blain and my assistant Candice Land began creating a catalog announcing this new dimension in the arts. The widely-considered great American collectors of art, Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn, who already owned my work and had gifted a diptych painting to President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird, allowed a comment to be published in the catalog. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> On April 22, 1977 Joan and I were Lady Bird's house guests. I was Lady Bird's dinner partner at a large event honoring biographer Robert Caro and his wife Ina. He took on the responsibility of writing four books about Lyndon B. Johnson. Caro has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> I had taken some of the watercolors and discussed the Dallas/Ft.Worth Wildflower Works concept with Lady Bird, Mr. and Mrs. Preston Jones, he a famous <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Texas</state></place> playwright and Fleur Cowles the morning of the 23rd. (Two decades later the October 1996 issue of Vanity Fair had this to say about Cowles, "...legendary American expatriate, editor, writer, painter, hostess, and philanthropist, is publishing her memoir and "The Best of Flair," an opulent anthology of the dazzling, short-lived magazine that galvanized the literati in the early 1950s.") Lady Bird had encouraged the Texas Highway Department to use wildflowers on its highways; they had done so since 1929 after a superintendent realized the beauty and reduced mowing costs. However, Lady Bird said that to her knowledge no one had ever been able to deliberately cultivate them and unless our team succeeded it was just an empty dream. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In the spring some early mowing took place. Those plants that had been seeded and that were not destroyed by the early mowing began to make an excellent beginning. The art world and news media had a field day reporting on the blooms. The resulting exhibition of my related watercolors was a huge success. I was invited to give presentations, which I did, such as for the <a href="http://pubsindex.trb.org/view.aspx?id=173316"><span id="goog_1842664061"></span>Transportation Research Board</a> <span id="goog_1842664062"></span>(national) at </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">two venues, <city w:st="on">San Antonio</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state> and <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Orono</city>, <state w:st="on">Maine</state></city></place>. Art News published a nice story on my new medium. In 1979 the Texas Highway Department hired range scientist Dr. Thomas Jefferson Allen to set up the department to develop better more dependable plantings along many more highways in <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Texas</state></place>. <span style="color: black;">As a result of this</span> I began to be a "regular" at the LBJ Ranch. You will recall that in the early 1970s I was President Lyndon B. Johnson's <b><i>last</i></b> visitor when I delivered the diptych painting and unexpectedly spent the entire day, one on one, spontaneously discussing his legacy; 36 hours later he was dead. I made a series of what were to be the final photos of a living LBJ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> I met Dr. Allen at a symposium attended by many people who worked out of offices in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Washington</city>, <state w:st="on">D.C.</state></place> and elsewhere. From that day on Dr. Allen and I were joined in mutual effort like Siamese twins; we were this way until his death. His professionalism as a range scientist and his impeccable integrity were the key aspects to our success.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> Of course I was doing test plantings at my gallery on Fairmount St. and at my homes in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Highland Park</city></place> and Turtle Creek. Unfortunately for us, Johnny Pate and his boss at the D/FW Airport abandoned ship. The replacement boss was a retired military officer. He wanted the airport grounds clipped close like the haircut of a new military recruit. Thus the D/FW Wildflower Works petered out without explanation.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> I don't expect that we will ever gain any hard evidence that the Dallas Museum of Fine Art's (since renamed Dallas Museum of Art) blacklist had anything to do with the D/FW Wildflower Works demise. However, the occurrences of the museum's and others' efforts to negatively affect the careers of several <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place> artists will be forthcoming in this memoir. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The good that came from this experience with the D/FW Wildflower Works is that we proved that cultivation was possible. One mistake (we learn from these too) was not to have the outside general maintenance component under my control. Another misstep was to expect expensive aerial photography to convey the color density and saturation after only one year of a growth cycle; Life Magazine staff had expressed a keen interest in such images. Another error was not accepting the beautiful Lorraine Haacke, art critic with the Dallas Times Herald, to do a Wildflower Works cover story for Braniff International Airways' in-flight magazine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, not understanding how complex the planning and development of outside grounds maintenance would be was a setback; it happened before I met Dr. Allen in 1979.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport Wildflower Works and Braniff International Airlines passenger jet</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In April of 1980 I was approached by Walt Davis curator at the Dallas Museum of Natural History and later by its director Lou Gore about having a retrospective exhibit of my paintings at the museum. They also expressed a keen interest in my installing a Wildflower Works which would surround that museum building. Walt had become familiar with my work after visiting my gallery in 1979. I shared the proposal with Dr. Allen and when he volunteered his guidance we accepted the offer. At some point during all of this Dr. Allen suffered a heart attack. Amazingly, he was subsequently able to be a full partner in the choice of plant materials and related matters for the creation of the DMNH/Wildflower Works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> Walt told me that the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, literally next door, would have to be purposely misled by outdoor signage during the autumn and winter announcing the event. The bogus signage was necessary because we knew that the DMFA was determined to stop me and any other Dallas painter or sculptor from having any important recognition—such as what I once had in Dallas—that could be garnered independent of the DMFA. In fact, this Wildflower Works exhibition and the related artist recognition by the public was why the DMNH would be able to gain free beneficial publicity and foot traffic that natural history museums rarely received; such publicity was the norm for art museums. The museum staff knew that if the DMFA had learned of the show beforehand they would have somehow interfered because it was no secret that the DMFA had lots more clout with city and landlord park district officials. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> We plunged into making an ambitious catalog and series of lithographs relating to the show. Botanist David Block regularly inspected the progress of our plantings even through the winter. I was disappointed that the DMHN did not contribute anything to the catalog. It would not even accept my cousin Eula Nelms (Mrs. Horace) $10,000 contribution. She intended on taking a federal income tax deduction for her donation. I considered the DMNH's refusal to accept the donation to be a very bad sign! However, I believe that the museum did contribute something to the grand dinner opening party which was catered by my chef son Cole and his wife Lisa. Blossom and Brad Horton were also an integral part of the culinary team. The event was a great success.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The exhibition and DMNH/Wildflower Works installation succeeded as planned. Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn came to see the show. Kenny and John Pickens hosted a dinner party for out-of-town guests which included folks from both <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country> coasts. Susan Horton hosted a Sunday brunch for visitors in a setting that surrounded everyone with her extensive collection of my work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The DMNH and its staff had not had such a high level of attention before; as a result they extended the exhibit and Wildflower Works through the next year. I was honored when they asked me to plan a traveling exhibit with them. On weekends bus loads of school age children came for tours. Some of them sent back color drawings in testament to the tours I had conducted. News of the exhibit naturally spilled into the museum's surrounding residential area. The young neighborhood children became our docents. Each was given an official Wildflower Works ribbon to wear. I don't know if the children adopted us but we had wonderful times and enjoyed enhanced community relations with the neighborhood. The museum was affiliated with a local high school club. The club installed a bee hive in a museum window and did interesting experiments. However, their test plots, for which we had furnished seeds, weren't consistently tended and yielded less than satisfactory results.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volunteers/docents and botanist wearing official Dallas Museum of Natural Histroy Wildflower Works ribbons circa 1980</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> Walt Davis and Lou Gore were invited to give a presentation about the museum's participation in the Wildflower Works at the annual American Association of Museums convention in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Philadelphia</city> <state w:st="on">PA.</state></place> For that event I donated 450 DMNH/Wildflower Works catalogs that were snapped up by collectors/attendees even before Gore arrived! Their talk drew a standing room only audience and as a result they were asked to repeat the presentation. Obviously flattered by the request, they gladly did so. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M3T0foYxTy0/UAxqxRDcjuI/AAAAAAAAAYU/xHnf5IXZOUA/s1600/8813269-R01-009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="432" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M3T0foYxTy0/UAxqxRDcjuI/AAAAAAAAAYU/xHnf5IXZOUA/s640/8813269-R01-009.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gounds of the Dallas Museum of Natural History - Wildflower Works</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> DMFA museum director Harry Parker must have crawled back to Dallas under the bellies of snakes from the embarrassment of having a natural history museum next door have such a big hit exhibition by a local Dallas painter, yours truly, and unfortunately for the Dallas art scene, the target of a DMFA blacklist. This is where the trouble began; remember, in the power center that is downtown <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>, the DMFA clearly had much more clout than the DMNH.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> I had a scale model made for a "portable" room and exhibition for the proposed traveling exhibit. I brought along the model when Walt Davis took me to visit the director of the Hoblitzelle Foundation. Established by Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle in 1942 the foundation makes grants to social service, educational, medical, and other organizations in <state w:st="on">Texas</state>, especially in the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> area. The purpose of our visit was to explore funding for my traveling exhibit. The Hoblitzelle director's son, who happened to be a pilot at the D/FW Airport, said that his fellow pilots created an informal lottery to pick the day the airport's wildflowers would blossom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The DMNH was given an exceptionally long time frame to submit its application for a grant. The Hoblitzelle director personally held open the deadline to file, he did so several times. I realized that in all likelihood the DMFA had intervened and killed the prospect. Sometime around 5:30 p.m. I phoned the mayor about it; he was an executive of Tom Thumb food stores. We arranged to have breakfast the following morning. Since the mayor knew that I headed the campaign to preserve <place w:st="on">Oak Lawn</place> and particularly the community where my gallery on Fairmount St. was located, (currently the prosperous Uptown area) he thought our meeting was about a neighborhood preservation issue. When I explained how the DMNH had inexplicably balked and missed some application filing deadlines and my suspicion about the DMFA's intervention, he put the director of the park board in touch with me. The park board was the landlord of the parcels used by the DMFA and DMNH. The director's first report was that the DMNH would submit the grant proposal immediately. He promised that if it didn't happen then he would personally provide it. Eventually nothing was ever done. You will hear more of this gentleman, who was also on the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">National</placename> <placename w:st="on">Wildflower</placename> <placename w:st="on">Works</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Center</placetype></place> executive committee and about how he was sentenced to a prison term for unlawful behavior in a public park men’s room. The incident was reported by the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> newspapers.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> By now Robert Caro's first book on President Lyndon B. Johnson had been published. As a direct result of LBJ's "insider" connections forged from a career in state and national politics, Caro pointed out in his book that although LBJ was a most capable politician, LBJ had conducted personal business transactions that caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised. Choosing to increase the <country -region="-region" w:st="on">U.S.</country> involvement in Vietnam War overshadowed LBJ being remembered as being among the greatest of <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country> presidents based on the congressional enactment of his domestic policies. LBJ's political career was flawed only because of his decision to escalate the Vietnam War. The legacy of subsequent American presidents is similarly tarnished for not heeding President Dwight Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex. To offset Caro's sometimes negative content about her husband's personal profit-making deals, Lady Bird sought to create some upbeat publicity hoping to diffuse that unflattering material made public by Caro. And can you guess what Lady Bird chose to do? She had her best friend Patsy Steves of <city w:st="on">San Antonio</city>, <state w:st="on">TX</state> ask yours truly to approve and participate in a newly created organization, the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">National</placename> <placename w:st="on">Wildflower</placename> Research <placetype w:st="on">Center</placetype></place>, which was to conduct the necessary research to fully develop the public use of the technical vegetative management system that would result from my Wildflower Works! However, it was foolish of me to agree to participate. I should have known how politics can be played whereby people exploit minds and divert funds for their own benefit. It would have been so much the better for me to have politely declined Lady Bird's offer and instead develop a Wildflower Works entirely on my own. I would have long ago published the findings and recouped my initial monetary investment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In 1979 I had another successful exhibit at my atelier. National recognition flowed for the Wildflower Works concept. If I may say so, my beautifully redone gallery received lots of compliments as did the Lambert house which had a lawn of wildflowers on Turtle Creek Boulevard. My lawn at the gallery prospered--wildflowers were present spring summer and fall with a lawn full of bluebonnets in green rosette stage through winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike my work, I learned that there were a number of professional and amateur self-styled experts who had "nothing to show" regarding their project's sequential blooming across three seasons of the year.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> I was travelling about to learn whatever possible about cultivating wildflowers. I gladly presented lots of slide shows at no cost to attendees. However, I sensed that there seemed to be an unlikely possibility for another "<city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>" Wildflower Works. At this juncture I was further convinced that I had become a target of a Dallas Museum of Fine Art blacklist and because I was such an integral part of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> art scene, the blacklist doomed the future of that, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> It was very gratifying to have both the respect and support of so many here in Dallas who could see the importance of the work of art in the community, the world at large as well as the water conservation aspect of the concept. However, the efforts by the DMFA to enforce their censorship of all artists in the community through fear demonstrated their reckless cruelty as well as their historic foolhardiness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In this case the eagerness of the DMNH to enhance its reputation through sharing the related publicity generated by this traveling Wildflower Works exhibition was soon brought to a halt. The project was likely stymied by the more powerful DMFA. The result was that the Wildflower Works was destroyed by being cut back against a specific written agreement and the funding of the traveling exhibit of my work never materialized.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> As you may know, a blacklist is insidious and obviously unjust. It is illegal punishment for independent souls who believe that we have in fact the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Blacklisting is conveyed through innuendo, libel and a negative "whispering campaign" in order to frighten others. It hopes to deprive its targets of their right to freedom of expression. It seeks to dominate a community of people and have them accept the will of those with power. It strives to make the warning, "YOU MAY BE NEXT!" a cornerstone of its effort.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The other disastrous effect of the blacklisting was that my financial portfolio at the First National Bank in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> was purposefully misplaced. How could this possibly happen while the bank proudly displayed so much of my work and for such a long time? For example, my "Nine Poplars" painting hung on the most conspicuous bank wall in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>. It was hung under a skylight in the bank officers’ formal reception area surrounded by private dining rooms where VIP clients were made to feel pampered and comfortable. Only well-heeled clients visited the bank's ninth floor where bank officer's suites were located; that's where my paintings were in the offices of the chairman of board and top tier vice-presidents. R. H. Stewart III, who headed First National Bank in <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> since 1959, and his wife Cynthia, who was my pal, art student and tennis partner had been among my most ardent supporters since I arrived in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> in the 1950s. Their home was full of my paintings. Their daughter, like others such as Mary McDermott, was sent to counsel with me. Being perceived as a serious painter signaled a caring and idealistic human who young people of that age, those of the 1960s, could trust. If I may say so, such personal characteristics were confirmed by the larger society and well demonstrated by my pivotal role in the creation of the highly popular Free University at Lee Park in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> The public example made by the blacklisting of this leading painter, art dealer, art teacher and<b> </b>fortunate art collector was that I went from having my own bank officer chosen and assigned personally by R.H. Stewart III to handle my financial consultations and portfolio, to subsequently being relegated to visiting an under-the-street pedway booth for my banking needs. The "underground" banking person had no real authority and was not even aware of my bank account or that it had been "demoted" and reassigned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> In pursuing the by now widely-acclaimed Wildflower Works concept, of course my expenses grew exponentially. To continue, the only option I had was to sell the most valuable objects of my personal collection such as original works by Alexander Calder, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Henry Moore, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. I sold them for far less than their worth and risked the viability of my real estate holdings. The benefactors of these sales were some of my best clients, resulting in disastrous consequences for me. Soon I was forced with the double dealings of supposedly respectable clients and friends but also the efforts of others who wished to actually claim credit for the Wildflower Works concept. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> It is ironic that <city w:st="on">Austin</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state> storyteller and radio show host John Henry Faulk (who became my friend via <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> arts patron and promoter Bonnie Leslie) and famous playwright James Maxwell Anderson were also blacklisted in the 1950s. The blacklisted <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Anderson</place></city> is the grandfather of our new art museum director and well-documented champion of museum reform, Maxwell L. Anderson. Faulk with his attorney Louis Nizer beat the architect of that blacklist campaign against him, U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy and his backers, in a federal court libel lawsuit. A jury awarded to Faulk three times in damages beyond the amount he had requested. As a result Faulk went on to become a famous First Amendment lecturer and wrote a book about his blacklisting experience called "Fear on Trial." The book was adapted for CBS television. Ironically, CBS had ended Faulk's broadcasting career in the mid 1950s after bowing to pressure from blacklisters. You will learn more in a near future memoir chapter about my 1980s First Amendment "victory" lawsuit after my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">noncommissioned</span></i> “Chicago Wildflower Works” (1984 - 2004) artwork was threatened by folks affiliated with the Chicago Park District. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1979 note from John Henry Faulk to Kelley and associates</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> With this cast of characters, blacklisting information and historical background we'll see how all this plays out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> And given the area's water shortage issues, it will be interesting to see what future generations will have to say about Dallas' neglecting to take advantage of the vast water savings that the Wildflower Works proved was possible; it was a new aesthetic landscape made acceptable to the general public and one waiting to replace a current watering regimen which is no longer affordable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> *******</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> These memoirs are a work in progress. Please submit information you may have to refresh my memory. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />Note: With the exception of the newspaper images, all of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.<br /> </span>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-3977253571906006012012-06-13T21:52:00.000-05:002012-06-24T12:16:17.330-05:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 10<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Tragic Life of Frank A. Jones—a great artist</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> After I was imported from San Antonio, Texas to Dallas in 1957, I made paintings, exhibited work, traveled, taught art and opened Atelier Chapman Kelley (ACK). In 1959 I expanded my atelier by adding an art gallery and frame shop. The expansion included having the sculptor </span><a href="http://issuu.com/dallasmuseumofart/docs/25th_annual_texas_exhibition_1963"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Heri Bert Bartsch</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> teach a class in what he knew best. Then in 1960 I won first prize at the </span><a href="http://issuu.com/dallasmuseumofart/docs/22nd_annual_texas_exhibition_1960"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Twenty-Second Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. The Texas Annual was the kingmaker of artists and was sponsored by major Texas art museums, including the Dallas Museum of Art. ACK’s future needed a business manager. My first choice was a fine sculptor, </span><a href="http://www.hjbott.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">H.J. "Harvey" Bott</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">. Harvey lived with his wife Margaret on The Strand in Galveston, TX. It is now a National Historic Landmark District, an area of mainly Victorian era buildings. Harvey graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, TX, a year after I did and played in the school band with my sister Pat. The Botts went to New York City with us, the site of my first exhibit. The role of business manager didn't suit Harvey and obviously I didn’t need a gallery director.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">For a while </span></span><a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00140/smu-00140.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perry Nichols’</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> son Christopher worked as ACK's business manager. Before my 1964 New York exhibit Murray Smither asked me if he might have the job. At the time of his request he worked at Texas Instruments putting to use the journalism education background he studied at Sam Houston State Teachers College, (now known as Sam Houston State University) located in Huntsville, TX, his hometown. I suppose a prerequisite high security clearance for his job at Texas Instruments had something to do with his wanting to leave TI. Even though he had attended some of my art classes, he didn't seriously pursue making art.<br /><br /> As business manager Smither accompanied some of his art teachers from Sam Houston State Teachers College to where the teachers juried the first prisoner art exhibit at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, TX. He returned with several prisoners' work from the show and he told me that he thought they were "cute." When I saw them I said that one small blue and red pencil drawing by Frank A Jones was far more than cute. I instructed Smither to return to the prison to ask Jones, of course with prison officials' acknowledgement, if I, as Atelier Chapman Kelley, could be the exclusive representative of all of his work. And to inform Jones that ACK would supply him with better and larger paper and color pencils of a wider color variety. Smither did as I asked. As a result, I had Smither take several of Frank's works to New York where he showed them to his friend Paul Rogers Harris. Harris for a short while had a job at the Museum of Modern Art. However, the museum didn't buy any of Frank's pieces. Even though Frank had talked of his earlier drawings, those prior to 1964, none have surfaced. We introduced Frank's work to the rest of the U.S. by submitting it to juried museum exhibits. Thus Frank began to be accepted as a fine contemporary artist. For example, <a href="http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu/collections/show?id=274">Jones</a> and </span><a href="http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu/collections/show?id=284"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nathan Oliveira</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> split the top prize at the Weatherspoon Gallery's (Museum) Art on Paper exhibit. Frank was invited to make a personal appearance at the University of North Carolina to receive his prize. Regrettably for all involved, we reported to Weatherspoon staff that the prison warden would not make an exception and allow Frank to venture outside.<br /><br /> Frank was born sometime around 1900.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was biracial; his parents were Native American and African. He was a functional illiterate. Given the Southwest's historical climate, coupled with Frank's mixed blood lineage and lack of formal education, he was misperceived--by the larger predominantly white Texas society--as a misfit and therefore<em><strong> suspect</strong></em>. At the facility where Frank was held, prison officials like Tony Schindler (his supervisor) made it known that he thought Frank was innocent and had become the town scapegoat--Schindler and others thought Jones had been, pardon the cliché, "sent up the river" for others' crimes.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank A. Jones ca. 1968</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Texas state senator John Field and his wife Beverly, the local top interior decorator (and a great beauty) were friends of mine. They took a great liking to Frank's work and Beverly even began to collect it. John started a campaign to have Frank pardoned by Governor John Connally. Unfortunately, Field died of a heart attack and with it the hope and prospect of gaining a pardon for Frank were dashed.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Frank's last and final will provided for the proceeds of his estate to establish a fund for scholarships for high school art students of his hometown, Clarksville, TX. This was what he wished despite the perception that Clarksville officials were suspected of using Frank as a town scapegoat and had victimized him. Had Franks' desire reached fruition, it would have been a wonderful end for his legacy. However, it was not to happen. For example, a very promising Clarksville art student scholarship candidate surfaced. I and others submitted a recommendation to The Honorable Judge Amos A. Gates (county probate court) for the candidate to receive a scholarship. We received no reply. My then-attorney, David A. Newsom of the law firm Green, Gilmore, Crutcher, Rothpletz & Burke sent a check to Judge Gates for the purchase of the Frank Jones estate in the amount that Frank would have directly received for each drawing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The judge informed us that Smither had been named executor of Frank's estate and that we had to deal directly with him. Instead, Smither got back to us demanding a larger price relating to full retail value of Jones' work plus other monies amounting to what I considered to be an extortionate amount of cash. Undeterred by the high money request, in 1973 I purchased the Estate of Frank A. Jones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In prison Frank had gone for many years without a penny for a piece of candy or a stick of chewing gum. No visitors came to see him during the same period. Even though ACK sold his work for only $10 to $50 each, from those earnings Frank was able to purchase expensive Benson & Hedges cigarettes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He became the proud owner of the largest gold watch in the entire prison. His bank account grew to have over $1,000. Interviews with outside media followed, commensurate with his growing artistic fame. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Huntsville prison inmates were periodically given parole hearings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1968 Smither was aware that Frank was to be released from prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An arrangement had been made to release Frank with some jobs lined up for him on the outside to insure that he had a steady income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I asked Smither what could be done to help Frank obtain a parole, he reported to me that the prison psychiatrist didn't feel that Frank could survive in the outside world. He further stated that with all the new attention showered on Frank that he was content with the only home he had known for many years--Huntsville State Prison. However, in 1968 I was listening to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. funeral on the radio while driving to Dallas from Houston and I stopped in Huntsville for a visit with Frank. As I prepared to leave I asked him if there was anything I could do or get for him. His reply was, "Yes, get me out of here." I was startled because this wasn't at all what Smither had conveyed to me. Smither was well aware that he was being paid to keep Frank happy with art supplies and to find a way to get him out of prison. When I returned to Dallas I reemphasized to him that he was to do everything possible to seek Frank's release. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> After 1970, in the wake of Smither no longer being an employee of ACK, my new employees went through all of the atelier correspondence files. Despite representing himself as such, Smither was a business manager and never a director at Atelier Chapman Kelley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The staff found a number of complaints from the Huntsville prison staff, even from Frank Jones himself, about his neglecting to tend to Frank's artistic and well-being needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found a copy of a letter Smither wrote on December 27, 1966 to Huntsville prison officials. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To our astonishment the letter intimates that Smither meant to keep Frank in prison, essentially betraying him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Smither's severance from Atelier Chapman Kelley, we found a stack of Jones' work, completely and inexplicably out of place, squirreled away in the storage building behind my gallery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, several times the gallery and studio had previously been unlawfully broken into; the three perpetrators were professional thieves. They were willing to go to prison rather than confess the identity of who had sent them and refused to name the targeted objects of the burglary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 1980s Smither took Bud Drake and his wife into the storage building to retrieve several of Bud’s sculptures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the winter of 1969 we received a telephone call from the prison on the day before Smither was to physically meet with Frank immediately upon checking out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Frank feared, he never made it out; he died while incarcerated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I held his work off the market for about a decade until an important travelling exhibit of Frank's work was held at the Mulvane Art Center, Topeka, Kansas, which was organized by Jim Hunt. Jones work is referenced in a book on folk art authored by art collector and curator Herbert Hemphill. Hemphill was one of the founders of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. He and the museum have purchased Jones' work.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The renaissance of American art during the 1950s and 1960s had lost its steam and some smart dealers gave folk artists the new name of "outsiders." A very important new movement was born. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Frank fit this image (not unlike French Post-Impressionist painter Rousseau) his work soon was in demand; we accepted exhibits for him which were held in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. Frank quickly became a star in this new category.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Later I was approached by William "Bill" Steen who wanted to curate an exhibition and publication of Frank's work. It would take place in Houston, TX at The Menil Collection. The Menil Collection has Jones' work.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> More recently in my return to Dallas in 2006, having been in Chicago since 1983, I learned that Smither has been very busy dealing in the resale of Jones’ work, much to the sorrow of some original owners. Much to my surprise, he co-curated a Southern Methodist University exhibit of Jones' work. Since I'm the owner of the Estate of Frank A. Jones, it seems bizarre for him to be intimately involved in a solo exhibit of Frank's work without SMU ever reaching out and using me as a professional resource. There have been stories floating around since the 1960s that some of Frank's fellow inmates, as art students, quite expectantly imitated his work, "fakes," each with the hope of gaining sales and becoming famous. "New" items alleged to be Jones' work have shown up without the iron clad provenance that begins with Atelier Chapman Kelley. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am the only one in the position to authenticate his work and have always been the exclusive dealer of Franks' work. Many dark possibilities loom on the horizon waiting to be solved. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Decades ago University of Texas at Austin art history student Lynne Adele approached me about her research, a master's degree thesis on Frank. In it she mentioned that her husband was incarcerated at Huntsville during the same time as Frank Jones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I allowed Adele to study all of my records pertaining to Jones and when I was furnished a copy of her thesis, I asked her why she had not included Smither's betrayal of Frank in it. She had no answer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Confusing the situation even more is that reference to Adele's work about Jones continues to be regurgitated on the Internet while omitting not only the true history but also leaving out any reference to Frank's sole estate representative, yours truly. For an art historian to continue to ignore the Smither correspondence as disgraceful factual history brings into doubt both her integrity and that of the university museum she represents. An art historian has a responsibility to tell the truth, and the whole truth so that bogus or stolen work will not confuse and ill serve future generations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Very recently we learned that it appears Murray Smither has still not paid out the proceeds, generated by the 1973 sale of Jones' remaining drawings, to the Clarksville Independent School District. It was cash that was to solely benefit Clarksville high school district art students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Much of this and more can be gleaned from the Houston Post newspaper (now defunct) art critic Susan Chadwick's lengthy articles about the matter. In her April 23, 1990 article titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">20 years later, Jones’ scholarship find still not established</i>, she wrote, “But the drawings were to be sold, according to his (Jones) will. And the proceeds were to be used (by Smither) to establish a Frank Albert Jones scholarship fund.” …And the $5,000.00 received in 1973 for the drawings in the estate is not accounted for.” Former Dallas resident James Surls, was quoted. “Frank Jones had an enormous impact on me,” said renowned Texas sculptor James Surls,” Chadwick wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She penned another article about Jones just two months later in June of 1990.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chadwick was contacted earlier this year at her home in France and she was thrilled to learn that the unfinished business of the funding issue was being discussed anew. She mentioned that she still has the notes used to write the newspaper articles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, Ms. Pam Bryant, Superintendent of the Clarksville Independent School District was also recently contacted and remarked that as far as she knew, for an "indeterminate" number of years a check for $200.00 had been received. Susan Chadwick in her article wrote that the checks have been “financed by an anonymous donor.” I get the strong impression that the lion's share of the proceeds has not been forwarded to school Superintendant Pam Bryant by Smither. Had the $5,000.00 been deposited into a bank account by the Clarksville school district beginning in 1973, the time the estate was liquidated, the interest and principal would have by now easily grown to over $100,000.00! And that's using a very conservative commercial loan interest rate pegged to the annually adjusted Federal Reserve prime interest rate. So does Smither owe the Clarksville Independent School District somewhere well over $100 grand? I am no legal scholar, but it seems to me that a Frank A. Jones fully executed last and final will is black letter law, is not subject to a statute of limitations and is binding and enforceable even to this very day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Wouldn't it have been a much happier legacy for Frank to have been released in 1967 and to have lived to a ripe old age visiting with serious art students? I had envisioned that scenario while teaching at Northwood. His is an example of a great artist making marvelous works despite being illiterate and having had a late start creating work at age 64. And then crowning the legacy by leaving a much larger estate of his work selling at today's value and becoming available to high school art students via scholarships tied to Frank's hometown--Clarksville!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I would argue that Frank Albert Jones’ artist, moral and legal rights have been violated in this morbid case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for a lack of others' professionalism, honesty and human decency, Frank's life's end should have been as happy as his "haints" as he called them, once captured and tamed in his wonderful works. As a well trained, successful, experienced professional, as a painter, art dealer, art teacher and art collector, including being the dealer and collector of Frank's work, I am most familiar with his work; I have quite a different history and work interpretation of the real significance within his work. I would not question the historic facts of his life but it has always seemed to me that the restraining of the vast majority of his "haints" indicate that he had overcome or exorcised them and they were as he, helplessly confined and thus comfortable to live with.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Due to an original bad copy, the text of the above correspondence is mostly illegible, for your convenience a trascription is included: "I'm writing you in regard to my parole. which was to come up this month. I discussed a two (2) year put-off August 17, 1968. If it is possible I would like to talk with you to see if something might be done. Mr. Smither, concerning my pictures. Would it be possible for you to send a little money. I am in need of a few things from the commissary. I also need a box of red pencils. If you still want me to draw for you, let me know when you come. Thank you very much for your time and assistance. Sincerely, Frank Jones." (Uncertain letter date.)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> These memoirs are a work in progress. Please submit information you may have to refresh my memory. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Note: With the exception of the newspaper images,all of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span></div>
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adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-64289287497730505772012-03-04T18:53:00.018-06:002012-03-28T20:46:58.603-05:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 9<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn are considered to be the most dedicated collectors of American art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On their way home to Connecticut in 1972, they first stopped in Texas to visit with President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird at the LBJ Ranch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the wake of their ranch visit I gave the Hirshhorns a tour of my Fairmont St. building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the upstairs gallery they happened upon a horizontal diamond shaped canvas with an enclosed ellipse containing a field of wildflowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe immediately said, “I’ll take that. Who painted it?” When I told him I was the painter he apologized to me; until that moment he had only known of me as being a gallerist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe couldn’t buy the work anyway because Mary Wells, the wife of Braniff International Airways executive Lawrence Harding, had just purchased it for her <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> advertising firm Wells, Rich & Greene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That ad firm introduced Braniff airplanes to a bold color scheme and is responsible for fitting its stewardess’s with attractive uniforms.</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then brought Olga and Joe to my studio on Hall St.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I may say so, the studio was one of the best appointed and beautiful, anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I just so happened to have hanging a Kenneth Noland “target” painting and a Frank Stella “squares within squares” work. Joe said that he already had examples of the same periods of both artists’ work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took that to mean that he was not inclined to buy; I was correct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, he was interested in the works’ pricing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I told him they were $25,000 each he let out a hearty laugh because when he had purchased their work from their studios he had to forward them the money to buy stretchers for the paintings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously Noland and Stella had come a long way but back then they were financially strapped for cash.</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among more of my work that Olga and Joe saw in my studio, they viewed the scale model of the <placename w:st="on">Standard</placename> <placename w:st="on">Oil</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Building</placetype> that was scheduled to be erected in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chicago</place></city> in the 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also viewed some of my small paintings representing the very large paintings that Bonnie Swearingen (wife of Amoco chairman John E.) wanted furnished for the <placename w:st="on">Amoco</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Building</placetype> (formerly <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Standard</placename> <placename w:st="on">Oil</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Building</placetype></place>) lobby walls.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another place I took the Hirshorns was for a tour of the newly built <placename w:st="on">Kimbell</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Art Museum</placetype> in <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">Ft.</placetype> <placename w:st="on">Worth</placename></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s where I had the pleasure of introducing them to my friend Kimbell director Rick Brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had much to discuss about the latest security techniques and more that were planned for the <placename w:st="on">Hirshhorn</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype> and <placename w:st="on">Sculpture</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Garden</placetype> in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Washington</city> <state w:st="on">D.C.</state></place>, which was then under construction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe in turn introduced me to David Rockefeller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the first of the renowned Rockefeller family member I met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David happened to be touring <place w:st="on">North Texas</place> with a group of bankers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hirshhorns and I toured the Algur “Al” Meadows art collection with Al and his wife at the Meadow's residence. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>My first sighting of LBJ</strong></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The morning of November 22, 1963, Atelier Chapman Kelley staff was busy framing the paintings I had made in <city w:st="on">Provincetown</city>, <state w:st="on">MA</state>; that work was soon to be exhibited at my second one-man show in <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">New York</state></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As midday rolled around I allowed the staff to take an extended outdoor break to watch President John F. Kennedy’s historic motorcade cruise by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The announced route was near my atelier and within easy walking distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt self conscious because my long beard had not been cut since the fourth of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend the barber Luis Santos had yet to decide what he wanted to sculpt from the bushy mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carried a portable radio in hand and wore sunglasses as I stood on an uncrowded sidewalk waiting for the procession of limousines to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was much joking among us about any number of Secret Service binoculars and guns trained on me—agents were waiting for any threatening move I might make. As the Presidential motorcade came into view I spotted U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first time I had ever seen him in person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some minutes later, sadly, <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> and the nation would never be the same as JFK and his entourage intersected with downtown <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Dealey</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Plaza</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost a decade later I would meet President Johnson for the first time in my life at his LBJ Ranch.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>I was President Johnson's last visitor at the LBJ Ranch</strong></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olga and Joe were so impressed with the figurative/nonfigurative concept as expressed in my diptychs, they asked me to paint a pair for them</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0i-vwtcO6fA/T2_PzlJPGzI/AAAAAAAAARc/QE-Avkm_j_s/s1600/Picnik+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="384" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0i-vwtcO6fA/T2_PzlJPGzI/AAAAAAAAARc/QE-Avkm_j_s/s640/Picnik+collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kelley diptych in the collection of Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">and a smaller pair as their gift to President Johnson and Lady Bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The work was to hang in the guest room at the LBJ Ranch. Olga obtained some small paintings I had done like those she had seen in the model for her famous collection of miniatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Months later Joe Hirshhorn approved his gift paintings, the ones he had asked me to create for the Johnsons. It was finally ready to be hung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe arranged for me to take the diptych to the LBJ Ranch.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhUBXrZJ9YE/T2_OhlsCHbI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Jv3qh49dHWU/s1600/lbj+3.25.12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="634" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhUBXrZJ9YE/T2_OhlsCHbI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Jv3qh49dHWU/s640/lbj+3.25.12.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">at the LBJ Ranch January 20, 1973 - copyright Chapman Kelley, all rights reserved</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> On January 20, 1973 I arrived at the LBJ Ranch about 9:00 a.m. Before I actually set foot “inside” the Ranch, I had to negotiate a Secret Service checkpoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the house Lady Bird Johnson greeted me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly afterward LBJ walked in with a rolling gait, not unlike movie actor John Wayne’s deliberate walking style—LBJ was physically almost a giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lady Bird seated us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a few moments she kindly excused herself from our presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LBJ turned on an array of television sets, three to be exact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He watched them only long enough to learn that Richard Nixon would indeed be reinaugurated that day, the 37<sup>th</sup> President of the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United States</place></country-region>. In the course of the day lunch was sent to us in place and Lady Bird would return to help in hanging my diptych painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several times Johnson resorted to taking a medicine pill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the idea that I was to simply hang the work, exchange a few pleasantries and be gone in short order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What in fact unfolded was a spontaneous day-long conversation with the President!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back at the circumstances of that memorable day, Johnson just wanted to talk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially Johnson and I discussed the <placename w:st="on">Lascaux</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Caves</placetype> of southwestern <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">France</place></country-region> where early mankind expressed themselves so well with pictures galore on the walls but with no words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Archeologists have studied that artistic work in order to understand early humans. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Johnson particularly responded to the Medici family name as being one of the most famous in history not only because of their involvement in the arts but because of their discernment and connoisseurship in picking the best artists to sponsor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the prominent Florentine gentry supported the artists but the Medici’s picked so well that now because of it tourism is the major industry in <em>bella</em> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Firenze</i> or <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Florence</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Italy</country-region></place>.<span style="color: red;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">I was impressed that LBJ seemed to have not only a good grasp of history as humans became more industrialized, urban and self governing but was able to understand (or at least agree with me) that the people and nations that were most open and supporting of new and challenging modes of artistic expression and vision were often not only more livable but also able to envision in many other ways that humankind must always move forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not incidental that both Leonardo da Vinci and Robert Henri, the great art teacher, spoke of art as intervention and both of them lived by that dictum.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was interesting to follow the agility of Johnson’s mind as we led through the great influence that painter Mondrian and sculptor Brancusi have had on all of the best aspects of design in the 20<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practical-minded people are often amazed when asked to consider the applied aspects of the arts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In the course of the day-long visit LBJ and I discussed some of our mutual friends; first of course were Olga and Joe Hirshhorn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not an inconsequential thing to have the Hirshhorn name attached as the giver of a gift of art to so public a couple as the Johnsons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider it to have been a great honor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spoke of Tom and Etta Frost who happened to be the Johnson’s guests the previous weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom’s Frost Bank of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">San Antonio</place></city> was at the time believed to be the largest privately-owned bank and Etta Frost’s niece, Joan, was my sister-in-law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also discussed was Gladys Greenlee Bowman, a co-developer of adjoining lands with LBJ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bowman was the grande dame of <city w:st="on">Austin</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state> who started <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Austin</city></place>’s Jr. League.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was my aunt Liz’s (Dr. Cole Chapman Kelley’s wife) sister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gladys’ son Jack was one of the richest men in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">San Antonio</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LBJ and I discussed other mutual friends such as Bonnie and John Swearingen of Chicago as well as a number of Dallas, Houston and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">San Antonio</place></city> gentry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though Johnson was obviously very strong minded and strong willed he possessed none of the belligerence of today’s ideologue politicians; he seemed sincerely interested in exploring ideas of mutual interest but on which we had entirely different opinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His civility was a winning trait though I think he avoided discussing the Vietnam War with me because my raccoon beard and clothes signaled that I was opposed to the war.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some individuals who say that LBJ carried to his grave the firm belief in his escalation of the war in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Vietnam</place></country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think otherwise, like what U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara later believed, that LBJ’s intelligence told him that he had been wrong; he had to carry the ignominy of that part to his grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would also seem to explain Johnson’s decision not to seek reelection as president in 1968.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My belief about Johnson’s thinking is based upon his interest in the Free University at Lee Park, which I created, as I had described to him during our visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shared with him my experience in bringing together the civic and political leaders of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> to meet, with mutual respect, the youth who were part of the 1960s movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we did it on the youth’s turf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone agreed that democratic consensus must begin with civil and open dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t that what LBJ was famous for? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t help but think that had conciliatory movements like the Free University at Lee Park between the “establishment” and the idealistic youth movement (and shouldn’t all youth be that way?) taken place a decade earlier the Vietnam War could have been avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LBJ’s faith in academics is indicated by his trust in education—it must be remembered that a portion of his career includes being a teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LBJ must have felt that he had let the country down, just as he had been let down by his advisers, those “best and the brightest” individuals of his administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is however LBJ’s choice of subjects of our conversation during that day that causes me to feel confident of my conclusions. Even though at the time I was anti-war, I felt that LBJ’s domestic legislation was the best in history and if the Vietnam War had not given his detractors a reason to take it apart piecemeal LBJ would be considered to be one of the greatest two-term presidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black;">It was clear that Johnson’s view of the best of human endeavors was for mankind to always move forward—a progressive agenda</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His domestic legislation strived to make what he valued a practicality; he sponsored policy changes to education, civil rights for minorities, medical security for the elderly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On balance, reforms in those areas improved his legacy because they have that most treasured ingredient—a lasting effect infused with meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it was brought to LBJ’s attention that Queen Elizabeth, Queen Juliana of the <country-region w:st="on">Netherlands</country-region>, the Israeli and Canadian governments had each vigorously entertained Olga and Joe seeking to obtain the vast Hirshhorn collection of American art for permanent export, LBJ was the prime mover and shaker in securing the collection for the people of the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United States</place></country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He arranged for the art collection to be housed on the Washington Mall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bravo LBJ!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What more evidence is necessary to cement his legacy as a true champion of the visual arts, certainly a long lasting endeavor?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I later learned from Lady Bird that LBJ did know before he died that peace negotiations would soon end the war and the information was to be made public in the near future.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I often wonder what Bill Moyers, surely the most trusted journalist since Walter Cronkite, would think of my observations about Johnson given that Moyers served in a number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Moyers">positions</a> in the John F. Kennedy and LBJ administrations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bZ2t079ygBg/T3Oksk-7XiI/AAAAAAAAASk/3oR-ZYoOEYo/s1600/lbj+country.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bZ2t079ygBg/T3Oksk-7XiI/AAAAAAAAASk/3oR-ZYoOEYo/s640/lbj+country.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Limited edition leather bound book of photos of "LBJ Country"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the opportunity to provide LBJ some solace; I shared with him the many reasons for the arts’ importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those have been at the core of many of my lectures in the past and still are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, nine years after LBJ’S death, speaking in the same room at the LBJ Ranch, I found myself giving the same emphasis to Lady Bird and members of the famed Rockefeller family, Lawrence and Mary, on the utmost importance of design and the language of the arts in all human endeavors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That complete freedom of expression is of absolute necessity for all creative persons is evident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must expect that all liberal democratic societies that desire this freedom will fight for it and then we may expect a meaningful society with the flourishing of the arts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Robert M. “Mac” Doty said of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> having an authentic renaissance in the 1950s and 1960s, we more recently have taken a path of intolerance and have lost our international preeminence in the arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hurts to know that even the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Opera have drastically reduced their performance schedule in the same season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leadership in the arts has become or at least has the appearance of being a game of musical chairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The transformation of the arts into commodities has taken its toll and gotten the art world in trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We certainly have the precedence of great civilizations of the past to build upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And recognize that indigenous populations were cut short by invaders’ worship of gold, truly a mistake in the pursuit of materialistic goods over honoring preexisting cultural values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> – <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">Ft.</placetype> <placename w:st="on">Worth</placename></place> area is now a large metropolis with far more people and money to erect not just buildings covered with donors’ names but not only have we not even retained or enlarged the necessary appetite and audience who would support the arts and inevitably the artists here as they did decades ago. Intolerance of any kind does not pay in the long run. Certainly it doesn’t belong in the arts where the artist is the central and most essential person. Can’t people realize that if we again support artists with the fairness, freedom and support they deserve it will produce a finer and more real civilization that warfare never will?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope the powers that be are listening to the current Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Museums movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their basic beliefs seem to me to represent the feelings of most fair-minded Americans who strongly believe in democracy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I have in my possession a note from Lady Bird Johnson expressing her gratitude to me for being LBJs very last visitor at their home, the LBJ Ranch, before he died of a heart attack less than 36 hours later. A New York Times reporter expressed an interest in my having been the last visitor, but he never followed up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Below is a personal note from the Hirshhorns to yours truly.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 5, 1973 note from the Hirshhorns to Chapman Kelley</span></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Above note transcribed:</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hirshhorn</span></span></div><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Dear Chapman - </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The tiny paintings arrived and they are most beautiful. I have not yet hung them as I have to find a special spot---perhaps our home in Florida. Thank you for doing them for me to add to my collection of miniatures. Incidentally, the Greewwich Library is going to show it next November. We sent your large paintings to our home in Florida--rather than store them. They are just stunning. Have the Johnsons called you yet? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">As ever,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Olga Jan. 5, 1973</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Below is a 1973 letter from Lady Bird Johnson to the Hirshhorns regarding yours truly.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">letter from Lady Bird Johnson to Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn regarding Chapman Kelley</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Above letter transcribed:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">February 9, 1973 Stonewall, Texas</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dear Olga and Joe:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <u>Thank</u> you for giving us the comfort and courage of your heartfelt sympathy. Your message came so soon and meant so much to us all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> And now I must tell you something very special. On what turned out to be Lyndon's last Saturday, your beautiful paintings were brought to the Ranch by Chapman Kelley. He propped them up in the living room and Lyndon and I were absolutely enchanted. I love them -- and more importantly they pleased Lyndon very much. They are so light and airy and express the way I feel about this countryside in April.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="http://www.chapmankelley.com/3/asset.asp?AssetID=37996&AKey=jlbdk6w2">Mr. Kelley</a> and I walked around the house holding them up -- we even considered putting them in the guest house which Lyndon showed you -- but they finally came to rest in the <u>perfect</u> place -- the master guest room upstairs which is full of soft greens and yellows</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> They pleased Lyndon very much and I am grateful that you made him happy then, and so often in the past.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">With gratitude</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lady Bird Johnson </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">******</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> These memoirs are a work in progress. Please submit information you may have to refresh my memory. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Note: All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span></div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-75341107504594976822012-02-17T18:51:00.004-06:002012-02-18T19:26:53.281-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 8<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I expect that most people reading this are familiar with the life histories of artists like Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet and Jackson Pollock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As in other professions an artist’s stature outside of the professional community, in addition to how the artist is perceived by the art community, can tell us more about them as individuals and artists as well as the cultural sophistication of the community in which they flourished. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">At a 2010 art and law colloquium led by Megan Carpenter (Associate Professor of Law and Director for the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas Wesleyan School of Law, Texas Wesleyan College), I was introduced to one of the lawyer/panelists by Patricia Meadows of the family of Algur H. Meadows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Algur was a major supporter of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (since renamed Dallas Museum of Art), Southern Methodist University’s art department and the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Meadows</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patricia Meadows explained that, “When I was a young art student and later young matron, Chapman was THE artist whose work everyone collected, THE art teacher, and owner of THE art gallery.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time some <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> artists of the highest caliber were gaining recognition in <state w:st="on">New York</state> and elsewhere in spite of individuals who, through ignorance or malice, sought to gain control of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> art world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two artists who stood out were James Surls and Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, both of whom, to our great loss, left <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> many years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the die was cast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> artists of similar stature, such as Arthur and Jeannie Koch, achieved recognition and early acclaim in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>, and their work was included in significant collections here and elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, our local museum, DMFA, and media had become so compromised that the big breaks did not follow for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The quality and originality of Jeanne’s work was brought to the forefront during her first solo exhibition at my gallery, Atelier Chapman Kelley, where her work sold out prior to the opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great collector of American art, Joseph Hirshhorn, saw the exhibit but had to wait in line to buy her work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur Koch’s daringly original exhibits at the Atelier also sold very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, I felt he was the best and most popular art teacher around. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Artists seldom gain broad national recognition without the support of local museums and art media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The DMFA’s support for local artists ended with the 1964 cancellation of the juried Texas Annual and its statewide system of recognition. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the early 1970s, Janet Kutner, art critic for The Dallas Morning News, confided that there were only two local galleries worthy of regular coverage in her column.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was my gallery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other galleries were receiving only sporadic coverage, mainly none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cautioned Kutner against such a narrow focus, which was, in my opinion, biased and not supportive of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> art community as a whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I disagreed with her refusal to be more inclusive and gave her fair warning that I planned to complain to the newspaper unless she changed her attitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After several weeks, I wrote to Jim Moroney of The Dallas Morning News, stating my objections and asking that Janet Kutner not be allowed to cover Atelier Chapman Kelley in her columns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her lack of coverage after that cost us neither acclaim nor sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Lorraine Haacke, art critic with the Dallas Times Herald, was always fair, The Dallas Morning News was the predominant <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> newspaper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art historian Meyer Shapiro wrote that the artist’s world had descended from one of high professionalism to one of careerism and then to amateurism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I add to that, “ambitious” amateurism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Critic Harold Rosenberg wrote that the artist had been demoted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, both statements are true.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The level of professionalism among <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> artists, dealers and collectors, although diminished, somehow managed to survive into the 1970s in spite of the machinations of people like Merrill C. Rueppel, Douglas MacAgy, Janet Kutner and Betty Marcus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, an asp was sown into the fabric of the 1963 merger of DMFA with the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art (DMCA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One evening around 1974, while having dinner at Patry’s Restaurant, Larry Kelly, General Manager of the Dallas Opera, came over to my table and told me about his inoperable cancer and that he would be leaving <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> to spend his last days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He added that since Gene McDermott had died (1973), we likely could no longer count on his wife Margaret to defend the artists as she had in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He predicted that detractors, who did not want local artists to achieve widespread recognition or have the attention and ear of the general public, would win Margaret over by offering to memorialize Gene by attaching the McDermott name to his philanthropic legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Larry </span>Kelly believed Margaret would eventually desert the cause of professional fairness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did his insightful predictions about her ring true, but we now have McDermott Road, McDermott Halls at both the symphony and opera house, various DMA internships, and the McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art; Richard Brettell currently serves as the Margaret McDermott Distinguished Professor of Art and Aesthetics at the University of Texas at Dallas. In addition, Dallas will shortly have the <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/alan-peppard/20120215-mcdermott-hits-century-mark-with-quiet-grace.ece">McDermott Bridge</a> spanning Trinity River, which was initially to have been a faux twin suspension bridge.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Merrill Rueppel’s departure, Harry Parker, who was then in the education department of the <placename w:st="on">Metropolitan</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype> in <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">New York</state></place>, interviewed for the directorship of the DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was asked by Margaret McDermott if the professional community would welcome him without Parker having curatorial credentials or related experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After consulting <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the professional community, I reported to Margaret that Parker would be acceptable only if he agreed NOT to undertake roles involved with making curatorial, aesthetic decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, there were discussions in the art world about having dual museum directors:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One that would be responsible for administration and fund raising, and the other with curatorial education and experience for aesthetic decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was understood that Parker’s role would be business/administrative oriented since he was not qualified to make aesthetic determinations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the mid-1970s Artists Equity had grown to include almost all the serious artists in the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends of DMFA had also been established and included interested citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles Miles (a sales executive with IBM) and Dr. Vernon Porter (scientific researcher with Texas Instruments) were the co-chairs of the Friends group.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was asked to attend a museum party as a show of solidarity for the new <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">DMFA</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype></place> director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I responded that I must first meet privately with Harry Parker, and I invited him and his wife for dinner at Patry’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explained to him that my support was contingent upon his pledge to not compete with the artists and dealers in private sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His reply was that he had just lived through the Metropolitan’s scandal about de-accessioning and wasn’t about to deal in any way with private collections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some six months later, I learned that Harry Parker had a Frank Stella “Protractor,” like one I had at my gallery, shipped to DMFA for collector/Museum Board member James Clark’s consideration for purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then re-crated and returned by DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called and reminded Parker of his promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pleaded extenuating circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I replied that exceptions to our agreement had not been discussed, and that his actions were deliberate and unacceptable to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also learned that Parker was accepting offers to jury exhibitions of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Texas</place></state> artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If his role at DMFA was restricted to administrative and fundraising responsibilities, then why was he permitted to make aesthetic decisions elsewhere when he was not qualified to do so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two groundbreaking art world events took place in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Washington</city>, <state w:st="on">D.C.</state></place> in 1974.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first was the grand opening of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in the spring, followed by the opening in the fall of the new I.M. Pei designed East Wing of the National Gallery, whose assistant director had come to Dallas and asked me for advice about which local Dallas collectors should be invited to be on the East Wing Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was invited to the two most significant openings at the <placename w:st="on">Hirshhorn</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype>, including the first night opening gala event reserved for the President of the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United States</place></country-region>, U.S. Supreme Court justices, members of Congress and the diplomatic corp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a discussion that evening with former Vice President Hubert Humphrey about my having been President Lyndon B. Johnson’s last social visitor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I commented that the new <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Hirshhorn</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype></place> would have made Johnson proud and that it was a big plus for his administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second night opening celebration was reserved by Joe Hirshhorn for the art professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the “real opening” and the most important art world event since the 1959 opening of the <placename w:st="on">Frank</placename> <placename w:st="on">Lloyd</placename> <placename w:st="on">Wright</placename> <placename w:st="on">Guggenheim</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype> in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tickets for the Hirshhorn opening were being scalped for $1000 and more!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Printmakers had even screened some fake tickets for sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon being asked what should be done, Joe Hirshhorn responded that if they would donate two autographed copies of the fake tickets for the archives, they would be welcome to attend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">George Goodenow, artist and president of Artists Equity, also went to <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Washington</city> <state w:st="on">D.C.</state></place><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I introduced him to the Hirshhorns who gave us a private tour of the new museum on the afternoon of the first opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also “found” a precious ticket for George to attend the second night opening for art professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in <state w:st="on">Washington</state>, George and I visited with our congressman and <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">U.S. Senator</placename> <placename w:st="on">John</placename> <placename w:st="on">Tower</placename></place>, whose niece, Mimi Webb Miller, had worked for a while at Atelier Chapman Kelley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We discussed our concerns over widespread abuses and conflicts of interest that threatened the integrity of American art museums and cited specific examples that included:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) museum staff giving professional advice, art market information, shopping and other services to select individuals, including the museum’s own board members--at public expense--a patent violation of 501C3 rules; and (2) museums showcasing art owned by board members in museum exhibits, thus using museum prestige to add to the provenance of the board member’s art and inflate its market value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The art could then potentially be sold for much more than its original cost or donated to a museum, giving the board member the advantage of a generous tax deduction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also told our elected representatives that it is totally unacceptable for public museums - entrusted as both educators and arbiters of aesthetic quality and consequently, the value of works of art - to be in market competition with private sector artists and dealers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public endowments and tax-exempt status give museums an unfair advantage over the private sector, and we shouldn’t have to compete with our own publicly funded, tax-exempt institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If museums are to continue to enjoy their exempt status in addition to being allowed to advise, market and sell works of art, then artists and dealers should be granted the same tax-exempt and funding privileges.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The only Dallasite I recognized at the art professionals opening was Courtney Sale, who had studied with artist John Cunningham (Olga Hirshhorn’s son) at <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Skidmore</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cunningham’s beautiful and unique hand-carved plexiglass sculptures sold well at Atelier Chapman Kelley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had purchased six pieces of his work for my own collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Courtney eventually opened her own gallery in <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> before relocating to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Having been appointed a National Gallery East Wing Committee member, Margaret McDermott was invited to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Washington</place></state> for the opening of the East Wing. She offered to take along my wife Joan and me, as well as art student and collector, Jan Smyser, to view museums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At my request, we stayed at the beautiful Hay-Adams Hotel across from the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The assistant director of the National Gallery later chastised me when he learned that my spouse Joan, Jan and I had cooled our heels at the Hay-Adams during the opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He assured us we would have been welcomed to attend the opening with Margaret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we drove away from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on our return trip from Washington, Margaret suddenly asked me who, among travelers on a DMFA-sponsored trip to Peru, had complained about art antiquities (purchased on the trip) not having been delivered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no choice but to respond, since I had consulted with a few of the tour members about their complaints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspected that this was the real reason Margaret asked us to accompany her to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Washington</place></state>–in order to grill me about the Peruvian tour members’ complaints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, it’s necessary to interject a rundown of sequential events leading up to Margaret’s query.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the late 1960s, Howard John Lunsford was named Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at DMFA after receiving a Masters Degree in Pre-Columbian Art from <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Columbia</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype></place> made possible by a grant from a DMFA women’s organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had also attended some of my classes at the DMFA museum school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the early 1970s, Lunsford guided a DMFA sponsored tour group to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Peru</place></country-region> for the apparent purpose of visiting historical sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tourists on the trip were informed by the authorities that they could no longer purchase antiquities from South American countries because of recently passed international treaties designed to curb the tide of international trafficking in ancient artifacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Museum exhibitions were an exception to this new law, but loaned works on display were to be returned to their countries of origin.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of this warning, Lunsford took them to museums by day and local dealers by night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One couple on the tour, who were clients of mine, reported that Lunsford had assured them that whatever they purchased would be shipped to DMFA in order to avoid the ban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He promised to authenticate the purchased artwork and if they wanted, they could sell it in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> for twice what they paid for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such assurances on the part of a DMFA curatorial staff member, acting in his official professional capacity, encouraged tour members to purchase art antiquities from South American antiquities dealers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my understanding that some people spent over $10,000 each on purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bear in mind these are 1970s dollars.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> A year later, the purchased art antiquities still had not been delivered to the buyers on the tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, neither their phone calls nor their money had been returned by John Lunsford and the DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did Lunsford also knowingly and unlawfully purchase South American art antiquities for the DMFA and for himself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event, his assurances to the tour group members placed DMFA in the untenable position of willfully participating and encouraging the smuggling of ancient art antiquities in violation of international treaties and law.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artists Equity and Friends of DMFA made a number of artist and citizen complaints to the Dallas Park Board and subsequently, Dallas City Council, which formed an arts committee to hold hearings and investigate these accusations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were forced to shed light on these improper activities at a time when the Dallas Art Association’s contract with the City to operate the Museum was about to be renewed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a consequence, their contract was put on hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we all liked John Lunsford personally, it fell to my unhappy lot to explain these serious allegations to the arts committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Library director Lillian Bradshaw was asked to investigate the charges for the committee and reported that no people had complained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By contrast, we just learned that our new DMA director, Dr. Maxwell Anderson, although only here since January 9th, has voluntarily contacted Italian authorities about antiquities purchased over the last several years by DMA from New York antiquities dealer, Edoardo Almagla, who is under<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>investigation for trafficking in looted antiquities as reported by <a href="http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/02/01/loot-at-the-dallas-museum-of-art-museum-responds-to-almagia-investigation/">Chasing Aphrodite.com</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, both the Metropolitan and <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Princeton</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> <placetype w:st="on">Museums</placetype></place> have already returned over 200 works purchased from Almagla.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question is, why didn’t the DMFA step forward early in the U.S. Customs Department’s investigation as did other museums, especially in light of the hushed and hidden DMFA Peruvian scandal of the 1970s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some time, it has been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">de rigueur</i> in the international art community for museums and collectors to NOT purchase antiquities without a verified and well-documented provenance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bravo! Bravissimo! to Maxwell Anderson for taking decisive, responsible action on this issue where the DMA is concerned!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On another subject, I was very familiar with a certain Monet “Poplar Series” painting that became available for sale at Wildenstein Gallery in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I immediately attempted to interest W.R. “Fritz” Hawn in purchasing it as a memorial to his wife Mildred, who was well known in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> for her dedication to the arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He traveled to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> to view it and liked it but did not want to donate it to DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he acquired and donated the large three-piece Henry Moore sculpture that still sits in front of the I.M. Pei designed City Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then strongly recommended the Monet “Poplar Series” to Margaret McDermott who wanted to see the painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called to ask gallery director Louis Goldenberg when the painting would be shipped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my disappointment, he responded that Margaret had requested the painting be shipped to her via the DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her actions harkened back to Larry Kelly’s prediction that Margaret would intentionally shun the local arts community (artists and dealers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, there were some very sincere, sensitive, knowledgeable and supportive Dallas leaders, such as the dynamic Mildred Hawn and Evelyn Lambert, who understood what the arts were truly about and who encouraged and inspired many other Dallasites to support the local professional community and new art on the basis of originality and quality, regardless of fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the death of Virginia Lazenby-O’Hara, it was announced that she had left $4.5 million worth of Dr. Pepper stock shares in her will to the “Foundation for the Arts-Dallas Museum of Fine Arts”, which are two totally separate entities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consensus of Artists Equity and Friends of DMFA was that the Museum Board, commensurate with its public fiduciary responsibilities, should oppose the Foundation and defend the Museum’s rights to the gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Friends’ lawyer, Tim Kelly (no relation), and others argued that in such a dispute between a public and private institution, the public entity should prevail over the private one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In defiance of common sense, the DMFA abdicated its right to accept this largest single gift to any <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> arts institution, insisting instead that the stock should go to the private Foundation for the Arts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in 1963, when DMFA and the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Dallas</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype></place> for Contemporary Arts merged, the DMCA formed the Foundation for the Arts purportedly for the purpose of holding its small collection under separate ownership until it could be determined whether the marriage would last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was concern among the Artists Equity and Friends groups that art later donated to the private Foundation could eventually end up in another arts institution (and even in another city) rather than the publicly owned DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conflicts of interest were rife from the beginning since all of the private Foundation Board members were also on the Board of the DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day, the Foundation, as a private entity, operates in secret and remains unaccountable to the public as to what it owns in art and funds and who insures, houses, guards, conserves, etc. its holdings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we taxpayers paying to support this private Foundation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m aware that the Foundation has even used DMFA publications to appeal to and solicit gifts of art and/or money in competition with the DMFA, our publicly owned institution - with no Foundation transparency or accountability!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1975, Margaret McDermott and DMFA Director Harry Parker appeared before the Dallas City Council arts committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of them testified that Mrs. O’Hara would not have given this gift to DMFA because it was a public institution and must answer to the people, and that we were fortunate to have this private Foundation to receive the gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Friends’ attorney, and Arthur Koch representing Artists Equity, clearly outlined the glaring conflict of interest to the arts committee, which nevertheless found that since the DMFA had actually declined the gift, it would go by default to the Foundation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the public’s ownership interest was not being represented by its own Museum Board members, the Friends’ attorney filed a class action suit asking that he be allowed to defend the public’s interest in court by acting on behalf of a representative group of us professional artists, dealers and other citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There could have been hundreds of plaintiffs but because of the time and monetary expense involved in keeping larger numbers informed of legal actions, Kelly chose a representative group of twenty-six individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of this lawsuit, the <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Texas</place></state> attorney general, the only other authority who could represent the public’s interest, ruled that the matter was undisputed so he could not step in.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the First National Bank was holding the Dr. Pepper stock shares pending a court decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The judge ruled that since all parties – the DMFA, the Foundation for the Arts and the City - were represented, no other individuals or groups could be represented in court proceedings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the depositions of O’Hara’s attorney who drafted her will, we learned from his testimony that in a previous will O’Hara had indeed left a substantial gift to the publicly owned DMFA without any mention of the Foundation; and that she later changed her mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fred Mayer, a longtime member and at times officer of both DMFA and the Foundation for the Arts, testified that O’Hara, who lived in the same building and rode to Museum meetings with him, had been advised by him to change her will because the Foundation was run by sound businessmen and the Museum, on the other hand, was run by political appointees of the Dallas City Council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. The Dallas City Council made no appointments to the DMFA Board, and several of the DMFA Board members were also on the Board of the private Foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It soon became clear that the true intent of the Foundation was to privatize control of the city-owned institution by usurping nontransparent, unaccountable, unrestrained and unquestionable control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, depositions revealed that O’Hara clearly did not understand this connection between the two, nor did she even know that they were distinctly separate legal entities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of Tim Kelly and Arthur Koch’s reports to the City Council’s art committee, it chose to ignore our protests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, the small group of Foundation Board members, who also served on the DMFA Board, was able to unduly influence or actually control the public Museum through Foundation ownership and solicitation of significant works of art and moneys that the Museum would otherwise have received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through such a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fait accompli</i>, the Foundation would hold the Museum hostage so-to-speak. The asp had struck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You, dear friends, can verify all that we have said by actually listening to the <a href="http://soundcloud.com/cfar/public-hearing">taped</a> (free of charge) appearances of Margaret McDermott, Harry Parker and Tim Kelly before the official art committee of the Dallas City Council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also hear Friends of DMFA representative Charles Miles reading from the court transcript of the testimony of Fred Mayer and O’Hara’s attorney that disproved McDermott’s and Parker’s testimony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The insidious results of our efforts to speak out on behalf of the public’s interest have taken a disastrous toll on the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> art community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professionals who stood up have been blacklisted and remain blacklisted to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Private financial interests served by the public sale of valuable art works irrevocably promised to the renamed DMA, along with recurring dealings in looted antiquities, demonstrate that a major house cleaning is long overdue at DMA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are most fortunate to now have Dr. Maxwell Anderson at the helm as the new Director of DMA, where he is continuing his international campaign for <a href="http://www.aam-us.org/pubs/upload/ClearView.pdf">transparency in art museum operations</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All citizens, and particularly art professionals, should support this Council for Artists’ Rights-designated Museum Director of the Decade in his Herculean tasks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Coming up in Chapter 9:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I was the President's very last visitor at the LBJ Ranch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Note: All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span> </div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-60549922207447185912012-02-12T21:36:00.005-06:002012-02-13T19:57:20.087-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 7<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> When I first came to Dallas it seems that virtually everyone involved with the fine arts were sincere and dedicated to both bringing the best to Dallas and nurturing the indigenous talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During my visit to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Rome</place></city> in 1957 Emma Exline told me of a young man named Lawrence V. Kelly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said he had studied <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>’ art scene and thought it to be the most likely city for a brand new opera company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kelly, Italian-American conductor Nicola Rescigno and Carol Fox had founded the Lyric Opera of Chicago just three years earlier. Fox eventually had a falling out with Larry and Rescigno, leaving the latter two to put on the first <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> show which featured mega-star Maria Callas. The opera world’s eyes or rather ears were definitely on <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Larry Kelly didn’t stop there, he produced “Alcina.” That performance was the American premier of Joan Sutherland, who none other than</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">American mezzo-soprano opera singer Marilyn Horne had proclaimed her to be the greatest singer who could be judged by recording. Horne specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult passages. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember the American debut (again in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>) of Dame Montserrat Caballé, a Spanish operatic soprano who in spite of her size was terribly appealing in “Traviata.” What a voice!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canadian Jon Vickers—world famous for a wide range of German, French and Italian roles—in “Tristan und Isolde” and Placido Domingo made their <country-region w:st="on">U.S.</country-region> debuts in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether a professional in one field or an arts aficionado, each of us attended and supported all of the arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, Larry Kelly was our business liaison for the Free University of Lee Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Paul Baker of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> theatre sent actors to teach in FULP classes—Larry was also on our Northwood Arts Committee and would send me to report to him on a dress rehearsal of an opera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> was indeed on the move in the arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><placename w:st="on">Dallas</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Theatre</placetype> <placetype w:st="on">Center</placetype> built the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Kalita</placename> <placename w:st="on">Humphreys</placename> <placename w:st="on">Theatre</placename></place>. That theatre was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is one of the last completed buildings he designed. It was the official home of the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Dallas</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Theater</placetype> <placetype w:st="on">Center</placetype></place> from 1959 to 2009. When the Kalita was the site of the world premier of Paddy Chayevsky’s comedy “Latent Heterosexual,” in 1968, Chayevsky and Burgess Meredith directed the cast which included Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel, Jules Munshin, Randy Moore and Chris Richard. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chayevsky, Meredith and Mostel were in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> for a number of weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stayed at the neighborhood Stoneleigh Hotel where we furnished their rooms with a few goodies such as original sculptures by Georges Braque and Henry Moore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostel would hang out at my gallery, Atelier Chapman Kelley, to talk painting as he claimed that he only did the comedy “shtick” to support his real love of—painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zero confirmed the published stories of his run-in with Dr. Albert Barnes over Zero’s great friend Jacques Lipchitz.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The Stoneleigh Hotel shared its swimming pool with neighboring Maple Terrace Apartments which were jointly owned. I regularly had access to the pool and wouldn't miss it for the world when Rudolph Bing (knigted by Queen Elizabeth in 1971) and the Traveling Metropolitan Opera of New York were all in there carousing. It is no wonder that Robert M. "Mac" Doty, curator at the Whitney, proclaimed that Dallas had a minor arts renaissance going for it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></span> </div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My venture into academia</span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Franciscan father belonging to the newly established <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Dallas</placename> and Frederick Getchel of the library and college in <city w:st="on">Gainesville</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state>, wanted to start out with the best teachers for their new <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">U.</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">D.</placename></place> venture into art education. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They approached me separately and asked how they could hire the best people in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them they should offer prospective instructors a teaching schedule of very limited classroom time coupled with compensation worth twice what an art professor at Southern Methodist University would earn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my surprise, that’s what they each separately offered me!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My venture into academia as an instructor at the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Dallas</placename></place> was a resounding failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I flunked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school was brand new so they had no students who were even slightly interested in art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew not what to do with students only wanting to earn academic credits via an easy elective course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I did recommend sculptor Heri Bert Bartscht.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result the school soon had a very interesting and professionally ambitious student body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comparatively, teaching evening art classes at the combination college and library in <city w:st="on">Gainesville</city>, <state w:st="on">Texas</state>, located 70-odd miles north of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place>, was definitely a different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had Tina Hickman who had studied with Georgia O’Keeffe when O’Keeffe taught in <place w:st="on">West Texas</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tina subsequently became an art collector. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have previously mentioned Alton Bowman as being a serious artist—he’s another person who got started in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Gainesville</place></city>. The school hired artist Octavio Medellin to teach a sculpture class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So my name came to be closely associated with the field of serious art training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after my experience being a panelist at the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Illinois</placename></place>’ “Matrix of the Arts Symposium,” I realized that few people had any confidence in the universities’ art ventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were some exceptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1970 I was a speaker at the National Sculpture Conference held at the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Kansas</placename></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After my talk there on professionalism one man stood up to tell me that “Chapman, we all know that you are telling the truth, but don’t you realize that if we tell our students that truth, 99% of us will be out of a job tomorrow!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My reply, of course, was to ask how he slept at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks to what I had learned from Buckminster Fuller regarding intuition, one evening as I drove my car from a Gainesville art class to Dallas, suddenly everything came together (including a plan to erect an innovatively designed building for the Northwood Institute).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day I felt that the commute took no longer than two minutes!</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Northwood Institute</city></place></span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they had promised, Dr. Arthur E. Turner and Dr. R. Gary Stauffer gathered a group of interested people for my presentation for the Northwood Institute Arts Program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My proposal was accepted wholeheartedly. But my friends and students who were present did not feel confident that my plans would actually be carried out. They sensed that our hosts were not unlike “small town preachers.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, for me, it was the only game in town, for they were the ones willing to try.</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rOdM_mECOyY/Ty07IVOqKYI/AAAAAAAAAO4/cljEoVDGMFc/s1600/chapman+kelley+northwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" sda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rOdM_mECOyY/Ty07IVOqKYI/AAAAAAAAAO4/cljEoVDGMFc/s640/chapman+kelley+northwood.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dallas artist and gallery owner Chapman Kelley, left, and Northwood Institute president Arthur E. Turner, announced the new program to Texas art patrons and teachers in March 1968.</span></td></tr>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> We got off to a great start including publishing the plan for the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had dinner with most of the art teachers in the area so that they could see how the school would augment their departments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To further advertise the idea, we rented a hotel suite and had an open bar at a state conference on the arts in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Austin</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Texas Governor John Connally took the lead in promoting it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carried the word to the annual <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Buffalo</city>, <state w:st="on">New York</state></place> arts conference where my friends, sculptors John Chamberlain (1927- 2011) and Mark di Suvero, were attending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school was actually to be run by a committee of mostly nationally recognized artists who would meet the students and choose which artists would best serve them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they couldn’t produce the desired artists the committee artists would have to serve as teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the spring of 1968 I made some trips to gain endorsements and participants. The following is a list of individuals who were consulted during that time. All were very interested and several were of great help including these art world figures:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Adolph Gottlieb</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Andy Warhol</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Barnett Newman </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dwayn Hatchett</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ed Ruda</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Elaine and Willem de Kooning</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Isamu Noguchi</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">James Rosati</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">James Rosenquist</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">John Chamberlain</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mark di Suvero</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mark Rothko</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Oli Sihvonen</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Peter Forakis</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Philip Guston</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Richard Anuszkiewicz</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Richard Lindner</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Robert Motherwell</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ronald Stein</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Roy Lichtenstein</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thomas Gibson – Marlboro Gallery</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alden Dow - architect</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Bartlett</span></city></place><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Hayes – Addison Gallery</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Betty Parsons</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Charles Hinman</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Christo</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">David Scott – National Collection</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dick Bellemy</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Françoise Gilot</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gibson Danes</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Harold Rosenberg<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Henry Hopkins</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ivan Karp</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jack Boynton</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">James Elliott – <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Wadsworth</city></place> Athenum</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">James Byrnes – <placename w:st="on">Delgado</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype>, <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">New Orleans</city></place></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jim Love</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Joe Ferrell Hobbs – <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Oklahoma</placename></place></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Kenniston McShan – Jewish Museum</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Leo Castelli – art dealer</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Martha Jackson</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Merce Cunningham</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mitch Wilder – <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Amon</placename> <placename w:st="on">Carter</placename> <placename w:st="on">Museum</placename></place></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Paula Cooper</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Robert “Mac” Doty – <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Whitney</placename> <placename w:st="on">Museum</placename></place></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Roy Fridge</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">S. Leonard Pas Jr. – <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Illinois</place></state> Arts Council</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I have in my possession a copy of a letter dated August 15, 1970 which I wrote to Douglas MacAgy--he was chairman of the Northwood Art Program Advisory Committee---and mailed to his Washington, D.C. office to keep him abreast of the progress being made. I also visited with him at that office. Details in that letter include contact information and comments made directly to me by artists who had been notified about the school idea. I have talked--one on one--about art education with many of this country's major artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Adolph Gottlieb told me that he was pressed for time and could not immediately make a committement, but that he would like to talkd and asked to be kept informed of the school's progress. Andy Warhol told me the idea sounded good, he too wanted to be kept in the loop. Barnett Newman said the school could set a pattern for all art schools, that it could only happen in Texas and that he would be coming to Dallas next May. Newman spent an afternoon with me including having dinner of shad roe at his favorite restaurant and the site of some filming of him by the Museum of Modern Art. Dwayn Hatchett and Isamu Noguchi were quite interested. Ed Ruda was very enthusiastic; he made a committment to teach. James Rosati thought it was a splendid idea. James Rosenquist (was referred to me by Ivan Karp) would consider a short stint during a social visit to his parents' home in Dallas. John Chamberlain waid he would come and work with students on film as soon as we made a request. Mark Rothko (referred to me by Adolph Gottlieb) thought it was a good idea--wished us well, would follow but said he had little faith in art schools. Oli Sihvonen was enthusiastic, he would visit next autumn. Peter Forakis said it was a fine idea, would visit in the summer. Philip Guston committed to a summer or autumn visit. Richard Anuszkiewicz was enthusiastic and asked for details in writing. Richard Lindner (referred to me by Paula Cooper) wondered why the school couldn't be built in Long Island. Robert Motherwell offered to continue visiting and would consider a board position. He was very enthusiastic. He told me that he wished he had had such a place to study even though the school as described might be too Utopian. Ronald Stein (nephew of Jackson Pollock's wife and referred to me by Thomas Gibson of Marlboro Gallery) expressed his interest in teaching film making and suggested coming for three months with a three-month option, teaching twice a week. Roy Lichtenstein was very enthusiastic. I spoke with Elaine and Willem de Kooning as well.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In hope of gaining support for the Northwood arts program I arranged dinner for MacAgy, Margaret McDermott and me at her “farm.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After dinner Margaret brought out photos of the artworks then under consideration for purchase and MacAgy recommended some lesser examples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I knew why—a larger commission can be had by pushing the mediocre work than can be earned by only recommending the best work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This was Wildenstein Gallery’s Louis Goldenberg’s only complaint about me, that I only sold the best work!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when MacAgy made it clear to Margaret that he wanted to replace me as her art advisor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I taught and ran the very first summer classes at the Northwood Institute arts program with abstract expressionist turned figure painter Alfred Leslie and sculptor Peter Forakis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had sculptor Alberto Collie flown in from <country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</country-region> to teach as well as <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Texas</place></state> artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our students had the opportunity to discuss their work with such luminaries as Robert Rauschenberg, Kenneth Snelson, Robert Smithson (Spiral Jetty), Vassilakis Takis, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lynn</place></city> Lie and Stanley William Hayter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hayter is widely credited with influencing the work of Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Tinca Stegovec. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among those helping me to assemble the key players for the school’s management were Elaine de Kooning and Ivan Karp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were informed of the plan to have in place a committee of major artists which could attract and serve the most likely best artists of the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, Douglas MacAgy, acting as chairman, put together and recommended the usual group of museum directors and curators to serve on the school committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The artists on who we had spent so much time and effort were not included.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately we found Robert “Bob” Kaupelis, the rotating chairman of <placename w:st="on">New York</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype>, who was interested and we brought him to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> to meet with the Northwood School Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was introduced to MacAgy’s group already knowing who they were and said, “(Chapman) Kelley and I are the only ones here who even own a paintbrush—what do you guys know about art education?” He turned around and walked out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the end of our hopes and dreams; it made for a fast downhill slide to nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Douglas MacAgy went on to become the director of the Dallas Contemporary art museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He failed in that capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subsequently he became Deputy Director of the National Endowment for the Arts, a job and office of small prestige.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once on a trip to <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Washington</city> <state w:st="on">D.C.</state></place> he and I went to have lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in order to be seated at a “hot” restaurant, MacAgy had to make a reservation falsely posing as the NEA’s director!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was at that lunch where I spotted a solitary Eugene McCarthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had recently abandoned his bid for the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region> presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I introduced myself and we sat down to have a fine visit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Along the way I turned down an offer to direct the Northwood Institute School. It was a big mistake. I should have accepted and hired someone with an art doctorate degree and given that person instructions in how to run the school. I could have conveyed the information in less than half and hour each day. If I would have had the foresight to do that, Dallas could be a major art hub today. <em>Mea culpa</em>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Goals for <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Industrialist, co-founder and former president of Texas Instruments and mayor of Dallas (1964 – 1971), John Erik Jonsson was a skilled businessman and served on many boards. In his first term as mayor he initiated a blue ribbon panel called Goals for <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place>. Its purpose was to capture ideas for shaping his city-wide policy. He was a tireless advocate for education and one of his ambitions was to improve the curriculum serving <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place> high school students. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jonsson was well aware of my background; that I had studied art very seriously since the age of eight and since 1959 I had taught art for the high school scholarship class at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Actually, he borrowed my “Sand Dune” (1960) painting from the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts permanent collection and hung it--for a significant stretch of time--in his office conference room! During Jonsson’s press conferences, television news crews positioned themselves in such a way so as to include the painting prominently in the background. I was thrilled when he appointed me to the original Goals for Dallas Educational Task Force Committee. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had one particular idea to contribute: It was to have professional art training at the high school level. I knew of similar programs in <city w:st="on">New York City</city> and <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">North Carolina</state></place>. I envisioned professional artists coaxing the best talent from <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place> youth. I succeeded in having my idea published in the first public proposal of the Goals for <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place> future plan. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naturally I began a campaign to have an art magnet school established similar to what had been done in <state w:st="on">New York</state> and <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">North Carolina</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those schools allowed high school students to study with art professionals. It took some effort but I succeeded in gaining the support of all committee members except one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That person felt that members weren’t allowed to adopt new goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That person was unanimously outvoted, ultimately resulting in the creation of magnet schools and in particular the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The head of the first visual arts magnet school assembled a good selection of professional artists to serve on the new committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She subsequently asked me to chair the “Goals for <city w:st="on">Dallas</city>” magnet school committee. As an alternative I recommended that Jeanne Koch be named as co-chair because I expected to be in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> and would miss the committee’s scheduled election. I returned to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> expecting to shoulder a new responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was shocked to learn that Betty Marcus had marched into the meeting with some school official and announced that she would be heading the committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as anyone knows there was never another official meeting. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In recent years Booker T. Washington High School has been threatened with the loss of substantial financial support. Given the background that Ann Cushing Gantz and I have, we recently volunteered our services free of charge hoping to help Booker T. Washington School raise its profile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gantz--who is a seasoned painter, arts teacher, art dealer and graduate of <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Sophia</placename> <placename w:st="on">Newcomb</placename> <placename w:st="on">Memorial</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype></place>--during the 1950s and 1960s she taught the art class for regular high school students at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Sophia</placename> <placename w:st="on">Newcomb</placename> <placename w:st="on">Memorial</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype></place> at one time had Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Hans Hofmann come in as visiting instructors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I taught the art class for the high school scholarship students at the DMFA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A veteran teacher at Booker T. took us up on our offer to volunteer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a first step we visited with students at the school, viewed their work and met the faculty and administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there has since been no follow up communication from the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess we weren’t good enough or perhaps it was the arts blacklist running interference, again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2010 Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts was named by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsweek</i> as the number one public high school in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My granddaughter Lauren Ashley Kelley graduated from there and went on to graduate from <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Texas</placename> <placename w:st="on">Christian</placename> <placename w:st="on">University</placename></place> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">summa cum laude</i> and earned second highest ranking in her class.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Jonsson’s death a New York Times article written on September 4, 1995 quotes his colleague, “in almost everything he was involved in, he had a talent for picking the right person in the particular spot." Needless to say I am extremely pleased to know that I was handpicked by Jonsson and that <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> did in fact go on to adopt my proposal to have schools offer professional art training available to students.</span></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Free University</span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the aftermath of the disastrous <placename w:st="on">Kent</placename> <placename w:st="on">State</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> student shootings of 1970—when <country-region w:st="on">U.S.</country-region> guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others—fearing mayhem, college campuses across the <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">U.S.</country-region></place> closed their doors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An incident took place in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> called the “Lee Park Massacres,” nicknamed for the way local police overreacted to the gathering of long-haired hippies in Lee Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The overreaction is similar to the police actions against current non-violent Occupy Walls Street and Occupy Museums activists; city bureaucrats don't know what to do with such idealistic individuals who resemble in action the youth of the 1960s.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We really did have some perfectly respectable liberals in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> such as Moe Levy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He called my attention to what was occurring during the weekend at Lee Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me the park was surrounded by armed and armored police with attack dogs at the ready including a highly visible presence on rooftops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a catastrophe waiting to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bucky Fuller’s advice came to me again as I came up with a solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The park district approved my idea of having a learning experience at the park which the youngsters dubbed “The Free University in Lee Park.” We created a board of directors that included Larry Kelly (Dallas Opera), A.C. Green (KERA and author), Dr. Henry Lanz (Southern Methodist University), Howard Jarrett (Dallas Symphony Orchestra) and Dr. Paul Surrey (<place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Southwestern</placename> <placename w:st="on">Medical</placename> <placetype w:st="on">School</placetype></place>). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FULP continued for two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQm2l8FGanA/TzfiC0r3iyI/AAAAAAAAAPo/83jZLO2Y6rw/s1600/free+university.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" sda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kQm2l8FGanA/TzfiC0r3iyI/AAAAAAAAAPo/83jZLO2Y6rw/s640/free+university.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">hand made flyer "Free University of Lee Park"</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Classes were held every evening with more on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “heavy” classes drew the most attendance—three psychology sessions per week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so successful in the first year that Stanley Marcus, at a party the next spring at the McDermott’s place, marveled about how the most reactionary city (<city w:st="on">Dallas</city>) in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region> had achieved peace, while elsewhere public disturbances had broken out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted to know what the infamous Dallas City Council could do to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally told him and wrote the Council a letter recommending a Sunday afternoon “Rap with the Establishment.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be an open discussion with the top city leaders on the youth’s turf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then we had purchased portable loudspeakers because of the large crowds in attendance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began the meetings with Stanley Marcus, federal judge Sara Hughes (she swore in Lyndon B. Johnson as President), Raymond “Ray” Nasher, Robert “Bob” Cullum, Harry “Buzz” Crutcher ( who was Lloyd Benson’s first campaign manager), the first African-American city councilman George Allen and Dallas mayor Wes Wise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Below is the letter I received from Mayor Wes Wise. </span></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKbcnWZGt4g/Tzhmc3ydGZI/AAAAAAAAAP0/aM0B2hL9hm8/s1600/wes+wise.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="582" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKbcnWZGt4g/Tzhmc3ydGZI/AAAAAAAAAP0/aM0B2hL9hm8/s640/wes+wise.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">September 1971 letter to Kelley from Dallas Mayor Wes Wise</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The above (transcribed) letter reads:</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">"Dear Chapman: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is no doubt about it---the “Rap With the (Non) Establishment” class was among my most interesting and invigorating experiences in the Mayor’s office to date!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In addition, the tear sheet you sent me from <u>Iconoclast</u> was certainly a fair and thorough one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose you are aware that the event received considerable national publicity as well—the clippings are still coming in.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanks again for the invitation; I’m glad it turned out as well as it did.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sincerely,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(signed)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wes Wise"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">Chapter 8 of the memoirs is well under way. It will include:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">National success for some <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> artists, but not for others without local art museum and local news media support</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden </span></placename></place><span style="font-size: 14pt;">opening on the National Mall, Washington, D.C.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Opening of National Gallery new east wing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Betrayal by Margaret McDermott predicted by Larry Kelly</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Virginia Lazenby-O’Hara bequest</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dallas Museum of Fine Arts hijacked by private entity Foundation for the Arts</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span> </div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-20313610473700004492012-01-24T20:25:00.018-06:002012-02-12T21:24:59.563-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 6<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1965 I was awarded the top purchase prize in the Annual Eight State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Oklahoma</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Center has since been renamed the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1965 brought other recognitions my way such as inclusion by the Who’s Who in The South and Southwest for its Second Biennial Citation in Art; the same year that pioneer heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey received it in medicine and U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright in government. My award was sandwiched between awards given to artists Jasper Johns and Gene Davis (1963 and 1967) before the program was discontinued. Not bad company! Incidentally, in 2011 President Obama presented Jasper Johns with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first time in 34 years that a painter or sculptor has won the nation's highest civilian honor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1960s were halcyon years for my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We purchased our first <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> home on the corner of Wycliff and Douglas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was built on the back of the lot with garage in front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Previous owners had hoped to build a larger home on the Wycliff frontage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This promised a charming little house near the boys’ school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my former art students, architect Cole Smith helped us to make it into a little showcase; the Dallas Morning News wrote glowingly about it in its Monday, January 3, 1966 issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our home was designed with two upstairs bedrooms and a bath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plumber told me that it was the first time he had replaced a modern bathtub with an antique claw-footed one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cole Smith composed a compact kitchen; to our delight, he used a waxed brick floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kitchen was divided from the dining area with shutters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rooms were heated with restored and converted antique wood stoves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>French doors opened to a front porch the width of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The porch was covered with Wisteria, so attractive when in bloom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the spring the sight brought unsolicited offers from prospective home buyers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fleet of cars was increased to include a practical station wagon, which, along with the TR3 looked well in the driveway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to convert the garage to a playroom for our sons Cole and Kevin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The centerpiece was a professional <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Brunswick</place></city> billiards table that featured a triple slate felt-covered playing surface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The table was mounted on a laminated bent wood base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pool table proved to be a wise investment; our place became a hangout for the boys’ friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The arrangement was hard on the refrigerator but well worth it for the healthy lifestyle it promoted for everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joan and I decided against bringing a television into our lives until our boys had learned to read and use the library.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cole and Kevin played on the football team and I don’t think Joan and I missed any of their games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We regularly shuttled almost half of the team to the games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One year a line led from the Xmas tree out a back window to the station wagon; a go-cart gift was in it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We felt our little nest to be so charming that we could have confidently hosted a party for Queen Elizabeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did entertain Richard Marcus (future CEO of his family’s luxury retail business) and Françoise Gilot (widely known as the only woman who dared love Pablo Picasso and leave him), two people just as exalted as the Queen, don’t you think?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the exception of 1961 and 1963 which were spent in <place w:st="on">Cape Cod</place>, throughout the 1960s our family visited coastal Port Aransas during Easter, Thanksgiving and most summers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was during these fun years that I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>painted the “sand dune” series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other extended family members would join us in Port Aransas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sculptor Roy Fridge worked and lived on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He joined us for many meals, he was an always welcome guest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cole and Kevin hunted for the old and rusted bolts of hurricane-damaged piers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Roy</city></place> used the bolts in his artwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We acquired four of his sculptures.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortune Magazine in 1955 and 1956 published two long articles about purchasing art as an investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those writings strongly contributed to the corruption of the art world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The magazine inadvertently drove the art market into the hands of wealthy people who otherwise had no knowledge, sensitivity or love of the fine arts. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So by the 1960s it was a bit late to put together a truly great collection of French Impressionist, classic early 20<sup>th</sup> century and even pre-war American work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason being is that those works’ prices were growing so very quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Owners had the opportunity and incentive to donate works to museums at a significant increase in value over what they had initially paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to a change in federal tax law, the owners’ museum donations yielded considerable personal federal income tax deduction amounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such giving led to owners’ having their egos stroked and they enjoyed increased stature in the art community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This situation gave other players the opportunity of only assembling a good or perhaps even a fine collection, but not a great one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some first-rate works in the Margaret McDermott art collection, most notably Degas <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dancer with Fan</i> 1879, a pair of early Monet <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nymphéas</i>, a Georgia O’Keeffe “open and closed clam shells” and a beautiful Renoir drawing.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also in the collection are three sculptures purchased directly from Atelier Chapman Kelley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is a work by Jean Arp, another is a 1937 nude by Henry Moore and the other is a Rodin titled <em>La Meditación</em>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These certainly are among the artists’ best efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distinguished <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city> art dealer Thomas Gibson had a hand in facilitating the Henry Moore acquisition. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="left"><span style="font-size: small;">handwritten note from Margaret McDermott to Kelley (transcribed): "Dear Chapman: I can not tell you how I have enjoyed the show--and admire your determination to do things in a grand way. Good luck and hold that lovely lady for me until I return (the Rodin, I mean, of course) Warm Regards - (signed) Margaret</span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOHCvI7qkkc/Tx8x3btFE1I/AAAAAAAAAOk/oBrgQoHHTA4/s1600/moore+snip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOHCvI7qkkc/Tx8x3btFE1I/AAAAAAAAAOk/oBrgQoHHTA4/s640/moore+snip.JPG" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">1937 nude by Henry Moore</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pj4M8YGBGNg/Tx8xwwa35EI/AAAAAAAAAOc/5GrPZcldyiI/s1600/rodin+snip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pj4M8YGBGNg/Tx8xwwa35EI/AAAAAAAAAOc/5GrPZcldyiI/s640/rodin+snip.JPG" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>La meditación</em> by Rodin</span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Wildenstein Gallery principal Goldenberg and I urged Margaret McDermott to make some key purchases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, because of pricing she missed owning some masterpieces—there comes to mind a Monet still life with an enormous bouquet of either asters or daisies. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The McDermott collection is a very respectable one, assuredly one of the most important in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The collection’s diversity of historical periods and styles will one day be a significant addition to the Dallas Museum of Art.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9za0FQj_ROI/TzfaQm7sl1I/AAAAAAAAAPc/GXgtkXeDKoE/s1600/margaret2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9za0FQj_ROI/TzfaQm7sl1I/AAAAAAAAAPc/GXgtkXeDKoE/s640/margaret2.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">another hand written note from McDermott to Kelley dated April 1967</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Margaret McDermott did not accept the sales policy I had set with Wildenstein Gallery of New York and Atelier Chapman Kelley she did buy regional artists work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One purchase went to benefit the Dallas City Colleges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She bought one of my larger “poplars series” works, it had been in a Dallas Museum of Art exhibit, for the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">El Centro</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype></place> opening day ceremony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another purchase was a large size “field of flowers” piece that was placed in a well known <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> medical school director’s office. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gene McDermott knew of Margaret’s attitude toward my sales rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He saw to it that I was compensated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he was very generous in helping me to purchase work for my personal collection including pieces by Henry Moore and Georges Braque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gene even arranged for my son Cole to unexpectedly have a McDermott scholarship to <place w:st="on"><sn w:st="on">St.</sn> <middlename w:st="on">Mark's</middlename> <sn w:st="on">School</sn></place>. Gene was probably a major supporter of the school.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pyIyy4x0LG8/TwpUz9ubiiI/AAAAAAAAAN4/J1fzmE3W1eM/s1600/Chapmsn+Kelley+Knoedler+Jly+1967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pyIyy4x0LG8/TwpUz9ubiiI/AAAAAAAAAN4/J1fzmE3W1eM/s640/Chapmsn+Kelley+Knoedler+Jly+1967.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Knoedler & Co. Gallery note informing Kelley of Margaret McDermott's shipping instructions, 1967</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were great friends at this point and I made for Gene a gift painting of his favorite cottonwood tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tree was located on their “farm.” I personally carved the frame for that painting. Gene’s ending days were protracted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he was fortunate to spend them at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was eventually confined to his bedroom and had the cottonwood painting brought in from the "farm" and hung there in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gene was obviously comforted by the work and needless to say it pleased me when I learned of the move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerry Bywaters agreed that it was a high compliment to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bywaters and I were the only arts professionals present at Gene’s 1973 graveside service which was a by invitation only private affair. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mid-1960s Evelyn Lambert and Janie Murchison sent private university Northwood Institute founders (1959) Dr. Arthur E. Turner and Dr. R. Gary Stauffer to me to advise them about establishing an arts affiliation with their business college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Northwood Institute already had four campuses in operation including one at Cedar Hill near <city w:st="on">Dallas</city> which to this day continues to serve students in the <place w:st="on">Southwest United States</place>. Turner and Stauffer had heard Roger Stephens director of the newly formed National Endowment for the Arts say that a growing need existed for people who could manage a fine arts organization, without sacrificing quality in the arts, and who also could keep theatres, galleries and other arts entities operating as viable businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I replied that the partnership would have to include a professional art school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that I would hire the first really good graduate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I actually had to fire my entire staff in 1966.) Turner and Strauffer asked me about my desire to include an art school.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them that was great and that I would know more about the matter soon because I would be discussing the topic at a <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Illinois</placename></place> symposium. Apparently the head of the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">U.</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">I. Center</placename></place> for Advanced Study was impressed after learning of my challenge to the College Art Association about programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been a speaker at the CAA’s 1960 convention in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas where </place></city>I cautioned the audience about the plethora of new studio or professional art departments popping up on every campus and how they would have to do the same things that professional art schools had done for 160 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers in the art departments would be those who were not in need of a day job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, as Olan Hankins a retired educator friend of mine said, “Mozart and Beethoven had teachers, but no one taught them to be Mozart and Beethoven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or as a high school teacher and former art student of mine said, “You can no more teach that which you don’t know than you can come back from some place you ain’t been.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professional art schools had professional artists come in to teach for only one day a week--they did not employ professional teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>School administrators would have to accept that incoming students with lesser talent, if administrators were honest with them about their prospects in the art world, would not return for a second semester. The few students who possessed the real ability and drive would instead leave to attend a major art school where they could study with professionals and broaden their exposure by regularly visiting major museums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who would realize, certainly the vast majority, that they did not have the prerequisites would then go into other professions or business to become knowledgeable and sincere supporters of those few individuals who proved themselves to be the real thing—an artist. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the head of the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Illinois</placename></place>’ Center for Advanced Studies chose me for the symposium; I’d be rubbing elbows with some very important folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He invited me to be on two of the visual arts panels for the university’s “Matrix for the Arts.” The event was part of the school’s Centennial Celebration cosponsored by the Illinois Arts Council and the university’s Center for Advanced Study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose of the symposium was to explore whether or not a university campus could provide the atmosphere, culture, freedom and professional instruction to help and train serious art students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One fellow panelist was American writer, educator, philosopher and art critic Harold Rosenberg. He coined the term Action Painting in 1952 for what was later to be known as abstract expressionism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other visual arts panelist was architect and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region> interstate highway system designer Joseph Passonneau.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Designer Leo Leone moderated the event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three individuals, pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments John Cage, prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Charles Wuorinen, and American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician Günter Schuller were panelists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American music historian, critic, author and seminal figure in the field of musicology, Gilbert Chase, rounded out musicians on the panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Performance arts professionals such as dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, French mime performer Claude Kipnis and Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer and theater director June Havoc were all part of the visual arts panel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Saul Bellow, w</span>inner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts, opened the symposium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American systems theorist, architect, engineer, author, designer, inventor, and futurist Buckminster Fuller closed the symposium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was asked to represent the visual arts on the wrap up panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I was due to advise the Northwood Institute’s Turner and Strauffer I stayed for the after-event, Buckminster Fuller’s presentation, “Intuition.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That talk was to become one of the most important events of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything significant that I have done since has come out of or been strongly influenced by what I learned about intuition from Fuller that day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another strong influence came into my life at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lucky me—what a creative mixture!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artist Françoise Gilot brought along for the second show of her work at Atelier Chapman Kelley her new husband polio vaccine pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a dynamic duo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stanley Marcus had asked me to have an exhibit of Gilot’s paintings in 1964 to coincide with the release of her book, “Life with Picasso.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book sold over a million copies in dozens of languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilot came to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> for the Neiman-Marcus French Fortnight and the exhibition of her paintings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilot, Salk and I hit it off personally resulting in my taking a trip with them to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We visited Harold Rosenberg and June Wayne. June founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Los Angeles</place></city>. She led the revival of fine art printmaking where artists teamed with master printers. Françoise continues a close professional relationship with my former dealer Jake Manguno of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">New Orleans</city></place>, who I introduced her to several decades ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 1970s Françoise, Jonas and I shared our alarm about the direction the art world was taking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We actually planned an international conference for <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> to air these concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had the attention and help of my good friend Louis Hexter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the art world itself in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city> our plans were torpedoed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Chicago</city></place> from the 1980s through 2006 I had the opportunity to hear Françoise Gilot speak at The Art Institute of Chicago on various artists she had known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was the best lecturer on art that I have ever heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The AIC lectures were invariably filled to capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine my hearing her speak of Giorgio De Chirico!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once Françoise stayed over to spend an evening with my Chicago Wildflower Works board of directors and some of the volunteers who maintained it. The event was held at the home of Chicago Wildflower Works chairman and civic leader Hope McCormick and her husband Brooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was very pleased with Françoise that evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ken Peterson, aka Ken Boe, said the “Gilot evening,” combined with his volunteer work maintaining the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chicago</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Wildflower Works 1984 – 2004</i> while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was a life-changing experience.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As expressed in the Arts section of the New York Times Sunday edition, October 23, 2011, "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/arts/artsspecial/art-gallery-shows-stir-excitement-of-their-own.html?pagewanted=all">Stealing the Show</a>," Françoise is having much well-deserved success in galleries around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a vibrant person and significant artist and poet--a great lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;"><u>Next up in Chapter 7</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gainesville</span></city><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, <state w:st="on">Texas</state></span></place><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Northwood Institute plan and result</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Goals for <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Dallas</city></place>”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">magnet arts school concept: Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span> </div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-21491048116519920272012-01-08T20:58:00.018-06:002012-01-24T20:18:27.608-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 5<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.5pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Prior to the second exhibition of my work in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York City</place></city>, Mildred Hawn and I were invited to Braniff Airlines Headquarters to meet over lunch with their executives. During the meal we were offered a Braniff International Airways 707 jet for our exclusive use. We couldn’t refuse the amazing offer; it was to ferry an ever increasing group of Dallasites and folks from other cities that were to attend the formal opening of my exhibit. It would be a sojourn of art immersion on the East Coast with visits to museums, galleries, and tours of private art collections. Our plan was to land in Washington D.C, pick up Nancy Carroll and fly to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Philadelphia</place>, <state w:st="on">Pennsylvania</state></city>. It was quite a trip heading into a D.C. snowstorm; the pilot announced a change in itinerary, we would instead be landing in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>. On the ground buses were queued waiting for our group. Our caravan eventually made it to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Philadelphia</place></city> where Nancy Carroll, having made the travel adjustment on her own, greeted us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> Margaret and Gene McDermott and I had many occasions to refer to paintings that we had seen in the famed art collection of American chemist Dr. Albert Barnes in <city w:st="on">Merion</city>, <state w:st="on">Pennsylvania</state> and of the private collections that painter and art teacher Hobson Pittman led us through in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Philadelphia</place></city>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> I knew that Gene had invested in Braniff International Airways by purchasing a significant amount of its stock shares. I also knew that some of the stock purchases made by Gene were bought from William Arvis "Dollar Bill" Blakley. Blakley was appointed to the U.S. Senate after Lyndon Baines Johnson vacated the seat to become John F. Kennedy’s running mate in the 1960 presidential election. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> My gut feeling was that Gene, having been active at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts prior to his 1955 marriage to Margaret, realized that she wanted to assemble an important art collection. But Gene knew that Margaret’s first purchase of an early Van Gogh work had not been an impressive choice. The purchase was a common mistake made by other collectors: right artist, wrong work. So the evidence was clear: our having access to and use of a Branniff jet, coupled with Gene’s presence and other circumstances, was no accident. This alignment of occurrences strongly indicated that the McDermotts were contemplating for me to be their guide and advisor for their art collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed muster. It would be a sure-fire bet that Jerry Bywaters and Wildenstein Gallery principal Louis Goldenberg had a hand in Margaret and Gene’s decision to make me their advisor. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> Among the first batch of photos and provenance sent to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Atelier Chapman Kelley of available works from Wildenstein Gallery was a quintessential painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was “Dancer with Fan,” 1879, 17⅝ x 11⅜ by French Impressionist Edgar Degas. It is a superb example of his mature work. At $325,000 it was by far more expensive than the others in the group. It cost more than what Margaret McDermott was willing to consider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in my opinion I considered the work well worth it. Margaret was reticent to buy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact she was dismissive because of the price. I persisted and convinced Gene to buy it for her and he did. Margaret asked Wildenstein Gallery president Louis Goldenberg to pay me a commission on the sale. He sent $1,500 which pleased me. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYr8GEHq87I/TxD0nrN55FI/AAAAAAAAAOA/FzGRTq63frs/s1600/Dancer+with+Fan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" kba="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYr8GEHq87I/TxD0nrN55FI/AAAAAAAAAOA/FzGRTq63frs/s640/Dancer+with+Fan.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancer with Fan by Edgar Degas 1879</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Margaret did not buy into the strict sales rules that I had set up with Wildenstein Gallery. Instead, she went through endless haggling which delayed the closing of a sale. This sort of negotiating was costly to a gallery and necessitated a price mark up in order to give a price mark down to cover the cost of the delay. This was a legitimate part of the business but one that I had eliminated from my own dealings confident and comfortable with my “one price for everybody” business practice. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> In the mid-1970s a Claude Monet “Poplars” work was the last painting that I had recommended to Margaret, but she did not purchase it through my gallery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then Gene had died. I learned that she apparently paid 10% to 20% more for it than the amount I had offered to sell it to other collectors! I suspect that she paid this avoidable premium, across the board, because of her lack of trust in my sales arrangement with Wldenstein Gallery.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> While Margaret’s new house was under construction, she unexpectedly sent to me two works from her personal collection. One was a 1946 red landscape by Georgia O’Keeffe. The other was an original on the theme of the artist and his model series by Pablo Picasso. I hung these “on loan” pieces in my studio. What joy!</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> After the new McDermott house was finished, my former art student Richard Childers and I set up shop in the McDermott garage to refinish the paintings’ frames to best advantage. On a daily basis we were to alert the <i>majordomo</i> if we were not to be expected for lunch. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mid-1960s, before completing the refinishing of the Degas “Dancer with Fan” frame, to assure the painting’s security I would take the work home for the night. Throughout the decade that I was involved with the McDermott collection we would have at times several valuable paintings awaiting completion of their frames. Another security measure to make sure the paintings were theft proof would be for someone to sleep overnight with them. Shippers of paintings to be considered for purchase by the McDermotts were instructed to send them directly to Atelier Chapman Kelley. The venerable Upper East Side N.Y. Knoedler Gallery (165 years in business) was among the galleries sending work to ACK for Margaret. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--8NhTc4Plnc/TwpUstvW7GI/AAAAAAAAAN4/PdiY3ayxCNs/s144/Chapman%252520Kelley%252520Chagall%252520Nv%2525201967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--8NhTc4Plnc/TwpUstvW7GI/AAAAAAAAAN4/PdiY3ayxCNs/s640/Chapman%252520Kelley%252520Chagall%252520Nv%2525201967.jpg" width="493" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">1967 Knoedler Gallery letter to Kelley regarding Chagall work and McDermotts</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> Margaret, having married while in her mid-40s, was determined to leave her mark on <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place></city>. And she has done so in spades --with a little help from her “team.” For example, I joined her for lunch with architect Ieoh <city w:st="on">Ming</city> <state w:st="on">Pei</state>, designer of the <placename w:st="on">East</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Building</placetype> of the National Gallery of Art in <state w:st="on">Washington</state>, to discuss his plans for the new <placename w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place> <placetype w:st="on">City Hall</placetype></placename> building. And when she and my friend, banker and art student R. L. “Bob” Thornton Jr. were appointed to organize the city colleges, Margaret invited me for lunch, without <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Thornton</place></city>, to determine if we could agree on the architects who would design the seven college campuses. We did reach an agreement that major American Southwest architect O’Neal Ford should be one of the architects. However, for political reasons Ford would not be acceptable. Margaret knew of my professional relationship with Bob Thornton Jr. She felt that I might be the only man in Dallas with who Bob would be comfortable discussing aesthetics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asked me to make an attempt to convince him to back all of our seven project architects. Of course when I went to Bob’s office the first thing he said was that Margaret could be a bear about architects. He asked my advice, I told him of Margaret’s wishes—and bingo—that’s the way things got done! Bob retired and became an avid and serious painter enjoying every minute of his new life. He invited me to see his work, but as I was living in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Chicago</place></city> at the time, sad to say, I never had the opportunity. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Because I had been very active with the <placename w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Dallas</place> <placetype w:st="on">Museum</placetype></placename> for Contemporary Art and the Dallas Museum of Fine Art I had first hand knowledge of the dynamics at play and of the proposed merger of the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Museum director Douglas MacAgy mounted some interesting exhibits at the DMCA. The 1962 survey show of works from <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> was a real treat. Another was the first <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region> retrospective exhibition of Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That show was a great introduction to Magritte although surrealism was far from new and no longer cutting edge. One MacAgy exhibition included the work of painter Gerald Murphy; but it did not elevate Murrphy above dilettantism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MacAgy’s “The Art That Broke the Looking Glass“ left everyone scratching their heads as we sought to understand the work’s theme, let alone absorb its purported historical significance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 50 years since I have not heard it mentioned once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> MacAgy’s exhibitions were no more daring or contemporary than what Jerry Bywaters was showing at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts where Bywaters also had other periods of art to cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, the DMFA acquired a great “drip period” painting made by Jackson Pollock, “Cathedral” (1947); the DMFA was already way ahead of the pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even a personal appearance by Josef Albers, whose work “formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20<sup>th</sup> century,“ was a superb treat and a lesson for all of Dallas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, under MacAgy the DMCA was never able to develop a solid audience and failed to attract additional backer support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MacAgy lasted only a few years as director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1961 DCMA was forced to begin talking merger plans with the DMFA--not to be finalized until 1963.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> I recall a DMCA meeting where Betty Blake (Guiberson) was almost weeping and plead for extending the life of the DMCA. Victims of this merger were DMFA’s Jerry Bywaters and DMCA’s Urban and Jeanne Neininger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Neiningers were delightful people--I always thought that Urban had the closest ties to the New York artists. Because a museum directorship is such a highly visible position, given his severe stuttering condition it was doubtful whether Urban could be a successful director—otherwise he might have been able to make the DMCA work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The DCMA – DMFA merger provided the opportunity to have one museum director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Merrill C. Rueppel would be that person. According to the Boston Globe newspaper, before coming to Dallas, Rueppel had a troubled career at the St. Louis Art Museum. James Clark was fingered by the Globe as the party who chose Reuppel to become the director of the DMFA. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My involvement with the DMFA led to various interactions with Reuppel. I am not alone in characterizing him as being arrogant. Reuppel came off as being jealous of painters and sculptors. As with many museum directors and curators outside the sphere of the New York art scene, Reuppel fancied himself to be the “King” of the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. He wished his position as museum director to determine which art pieces collectors were to buy and the prices they were to pay. For this service many museum directors and curators unfairly demanded sales commissions from New York art dealers. When he learned that Dallas painters Don Vogel, Ann Cushing Gantz and I operated art galleries and that I was regularly advising Margaret McDermott and James Clark about their art collections, Merrill became outraged. He knew that painters, sculptors and other creative types can demonstrate our “eye” for high quality content and meaning and that others could verify our professional credentials and standing. For centuries artists have been chosen as advisors by serious, forward-looking collectors. Artists as advisors include: Mary Cassatt, Arthur B. Davies, “Ashcan school” movement cofounder William James Glackens, Jacques Lipchitz and Diego Velázquez; Johannes Vermeer was an art dealer.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> When Reuppel learned that I had again won the top prize at the Texas Annual Exhibition in 1964 he cancelled the DMFA’s co-sponsorship of future exhibitions. That exhibition had grown to such stature as to be jointly sponsored by major Texas museums. Prize winners were routinely announced in museum catalogs. But when the time came to announce that I had won, it was omitted from print…petty, petty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public was kept in the dark about my prize until the exhibition opened at the Witte Museum of San Antonio, Texas; the Witte Museum’s catalog noted my prize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> Next on Reuppel’s hit list was his order to close the DMFA’s art school. He had a confrontation with sculptor and art teacher Octavio Medellin about the school. I convinced Margaret McDermott to have a committee hearing on the matter and it did take place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt that all of the options should be discussed such whether to close the school, work at improving it, or for it to remain unchanged. Jerry Bywaters, who at the time was the art department chair at Southern Methodist University, said that the DMFA’s art school should be improved. Jerry felt that the likes of DMFA’s art school teachers Otis Dozier, Octavio Medellin and myself was reason enough to keep the school viable. Bywaters had been unsuccessful in recruiting these same people to teach at SMU. I had declined Jerry’s offer to teach there since the early 1960s. I vividly remember Jim Clark’s phone call to me about the committee’s recommendation to improve the school; it had been adopted by the DMFA’s board of trustees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically, most professional art schools have been attached to museums beginning with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the 1700s, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Corcoran in Washington, D.C., Art Institute of Chicago. Given what we knew about Reuppel, predictably the DMFA’s art school was closed anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> Margaret McDermott and I attended a lecture by Reuppel on 19th Century American art history which was his field of study. I noted that he had not only failed to mention the first museum and art school in the U.S., the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which graduated such illustrious names as Mary Cassatt, Thomas Eakins, the Peal family, and many of the “Ashcan School” movement’ s artists. Reuppel mischaracterized Cassatt as having been trained in Europe. McDermott asked me write him a note pointing out the omission and errors. His reply to me was rude. Reuppel said that I should take the wax out of my ears. And he denied that he had said that Cassatt was not U.S. trained before she settled in Paris!</span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">A tape recording exists, made by Ann Cushing Gantz, painter and former teacher at the DMFA school’s regular high school art class, where Ann tells of a talk by Reuppel at Hockaday High School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Painter Ruth Harrison was then head of the art department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the recording Reuppel was asked why he did not look at Texas artists’’ work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His priceless reply was that if we were any good we would have already left for New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about his situation? If his career was so great--he studied in Wisconsin, was at the St. Louis Art Museum and DMFA, but no New York offers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By about 1968 many artists, civic leaders and art patrons were so disgusted with Reuppel that rumors surfaced about the McDermott</span> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">art collection: it was about to be lost to the University of Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I asked Margaret about the rumor her reply was that she and I had worked so hard to see that her collection would compliment what the DMFA already had—that nothing was further from her mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course I urged her to make no commitment about moving her art collection until we had the chance to make the management of the Dallas museum, one that was so good and well run, that no Dallasite would ever consider leaving their art collection elsewhere.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To have a say on how the DMFA was managed—the “move the McDermott art collection” rumor nudged concerned artists in that direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A local chapter was formed of the National Artists Equity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose of the chapter was to draft a credentialed artist to represent all image makers to the board of the DMFA. A NAE requirement was that one had to have considerable community recognition to belong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dallas sculptor Arthur Koch, who was trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Washington, and is one of the most successful artists, was voted to represent the NAE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Koch is one of the best art teachers in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is an exceptional person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The NAE membership was large and it grew to represent the professional world of Dallas artists.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, Reuppel vanished from Dallas without any official museum explanation. In time we learned that he had been named director of the prestigious Museum of Fine Art, Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the Boston Globe newspaper, Reuppel immediately offended that museum’s curators and others.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year or so later I received a phone call from Boston Globe reporter Otile McManus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asked me if I knew of Merrill Reuppel. I told her I did and invited her to visit Dallas to learn more, which she did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I introduced her to various art world figures and arranged for Ed Bearden, a DMFA senior staff member, to take her into the museum’s basement storage area to view the still unannounced and still unexhibited (at the time about nine years had gone by since Jim Clark had donated them to the DMFA) alleged works by 19<sup>th</sup> century French painter Henri Fantin-Latour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the key to this mystery was that art collector James Clark had donated these dubious paintings in order to take a $40,000 U.S. federal income tax deduction as if the works were authentic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently Reuppel accepted the two “Fantin-Latours,” definitely not to exhibit them, but for other reasons, perhaps for Clark to take advantage of a big federal income tax deduction, what else could it be? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jim Clark admitted to reporter McManus that he had in fact claimed a federal income tax deduction and that he knew the artwork’s authenticity was questionable.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This and much else was revealed by the Boston Globe in its March 7 and 19, 1975 newspaper editions and an article appeared in Time Magazine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Tuesday, June 10, 1975 Globe headline stated, “MUSEUM TRUSTEES FIRE REUPPEL.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on the same day, in the New York Times, “BOSTON MUSEUM OUSTS DIRECTOR,” a blunt term I had never before or ever since seen printed about a museum director’s leave-taking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> Chapter 6 to follow...soon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Included:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">more professional recognition </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">family home life</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Fortune Magzine's misfortune</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">McDermott art collection</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Northwood enters</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Matrix for the Arts" at University of Illinois</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> Françoise Gilot and Jonas Salk</span><br />
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All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-35336168396329990242012-01-08T19:18:00.002-06:002012-01-08T19:29:02.583-06:00Observations by Chapman Kelley - 2011admin. note:<br />
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During the past month painter Chapman Kelley has completed four revealing chapters via his memoirs. In this piece he reflects on the past, current and future of the U.S. art scene. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"> CHAPMAN KELLEY<br />
Observations<br />
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Why is it so important to return to strong professional management of art museums?<br />
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The difference, dear friends, if you haven't noticed it, between the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s and now (the present), is that during those earlier years, the artist was indisputably and unequivocally central to the art scene! The public benefited from this legitimate arrangement through its exposure to art by burgeoning professional artists. This was clearly evidenced in Dallas by the crowd who went, at their own expense, to the opening of my first New York solo exhibition and to an awards ceremony at the National Academy of Design. Dallasites prided themselves as shareholders, holding a share in our success! They returned in even greater numbers the following year, and Braniff Airlines volunteered to schedule a 707 just to take a group of us to New York for my second exhibition. [See Sam Blain Dallas Art History Blog] <br />
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Art critic Harold Rosenberg, with whom I served on a panel for The Matrix for the Arts Symposium at the University of Illinois in 1967, commented that the artist has been demoted. Essentially, art market manipulators are having their day at the expense of both art professionals and Dallas citizens who pay for it all. All funds used by museums are either direct government funding or tax deductible funds, therefore qualifying as public funds. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The late Ted Pillsbury, an important player on the American art museum scene, said that art galleries are becoming more like museums and art museums are becoming more like commercial galleries. The New York Times article, "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/arts/artsspecial/art-gallery-shows-stir-excitement-of-their-own.html?pagewanted=all">Stealing The Show</a>," published Sunday, October 23, 2011, echoes Pillsbury's opinion. It states and illustrates that galleries are winning the race, have important exhibitions with scholarly catalogues, and are gaining greater audiences because they have better shows and are admission-free while most art museums around the country charge admission - $25 per visitor at the Museum of Modern Art. <br />
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It is obvious to me that a large part of the difference between the art world of earlier years with the current art world is that art museum donors have usurped aesthetic decisions that were once the exclusive domain of art professionals. "Big donors," driven by deep pockets and a self-serving interest in personal profits, in effect control too many museums' aesthetic decisions in order to inflate the value of their private holdings and manipulate the art market. Successful art dealers and serious collectors, on the other hand, bet their own money and seek a preponderance of independent professional opinions, including assessments by more established artists (in Dallas, however, the more established artists are blacklisted), to pick the most promising newcomers. <br />
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It's pathetic that many donors and speculators seem to have convinced themselves that, not only do they know more about art, but they are also more important than the artists themselves. Shame on those of you dilettantes, who distort the art museum world out of greed and personal gain, thus destroying the credibility of our art museums - formerly fair arbiters of taste - replacing professionalism with your twaddle! <br />
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I would like to venture some questions for all to ponder and chew on while we partake of our holiday feasts together with our children and grandchildren.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> As our children grow to adulthood, what will they inherit in the art museums of the future? How will museum aesthetic decisions made now impact the legacy of future generations and the art of their own times? And how will those decisions shape our children's aesthetic experiences and attitudes toward their art institutions? Will they reflect the best of their inheritance or will museum art represent the dregs and left over fantasies of current market manipulators and speculators and/or the fickle fashion of the moment? Will serious art and artists continue to be held hostage by the distortion of art as mere commodities for financial market speculation by fashionistas?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
I believe that irrevocable hard evidence, which will be revealed in my ongoing memoir, will point to obvious answers. Please stay with us and hang on for a bumpy but serious ride, which hopefully will contribute toward the flourishing of a more professional art world based once again on integrity, museum accountability and transparency. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The image below is of a letter written to Chapman by University of Texas Professor in the Arts Donald L. Weismann regarding the work of sculptor Alberto Collie. The letter is dated November 15, 1966.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M1lHTQQ19vY/TwomFDP49hI/AAAAAAAAALU/letyUWW1Pi4/s1600/chapman+kelley+u+t+collie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M1lHTQQ19vY/TwomFDP49hI/AAAAAAAAALU/letyUWW1Pi4/s640/chapman+kelley+u+t+collie.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Have a healthy and prosperous New Year!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations. </span></div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-89095222176097914832011-12-29T23:21:00.015-06:002011-12-31T21:04:38.624-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 4<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> My art students Cynthia Stewart and Marilyn Corrigan were among my tennis partners. In 1961 Marilyn brought her daughter Mary to model for me. The resulting painting was called "Mary and Daisies" which was accepted by the 157th Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture, which is this country’s oldest (since 1807) and most prestigious exhibition. The show was held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The exhibition was always juried by three artists who were among the best known and respected of the time. "Mary and Daisies" appeared in<i> La Revue Moderne</i>, a French art publication. Best of all, this activity drew the attention of New York's Janet Nessler Gallery who offered to have my first solo show in New York in March of 1963. Having my work exhibited in the PAFA's 1962 exhibition of former students was most likely another factor in influencing Nessler's decision to show my work. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Another Nessler Gallery exhibition was of Ben Kamihira's work. He was a student at the PAFA and our years there overlapped in 1951. I considered Ben to be a great artist. He was the best artist to emerge from the PAFA since 1950. I successfully exhibited his works at Atelier Chapman Kelley and even sold one, "Wedding Dress," to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. I own some of Kamihira's lithographs and an early painting. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Later when I first visited the Greenwich, Connecticut home of the great collectors of America art Olga and Joe Hirshhorn, Joe asked me who I was showing next at ACK. When I told him it would be Ben Kamihira, Joe said "great, great artist, deserves more public recognition--a real painter's painter." Joe told me he wanted to buy more of Kamihira's work. I remarked that it was my understanding that he already owned six or eight pieces. He reiterated that he wanted to buy more and he did so. Joe Hirshhorn was a true collector and cared for artists in many ways. He never sold their work, preferring to hold it as part of his private collection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In 1961 and early 1962 my work was exhibited at the Centennial Museum (since renamed Art Museum of South Texas). The show was enormously successful. Museum director Kathleen Gallander was literally selling paintings off the walls; it was as if we were in a commercial gallery setting. As a result I was asked to teach at the museum in the summer of 1962 which suited my schedule regarding my second New York show. We rented a house in Port Aransas and took the family. Painter Noel Mahaffey came along to help with the classes and earned money to supplement his Dallas Museum of Fine Art scholarship given to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art. While in Port Aransas I met another Hawn family, Patsy Singer and Bonny Wyatt (wife of Oscar) who was soon to be divorced and marry John Swearingen, the most powerful oil executive of his generation. The Swearingens became very important to me through the years and in 1982 invited me to Chicago to create my Chicago Wildflower Works I (1984 - 2004). More will be said later about the Swearingens.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the whirlwind of preparing for my New York show I had to set some priorities. In order not to compromise my painting time I had Perry Nichols fill in for me as substitute teacher for the studio classes. I was unaware, until just before we boarded the jet in Dallas, that for my opening exhibition at the Nessler Gallery a large group of friends, fans and students from Dallas were attending it. So we boarded the plane amidst television cameras and an anonymously sent cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luxury retailer Stanley Marcus took on a leadership role. The Dallas Morning News sent their art critic to cover the entire trip. People from many other cities joined in the trip. Painter Elaine de Kooning helped to coordinate as we set up 10 days or so of museum, gallery and studio visits. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Janet Nessler had submitted "Emplacement Dune" to the National Academy of Design Exhibition and it won the S.J. Wallace Truman Prize for artists under 35, so we took our formal wear for that opening. I was a bit embarrassed because I thought the National Academy was stuffy and old-fashioned for the most part and I was, along with painters such as Larry Rivers, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, trying to find new things to do with figuration in light of the great success of the Abstract Expressionists who were too strong to even leave their second generation any room to expand without looking too easy and imitative. "Emplacement Dune" was then invited to the Artists West of the Mississippi Exhibition at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> American painter and draftsman Edwin Dickenson had seen "Emplacement Dune" at the National Academy of Design Exhibition in New York; hence this much-traveled painting was invited back to New York to the American Academy of Arts and Letters for their Childe Hassam Purchase Competition. The AAAL membership consists of a prestigious group of artists and writers who annually brought works together which they had seen during the year. The AAAL purchased work to be donated to museums. I think the folks at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center must have requested "Emplacement Dune" because when it won the Childe Hassam Purchase Competition, the painting was given to the Center. Members of the AAAL who made the decision for my work to win include: Edward Hopper, Jacques Lipchitz, Peter Blume, Robert Lowell, Malcolm Cowley, Marianne Moore, Lewis Mumford, Lillian Hellman, and of course Edwin Dickenson. Certainly it was the greatest honor I had received.<br />
<br />
In 1963 New York art exhibits were affected by a six month printer's strike; word of mouth was the method of communication. Nonetheless, my work, which was included in a 34 painting exhibit, actually sold out! The sales generated a Life Magazine article, "<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=e1IEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA125&dq=chapman%20kelley%20life%20magazine&lr=&pg=PA125#v=onepage&q&f=false">Sold Out Art</a>," about the few shows that had prospered despite the press strike. Most of the "sold out art" artists were of the Pop Art movement such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jim Dine, Tom Wesselman, George Segal and others. And a few of us oddballs were included like Pablo Picasso and myself--not bad eh?<br />
<br />
During the trip for my exhibiton we visited East Coast museums, galleries and studios. New York gallery owner Sidney Janis lectured us about the Jim Dine exhibit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were to see to it that no one sat in the Jim Dine "chair" because it was part of the art exhibit. Some of the studios we visited were those of Elaine de Kooning, Abstract Expressionist sculptor Herbert Ferber, Ray Parker, Bob Mallory, and Nell Blaine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
Wildenstein Gallery stayed open for cocktails and a grand tour was conducted by its vice president, and soon to be president, Louis Goldenberg. Linda Hayes and I had spotted a painting in Goldenberg's office; in 2010 Linda told me she wished she could own the small half-draped nude in a landscape by Corot. I told her that I too coveted it. If I had known of the prosperity that would soon be mine I would now own that charming painting! Goldenberg was so impressed with the group of attendees that he asked me to meet with him the next morning. Bob Hayes--who grew the largest Chevrolet enterprise and Avis rental car business in the U.S.--and I learned the purpose of the meeting. It was to give me unrestricted access to offer for sale the entire available inventory of the Wildenstein Gallery--wow! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I had learned some art dealer lessons in my short association with Houston based art dealer Meredith Long and so I set my terms: <br />
(1.) that my clients would not negotiate prices, my gallery was one price fits all. <br />
(2.) that since my gallery offered only set prices without discounts, except to museums using their own money, it would continue so with Wildenstein stock, the quoted prices would be the same that Wildenstein would expect to sell to, for example, American philanthropist and thoroughbred racehorse breeder and owner Paul Mellon <br />
(3.) that I would pay my own expenses<br />
(4.) I would settle for a small commission that a house salesman would receive, the affect on the sales price would be minuscule </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(5.) that my clients would remain my clients through all future sales going through Wildenstein Gallery</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
This relationship continued and was reiterated by Goldenberg. This set the scene for years later when Bill Clements and his son Gill went to Louis Goldenberg to pay for their first purchases including a beautiful Mary Cassatt "The Reading Lesson" c. 1901. Bill acknowledged that I had met with him and family regularly across several years sharing with them the fine works that I was placing in other prime collections in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. Goldenberg told Clements that we were to continue selling on the same basis with him as my client and of the many services I could provide and at the same time he would be assured the best choice possible and the best price without haggling. Also, if Bill was in New York and I happened to be unavailable, Lois Goldenberg was authorized to personally show Bill artwork and any pieces shipped to Dallas for consideration would be via Atelier Chapman Kelley.<br />
<br />
These were terms that I set with the best New York galleries and private dealers in New York. They all wanted the Dallas collectors. Some of them, such as Wildenstein, Knoedler & Company, Larry Rubin, Ivan Karp, and some private dealers honored their commitment. Other galleries such as Forum, who I sued related to a Ben Kamihira work, (they represented Kamihira after Nessler Gallery closed), endeavored to "cut us out" once they had met our clients--just a greedy way to charge my clients more cash and was the result of short-term thinking. Also guilty were Coe Kerr Gallery, Andre Emmerich Gallery and especially Marlboro Gallery for whom I had sold much artwork. I learned of Marlboro's perfidy at the same time as their illegal dealings with the Rothko Estate made national headlines. I immediately dropped them as a business partner. Naturally, most of the great artists' estates removed Marlboro Gallery as their representative. The new breed of outlaw art marketers seem to like to present themselves as plundering brigands; they rebuilt Marlboro in their image.<br />
<br />
Janet Nessler arranged two exhibitions for my work in San Francisco and Carmel, California. She rented Mark Rothko's house and studio at 250 Bradford St. Provincetown, Massachusetts, for the summer from mid-May to mid-September to assure enough of my work for a follow up show in 1964. Our neighbors included Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler (she died December 27, 2011), critically acclaimed writer, playwright, photographer and inventor Abe Burrows, sculptor and printmaker Boris Margo and German-born American abstract painter Friedal Dzubas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
It was quite an experience for my sons Cole and Kevin, as we visited Provincetown both earlier and later in the season than most of the summer residents. The boys got to know the lobstermen's sons. Together they caught, farmed and ate raw mussels. We could buy those 8 to 12 pound lobsters that the "trade" kept for themselves--warding off the public by saying that they were tough and not tender--which was not true.<br />
<br />
So it was in Rothko's Provincetown studio that I developed my most conspicuous figurative and nonfigurative combinations--figures, nudes, sea, poplars and fields of wildflowers; those dominated my work until it led to my Wildflower Works concept in 1976.<br />
<br />
Mildred Hawn came to visit which was fun. Linda and Bob Hayes came over and we made a remarkable find--Venezuelan sculptor Alberto Collie and his first magnetic floating sculpture. By financing Collie's work in Dallas, Atelier Chapman Kelley had his first solo exhibit. In a different show, long lines formed at ACK to view a single Collie floating sculpture that we had purchased in Provincetown. ACK arranged his first New York show at the Lee Nordness Gallery, the dealer of the moment because of his having assembled the S.C. Johnson Collection that travelled the world. Alberto's New York show was so significant that in 1964 Time Magazine wrote about it in, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898188,00.html">"Sculpture: Merlin with Magnets."</a> Collie, an important new artist and genius, garnered recognition at the São Paulo Art Biennial and the Carnegie International. (Today in 2011, the Carnegie International is the oldest exhibition of international contemporary art in North America.) Collie studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bob Hayes arranged a scholarship for Collie enabling him to attend Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Soon after that Alberto was recruited to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Working in a basement under tight security he created a free-floating version of his work only to discover that the moored sculpture was more beautiful.<br />
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In hindsight we had a truly amazing time in Provincetown. I managed to have a couple of visits with "legendary teacher, incendiary painter and catalyst of the Abstract Expressionists movement," Hans Hofmann. Amazingly, his artwork crater was able to skillfully crate 20 or so relatively wet canvases of my work to ship to Dallas! Princess <span style="color: black;">Cecil Blaffer "Titi" von Fürstenberg, a patron of the arts and a member of a family that combined two great Texas oil fortunes, of the Blaffer-Hudson family of Houston, visted with us.</span> At summer's end we had a large "open" party and found that I had scandalized all of Provincetown by working so diligently on my paintings. But isn't success in life making the most of opportunities? And what opportunities I have had!<br />
<br />
When we got back from Provincetown we began to frame my paintings for the New York show and on Friday, November 22, 1963 we took a break to go to the corner of Maple and Cedar Springs to catch a glimpse of our Commander-in-Chief's motorcade. We watched the four-door convertible limousine roll by, with its top down, carrying a smiling President Kennedy a scant few yards away from us.<br />
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We had a small gathering at our house on Brown St. We were there to view paintings being shipped to New York. Margaret and Gene McDermott showed up. It was indeed a portentous event. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Next installment of memoirs to include :</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chapter 5</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">art collector Jim Clark's "Henri Fantin-Latours"<br />
the beginning of the McDermott Collection<br />
the unfortunate career of former Dallas Museum of Art director Merrill C. Reuppel<br />
Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art merges with the Dallas Museum of Fine Art<br />
Texas Annual Art Exhibition<br />
art school of the Dallas Museum of Art</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations. </span></div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-21122205257687871692011-12-18T19:41:00.006-06:002013-11-25T21:05:52.939-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 3 During these early years my work was shown in a variety of solo and group exhibitions including: <br />
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1956 Junior League of San Antonio Gallery, San Antonio, TX (Bright Shawl)<br />
1957 Men of Art Guild, San Antonio, TX<br />
1957 Spring, Mary Nye Gallery, Dallas, TX<br />
1957 Fall, Mary Nye Gallery, Dallas, TX<br />
1957 Southwestern Art Invitational Exhibition Dallas Museum of Fine Art (circulated nationally by American Federation of Art) <br />
1958 Fall, Mary Nye Gallery, Dallas, TX<br />
1959 Dallas Museum for the Contemporary Arts (Made in Texas by Texans)<br />
1959 Ringling National Exhibition, Sarasota, FL<br />
1959 Art USA Invitational, New York, NY (Coliseum)<br />
1959 St. Johns College, Houston, TX<br />
1959 Nancy Negley Gallery, Austin, TX <br />
1961 Exhibition of Texas Artists, Newport, R.I.<br />
1962 Exhibition of Young Americans, Boston, MA, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)<br />
1962 157th Exhibition Annual of Painting and Sculpture the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA <br />
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Because of my success as a painter I began to attract more serious students, some of them full time. One was James Havard. He went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, was a pioneer of abstract illusionism and became world famous; financial success followed. His work is owned by, among other museums, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Metropolitan Museum of New York, NY, National Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. PA, Oklahoma Art Center (renamed Oklahoma Museum), Oklahoma City, OK, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.<br />
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James Havard is now the subject of a recently published book. Since Havard’s first solo exhibition at Atelier Chapman Kelley (ACK) in 1965, he has had 65 more exhibitions as of 2006.<br />
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Another is Tom Palmore who is considered to be one of America’s best painters. In 1965, after not finding the real art world as a student at three universities, he asked around to find the “best painter” to study with and since my name was dominant, he dropped out of University of North Texas and came to study at ACK full time. Palmore went on to be a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He earned early and rapid, almost unprecedented, success. His work was included in the Venice Biennale and around the world, literally. Palmore's work is in many collections, the list is long, including: The Whitney Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum, Brooklyn Museum, St. Louis Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Everson Museum of Art, Smithsonian Museum, Denver Museum, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Tom’s new book, “Earthlings—the Paintings of Tom Palmore” is fascinating. A short passage has much appreciated kind words for yours truly and a painting “Chapman at the Beach,” is a riot. Palmore is a most unique and original artist.<br />
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Noel Mahaffey is universally considered among my acquaintances to be the most talented student in the Dallas Museum of Fine Art High School Scholarship Class, ever. He was in the class when I began teaching it in 1959. Mahaffey went on to study at the PAFA where he must have loafed. He returned to Dallas, with his “tail between his legs,” to the remarkable study group that we had then—where he was challenged as never before and responded brilliantly to an assignment with a painting. That work won the top purchase prize in the Eight States Exhibit at the Oklahoma Museum in 1966. I had won the same prize in 1965. Another former student, Don Bradley, won it in 1963. Mahaffey's work was in Sidney Janis' “Sharp-focus Realism” show and in many of the exhibitions and collections of the sharp- focus or photorealist exhibitions. Noel probably has, having been an original first generation member of a major movement, the most secure position historically than any Texan since Robert Rauschenberg. Unfortunately Noel died young while painting more work for his New York art dealer the famed Ivan Karp. <br />
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Robert “Bob” Yarber, also hailed from DMFA’s High School Scholarship Class. He went on to earn a full scholarship to the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, more commonly known simply as Cooper Union. He earned a BFA in 1971 and gained his MFA at Louisiana State University in 1973. Yarber achieved recognition in the Venice Biennale in 1984 and the Whitney Biennial in 1985. Charles Hagen wrote that Yarber, "is best known for a series paintings of flying and falling figures seen above cityscapes viewed at night." The main idea of Yarber’s works revolve around "combining antiquity with modernism." Yarber is a distinguished professor of art at Pennsylvania State University. <br />
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Willie Wayne Young was also one of the best talents in my 1959 DMFA High School Scholarship Class. He studied and exhibited at ACK where he was also an expert frame maker. In 1993 he had his fist New York solo show at Ricco Maresca Gallery. In 1994 his work was shown at the Moore College of Art and Design’s Goldie-Paley Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. His work was in the 2002 "Obsession" exhibit at the prestigious Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago and "Draw" in 2006 at the Mason Murer Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. Young's work was in the important "A World of Their Own" at the Newark Museum and selected by Marsha Tucker for an exhibition, "A Labor of Love," at her New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, NY. In 2009 Young had a one man exhibit "The Visionary Art of Willie Wayne Young" at Dallas' African American Museum and in 2010 featured at the Farmers Branch Manske Gallery. There is a film of a panel discussion of his exhibition at Dallas' African American Museum on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-0wxCbxbY">YouTube</a>, created by Rebecca Stringer.<br />
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Another two of my former students chose wisely to support their painting by becoming art conservators and each became world famous; they are Roy Perkinson and Ross Merrill.<br />
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Roy Perkinson dropped out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study at ACK full time, 1960 - 1961. He then returned to MIT where he majored in physics and philosophy. He then worked in MIT's instrumentation lab on missile guidance systems.<br />
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However, he continued to study painting and conservation and became very famous because his scientific training was timely in the advancing field of paper conservation. Most of his career was at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston with three years at the museums of San Francisco. Roy is now retired. He paints and exhibits with distinction in the Boston area. <br />
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Ross Merrill studied at ACK. After leaving ACK he studied at the PAFA. He worked as conservator at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Merrill received a masters degree in conservation at Oberlin University and worked at the Cleveland Art Museum. He finished his career after many years as chief conservator at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. However, Merrill never stopped painting and even conducted plein aire workshops.<br />
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Alton Bowman was a student at Gainsville, spent a period of time at ACK, then studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He returned to Dallas to become a master craftsman restorer, a conservator of furniture. Alton is a lecturer and the go-to man about anything having to do with furniture. Bowman uses furniture as his medium in works of fine art.<br />
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Three former students, Carol Barth, Duke Horn and Ann C. Weary are having exhibits in Dallas, TX this fall.<br />
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I am, of course, very grateful that I have had the opportunity to have participated early in so many talented and dedicated lives. I know of former students from San Francisco, CA to Boston MA to Tuscon AZ and I would like to hear from others.<br />
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As far as I know, none of these former students, in spite of their stellar recognition elsewhere and the fact that three were products of DMFA's High School Scholarship Class, has ever been exhibited or collected by the DMA. We now have a hereditary blacklist. What are people so afraid of? Do they fear the truth? <em>Ars longa vita brevis</em>. <br />
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On December 27, 1960 I had my first visit from someone who started acquiring artwork "from scratch" and who was to become an important collector---James H. Clark. He was very interested in serious collecting. Until then Clark had only purchased a few Japanese prints. In particular he wanted to find a first rate "school of art" that was undervalued as an investment. I had recently had a very successful solo show at Meredith Long's Houston gallery and Long wanted to team up with me; he had some "goodies" to offer. At the time American Impressionist paintings were available with a better selection than their French counterparts and at about 10% of the price. I offered to show him two first-rate works by leading American impressionist painter Childe Hassam and for comparison, one Claude Monet work valued at $65,000.<br />
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Clark purchased Hassam's "Pear Plum Blossoms" for $8,000 and "Cliff at Appledore" at $7,500 along with my "Saddle Dune" and several Hobson Pittman pastels and watercolors.<br />
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His wife Lillian Clark was so horrified at his $15,500 purchase that she begged me to, "give Jim a breather and offer no more for a while." Clark was an inveterate researcher and we had many many conversations. He soon became a board member of the Dallas Museum of Fine Art.<br />
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The two paintings Clark bought would be shipped to Dallas via Houston. Before they arrived, I asked my friend and banker Robert H. Stewart III what he knew of Clark. He replied that Clark had been brought to Dallas, after being in the U.S. Navy, by Clint Murchison Sr. to research and advise his sons who were diversifying their holdings; they needed guidance on which companies to buy.<br />
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Along the line Clark had misappropriated some funds and was severely dressed down by Clint Murchison Sr. The episode was verified to me by my art student Virginia, Clint Sr.'s wife. After a period of time Clark recovered from the Murchison Sr. reprimand and decided to become an art collector. <br />
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He had made some forays into a couple of galleries, ones that I would not have recommended to anyone. Clark purchased several French paintings, again, ones which I would not have recommended. He was soon convinced of his missteps. The problem of unburdening himself of the artwork was solved by Wildenstein Gallery's (established 1875) New York manager, Louis Goldenberg. There were ways for reputable dealers to dispense with embarrassing mistakes and this was done with the expectation that Clark would buy better French paintings. All were sold except for two that were allegedly created by 18th century Frenchman Henri Fantin-Latour. Clark could not afford the quality paintings he was expected to buy. More to come later about the "Fantin-Latour" artwork shenanigans and the Dallas Museum of Fine Art's involvement.<br />
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Clark was a serious collector at a crossroad. He had many many questions for me. Since I had haunted the Philadelphia Museum of Art where two of the greatest 20th century artists' works--sculptor Constantine Brancusi and painter Piet Mondrian--were well represented, I was very familiar with them. (New York City and Washington, D.C. were close enough that Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art students like myself made day trips to avail ourselves of their great museums.) In fact, Mondrian's pier and ocean series of 1914 and 1915 have strongly influenced my work; my effort to combine overtly figurative and nonfigurative elements on the same canvas is like mixing fire and water.<br />
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The good news was that New York's Sidney Janis Gallery, widely considered to be an art "beacon," seemed to have the whole estates of Brancusi and Mondrian. Regarding these two artists and their tremendous influence on all subsequent 20th century design of all kinds, I felt their prices were undervalued. The price range suited Clark's pocketbook.<br />
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Clark began buying early Mondrians for under $10,000. Without Mondrian's more mature plastiques of the 1920s, I kept insisting to Clark that his previous purchases would have little meaning as a collection. The break came when Clark purchased one of Mondrian's transitional paintings of trees. My case was assured when I received a phone call I will never forget. Clark asked me to guess what he had just purchased--"Place de la Concorde" a great and well known Mondrian plastique painting. <br />
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Clark also purchased a $55,000 Brancusi egg whose sculpture works related so much to Mondrian's paintings. I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't my favorite egg. I had recommended to Clark that he acquire a $60,000 Brancusi fish.<br />
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The DMFA eventually had an exhibition of work by Mondrian. DMFA museum director Jerry Bywaters used to kid me by asking how I had managed to persuade Clark to buy all of the Mondrians even before Clark knew of Mondrian's nationality.<br />
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The DMFA asked me to guide a tour of the Mondrian show and while doing so a woman asked me what made this Mondrian any better than her linoleum kitchen floor. I told her that Mondrian did it first and better; that her linoleum floor looked as it did because Mondrian had had the greatest influence on all 20th century design.<br />
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According to some of my dealer friends from out of town they had to see Clark on each trip to know what he was buying or selling--questionable behavior from an ethical viewpoint for Clark who at the time was a DMFA officer. Clark did come to ACK to consider a Ben Kamihira "Wedding Dress" for the museum and also viewed a "floating" Alberto Collie sculpture. The museum bought both for their permanent collection. Unfortunately for the museum-goer, the Collie work is broken and in museum storage and the Kamihira work was sold without explanation. The museum made unreasonable decisions about these two works considering the artists' recognition beyond Texas. Was there any reason for these actions or inactions other than they were both bought through a local artist-owned gallery, ACK? The Dallas Museum of Fine Art has desperately hidden the successes of local artists and dealers. Are these the decisions made by small thinking snobs? It further reminds me of the blacklisting of artists and others.<br />
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One unfortunate missed meeting with Clark may have been both costly as well as embarrassing to a very decent and generous Dallas gentleman--Al Meadows. I had my share of offers from travelling dealers of questionable character and art goods.<br />
<br />
One evening I found myself in a motel room with two men and a number of allegedly 20th century master's works on paper. I was first struck by the uniform whiteness of the paper. Whiter than that which I had drawn on the night before. Then, as the experienced framer that I was, I noticed that all of the frames were carved and gold leafed but of ready made stock. The papers of authentication were new and executed by one person. Hoping to cause those salesmen to bypass Dallas and not prey on other collectors I made an appointment to bring DMFA president Jim Clark and that between us we could convince them that Dallas was not a happy hunting ground for artworks which were "not right." Unfortunately Clark had to break the appointment.<br />
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I warned my own regular collectors about the salesmen. Although I knew Algur "Al" H. Meadows well enough to ask him to take Hobson Pittman and prominent collectors Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn through his collection, he wasn't a client of mine and so I did not alert him. I do not know if Meadows dealt with the salesmen. I certainly hope not. Dallas owes a great deal to Al Meadows.<br />
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In 1970, after Ohio's Kent State shootings, my wife Joan and I were Sunday brunch guests of Al Meadows. We talked with movie actor Dennis Hopper and "The Mama's and the Papa's" 1960s singer Michelle Phillips. We discussed plans for creating a Free University in Lee Park. All of them were very enthusiastic about the idea. Our plan was to propose ongoing summer classes taught by leaders in various fields but who were not necessarily professional teachers. Dallas city officials had to be on board; they gave us the green light to do it. <br />
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Actress, comedienne and singer Kaye Ballard collected my work even before my New York show. She was a regular guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. When I was in New York City she would invite me to sit with her in the show's Green Room. She invited me to a bunch of other parties.<br />
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In a years later discussion with Carson he asked Ballard how show biz stars, who were not quite superstars, survived the lean years. Here reply was that she would begrudgingly sell some of her treasured <a href="http://www.chapmankelley.com/3/asset.asp?AssetID=37996&AKey=jlbdk6w2">Chapman Kelley</a> and Robert Vickery artworks. In 1977 I didn't own any of the sand dune paintings I had created. So generous was Ballard, she kindly sold one to me. She has since collected more of my work. Ballard is a great, talented and a big-hearted lady.<br />
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During a recent<a href="http://noma.org/videos/detail/25/"> interview</a> at the New Orleans Museum of Art, our new museum director Maxwell Anderson told an interesting story. While he was the museum director at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, the museum, as in most around the world, proudly exhibited artwork of their indigenous talent. That museum policy is practiced virtually everywhere except in the U.S. We all hope he will bring the Dallas Museum of Art into the light. <br />
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The New Orleans Museum of Art has, I have heard, a whole roomful of Robert Gordy's works. We at ACK were the first to exhibit Gordy's works outside of New Orleans. Gordy has had great success beyond New Orleans. I own one of his most important pieces. I am pleased to share in his success.<br />
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Next installment:<br />
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First New York show and preparations<br />
Life Magazine article "Sold Out Art"<br />
Two major prizes in New York<br />
Joe Hirshhorn<br />
Ben Kamihira<br />
John Cunningham <br />
Working with Wildenstein Gallery<br />
Preparing for second New York show in Provincetown, Massachusetts<br />
Alberto Collie<br />
McDermott Collection<br />
Francois Gilot<br />
Dr. Jonas Salk<br />
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All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are encouraged, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-25608132725417894812011-12-08T20:15:00.008-06:002011-12-09T22:36:06.172-06:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 2<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My generation-earlier cousin Otela was a famous debutante, suffragette and perennial delegate to the National League of Women Voters. I had made a painting of her called "Pickle Server" because of a unique silver antique utensil she owned and which I included in the painting. She phoned her friend and neighbor Eleanor Rogers Onderdonk, sister of painter Julian Onderdonk. Eleanor was at one time the director at the Witte Museum. The reason for Otela’s call was to invite Eleanor to see the painting. Eleanor told me to send the painting to the Texas Annual Exhibition--the king-maker event that was sponsored by major Texas art museums. When it was time to choose, I didn't send that one, instead I sent "Kite" and "Beach at Eventide."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Men of Art Guild regularly gathered and exhibited at Cecil Casebier's frame shop. We were visiting there one Friday evening with Fletcher Martin, a west coast painter whose exhibit was opening that Sunday. Casebier had heard from someone at the Dallas Museum of Fine Art that distinguished Director Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y., Francis Henry Taylor, the show's juror, had wanted a smallish painting submitted by an “unknown” painter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were looking for one priced at only $300.00 to win the Witte Museum’s Onderdonk Purchase Prize. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a price was indicative of work by a new painter like me. However, a committee sent from the Witte Museum also had a say in the matter as they had been instructed to choose a portrait; they had to resuscitate a reject to comply. Of course we were outraged at this lost "big break" for a newcomer and all the repercussions were much discussed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the Sunday opening, Margaret Pace a committee member, rushed to tell me that Taylor had wanted "Beach at Eventide" to win the Onderdonk Prize--I was floored. Later I would see Eleanor Onderdonk at opera and symphony performances and she invariably asked what had happened to the painting of my cousin Otela!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I received a letter from Jerri Jane Smith who ran an art rental at the Dallas Museum of Fine Art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She requested the two paintings for the art rental.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I replied that I had an early 1957 exhibit scheduled at the Men of Art Guild, of which I was a member, and that I would need "Kite" for it but that when the Annual finished its tour she would be welcome to have it and "Beach at Eventide."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary Nye, who had just opened a gallery in Dallas, wrote a letter to me saying that she wanted my paintings for a show in March of 1957. So I accepted and had my <a href="http://www.dallasarthistory.com/2010/12/welcome-to-dallas-art-history-blog.html">first one man gallery exhibit</a> at age 24, only 1 1/2 years out of art school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That show sold unusually well and to rave reviews--Rual Askew art critic for the Dallas Morning News even bought work from the exhibit. Mary Nye wanted me to paint her, and as I did, several women visitors came to watch very quietly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-themecolor: text1;">Shortly after my return to San Antonio, Mary Nye called to tell me that these visitors would rent a studio and furnish students for three mornings weekly if only I would move to Dallas. Wow, only three mornings! They were a very prominent group who had studied with Perry Nichols, one of the “Dallas Nine,” before he ran off to Morocco. They were Mrs. Al "Emma" Exline from the famous Millermore family and Mrs. Royal “Pug” Jodi Miller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jodi’s sister, Virginia "Ginny" L. Murchison was the wife of Clint Murchison Sr., at the time the third or fourth richest man in the world. After Pug Miller died, Jodi married George Biddle of the famous Philadelphia and New York family. The two beautiful sisters Louise Roberts and Katherine Madden rounded out those who Jodi would tell me in later, the 1990s, <u>that they didn't just import me to teach</u> <u>but thought I would be good for Dallas</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">These charming women were as good as their word and even had some prominent men: Carr Collins Jr. and R.L. "Bob" Thornton Jr., (son of former Dallas mayor) who after he retired as head of Mercantile Bank, became an avid painter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had already booked passage aboard the<strong> </strong><em>Flandre</em> for the summer to use my second Cresson Award so it wasn't difficult to accept the generous offer to move to Dallas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Lee Nordness, a New York art dealer stopped in Dallas on his way from an American Federation of Art convention in Houston. He had heard of my successful show and invited me to visit him a his New York gallery while on my way to use my second Cresson Award for a painting tour of Europe. Jodi Miller and Paul Raigorodsky, friend of Texas Governor John Connally, had even bought purchase options to choose from works made during the trip. As a result, another exhibit using the work I painted in Europe was scheduled for the autumn of that year. All of this allowed me to provide for my family while being away from them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">On this second Cresson Award trip in 1957 I again went to the Festival of San Fermin in Pampalona, Spain but what a difference from the 1954 trip compared to being with Cresson Award art students. Our group included civic leaders Jake and Nancy Hamon who I had met in Dallas, a poet from Spain, the Henry Cabots of the Boston Cabots and novelist Robert C. Ruark whose "Horn of the Hunter" was the result of his first safari trip to Africa and his later "Something of Value" became a best seller. He led the picturesque life reputed to imitate that of author Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was a regular at the event. Unfortunately for us, he was ill and unable to join us in Pamplona that year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since this was a painting trip I spent a good amount of time in my favorite city, Florence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emma Exline, who had spent each August in Rome, invited me to join her. She had entre to Surrealist Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico and so we spent a day with him in his studio at the bottom of the famous Spanish Steps. I also had the pleasure of escorting her, and her glamorous movie star friend Italian-born Rosanna Rory, to the Villa Cesare where Rory was a judge for the Miss Italia contest. The car valets wore ancient body armor. At the end of summer Rory was invited to a party in Paris given by legendary Hollywood mogul Jack L. Warner, of Warner Bros. The three of us drove Rory's convertible from Rome to Paris--complete with Hollywood license plates--what a life. The resulting second exhibition was another expected resounding success for me and we resumed classes with additional students. One was Dick Lane. He was a wild sort of guy and became our first abstract expressionist--full time too.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Houston Museum under new director James Johnson Sweeney announced a statewide show juried by him and American sculptor Alexander "Sandy" Calder--but asked that all paintings be framed with 1/4" slats then popular with Abstract Expressionists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perry Nichols and I wrote the museum to ask if only paintings compatible with this frame were wanted. The reply was negative, so we sent paintings anyway and were both rejected. Dick Lane won the top prize with "Gusher" which I own.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In early 1959 my students and I hung an exhibit at the new Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts' new building. The building was purchased by, I believe, John and Lupe Murchison, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lambert, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Marcus and Mr. and Mrs. John O'Boyle. I understood that 1/2 of the building would be rented to support the museum. I had been the local painter most involved with the DMCA--lecturing, serving on panels, contributing work for auction and hanging exhibits with my students. Douglas McAgy was the new director.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One evening Jerry Bywaters, director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Art called me asking me to teach all of the adult classes in their summer school. I did and they had to turn away several times the number of students that could be accepted. Obviously the summer was considered a great success because I was offered my choice of classes for the winter and spring. With my background I chose the High School Scholarship Class and the then not too popular Life Drawing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The summer gained me another full time student, Bob Hayes who was between going to Harvard Business School and having to take over the family automotive business. Linda and Bob Hayes and Joan and I became fast friends for many years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since my high school students were not allowed in the museum life drawing classes, I invited them to ours and all the other classes at Atelier Chapman Kelley, of course without charge--and did they attend! Dick Fox, my framer lived on the premises and so the high school students set up shop somewhere in the building and were there day and night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dick Lane and sculptor Lo Jordans convinced me to open a gallery there also in 1959. Atelier Chapman Kelley expanded to include exhibiting as well as my studio and classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>German-born sculptor Heri Bert Bartscht who started the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts also asked to teach there and so we became an Atelier proper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our first guest instructor was famed artist Elaine de Kooning, wife of abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning. Through the years we also had Hobson Pittman, Ben Kamihira, David DeLong, and Hiram Williams among others. Most artists we exhibited also spent some time critiquing our students’ work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, I had an again successful one man show at Meredith Long's Houston Gallery. He wanted to become my business partner in Dallas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cynthia Stuart was my student, tennis partner and generous friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marilyn Corrigan was another of my students. When I decided to open Atelier Chapman Kelley Cynthia contributed a $1,000 loan to install lighting, paint the walls, etc., and when I wanted to purchase my first car to go to the coast to paint she sent me to her husband R.H. Stewart III on the day that he was named president of First National Bank of Dallas, at age 34. He had furnished his executive suite with paintings from his private collection. I was flattered when he asked me to replace them with whatever Cynthia chose from my gallery.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We loaded our new Triumph TR3 with canvases strapped to the luggage rack above the trunk and with Joan, Cole and Kevin and Yo Yo the poodle left for the coast. The canvases precluded putting the top up, so of course it rained on us and I had to weight the canvases overnight so that they wouldn't warp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the first night back in Galveston we found that they had no sand dunes for the 40" x 40" composition that I had come to paint. We did find a large pile of sand with none of the anatomy that a dune develops, but I could have Cole and Kevin in place to be painted as if on the dunes with the multicolored wooden stakes I imagined in place. I did study the effect weathering had made on knee-high dunes to make the anatomy plausible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> I moved my gallery from McKinney Avenue to a large house on Maple Avenue.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cynthia Stewart wanted "Sand Dune" in repayment for her loan. She generously withdrew the request after I told her I had planned on submitting it in an upcoming competition. She allowed me to enter it in the 1960 Texas Annual under one condition; she wanted it entered solely in the $1,000 Texas state fair competition where if it won top prize, would go into the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Fine Art..and it won!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Next installment to include:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Early success as a painter attracts serious students</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Famous students</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">J.H. Clark art collection</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Constantine Brancusi</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Piet Mondrian</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">All of the above is copyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permissiom for use will be considered upon written request. Blog comments are welcome, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-17170451889761586912011-12-03T22:18:00.017-06:002012-10-27T19:01:38.317-05:00Chapman Kelley's Memoirs - Chapter 1<div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Admin's note:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> On May 2, 2011, the Council for Artists' Rights sent an eblast telling of their choice for U.S. museum director of the decade: Maxwell Anderson.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As you may know, Anderson will be the next director of the Dallas Museum of Art beginning in January 2012. And in a subsequent letter, CFAR recommended to the DMA's internal search committee and its contracted NY executive search firm that they choose someone<u> most like</u> Anderson to fill the position. We </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">are are extremely happy that Anderson has accepted the challenge to be the DMA's next director.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Anderson's piece, "<a href="http://www.aam-us.org/pubs/mn/museumtransparency.cfm">A Clear View: The Case for Museum Transparency</a>" so well elucidates his views, that the eye of the entire art world will be on Dallas. The same museum conflicts are troubling many if not most art museums in the U.S.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The art history of the transitional years in Dallas, what the late Robert M. "Mac" Doty called a renaissance--including a museum becoming the worst run in the country--has been hidden. We have asked Chapman Kelley, a veteran of those crucial years, to shed light on that era by writing his memoirs. It will be enlightening for everyone interested to know the true history. Many will be watching developments made under the leadership of Anderson.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">And now, the first installment of Chapman Kelley's memoirs....</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I have led a very interesting life during challenging times. As a result, beginning literally decades ago, I have been urged to write my autobiography. Now seems to be the appropriate time because it will also contain, to my knowledge, the only true history of Dallas' art community during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> This memoir is for the many people who have so generously supported me and the other image makers who truly give of themselves to make the world a better and more beautiful place. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In 1985 and 1986 I lectured by invitation on my <i>Wildflower Works</i> at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and at the museum's professional school. Robert M. "Mac" Doty attended the lecture. At the time, Doty was the director of the Currier Gallery (renamed Currier Museum of Art) and former curator of the Whitney Museum, NY. Soon after the lecture, I visited with him at his home in New Hampshire. Doty was very familiar with Dallas' art world during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He considered it to be in the midst of a minor renaissance. He felt that my professional life as a painter had begun so early and at such a top level in both Dallas and New<span style="color: black;"> York that I could and should promise to reveal the disastrous deterioration the U.S. art world had taken by the 1980s</span>. Since my roles included painter, art dealer, art teacher, art collector, and having been so very fortunate personally--I promised to do it. In an effort to be accurate I have since then probably read a book a week. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I was born the third of eight children to Ruby Victoria Sloane Kelley and Ralph Payne Kelley on August 26, 1932. My family has some very interesting white Anglo Saxon protestants--some very famous, rich and influential; my great-great Uncle, American frontiersman Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson (1809 – 1868), a great-great grandfather, Robert Kelley, and my great-great-great grandfather, Dr. James H. Lyons, (1805–1881) three-time mayor of San Antonio including once at the end of the Civil War, respectively. Most of my relatives gravitated to the field of education.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Shortly after my birth my father was offered a one-fourth ownership for $100.00 in the newly created Frito Company; Frito Company evolved into Frito-Lay and is currently a division of PepsiCo Inc. Instead, he opted to be its first independent distributor. He did very well with his own sales company, but obviously would have done better as part owner. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> We were raised in a large white brick house with a few acres on a hill overlooking San Antonio. Our household included live-in servants, and a menagerie of pets. I raised registered Persian cats. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Up until high school I was very athletic with riding horses, playing center on the football team, pitching on the baseball team, running on the track team, boxing and wrestling. My father was my coach. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> My two older brothers played in the high school band and I did also but before I was in high school--the E-flat alto saxophone. So to this day I enjoy good music, particularly opera but also classic, folk, rock and jazz and the area consuming my interest is classical music. I have the radio tuned to it around the clock, each day.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I began drawing as early as I can remember and started classes with my sister Pat at San Antonio's Witte Museum at, I think, the age of eight. I thought the children's classes was not enough and so I was allowed to participate in the adult classes including life drawing! I was fortunate that my family encouraged achievement but did not worship money. I soon began classes at the private Hugo D. Pohl School. During my freshman and sophomore years at a private high school I was allowed to leave at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and skipping 60% of Geometry and Spanish classes to also study with Pohl--a classic beginning of very accurate draftsmanship. After Pohl retired, I continued classes at his studio until I left to attend the venerable Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the oldest professional art school in the U.S. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> My junior and senior years were spent at Thomas Jefferson High School which Don Vogel also graduated from and rightfully called the most beautiful high school in America. My cousin Otela ran the library and my Aunt Otela was its guidance counselor. Aunt Otela took me and my drawings to visit Ruby Dugash--painter and art teacher at Jefferson High. I had some of the usual prodigy publicity by then and Dugash confessed that she had nothing to offer, so I was enrolled every afternoon in the art department as a special student at Trinity University. Dr. Adah Robinson, who had studied at New York Art Student League alongside artist Ben Shahn, was the department chair and took a great interest and she was just what I needed at the time. Since I was to graduate in 1950 Dr. Robinson and my Aunt Otela did research on my "next steps" and we chose the PAFA. The academy had a number of real practicing professional artists, each teaching only one a day a week. They would critique the same paintings and drawings. PAFA also awarded William Emlen Cresson European Traveling Scholarships of which I won two, in 1954 and 1955. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In order to be accepted by PAFA one had to submit works. I was in such awe of that institution that I stayed out for two semesters in order to prepare the best portfolio possible. I entered the academy in the summer of 1951. Amusingly, Roy Nuse, who taught drawing at the PAFA (every art school should have one like him), would not recommend the advancement of any student for at least a year. He sought me out and insisted that I needed no more drawing and took my work to the other instructors. As a result I was immediately advanced into painting--supposedly the first such instance in the history of the PAFA. Later </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">I won the Thomas Eakins Figure Painting Award and earned honorable mentions in both the Cecilia Beaux Portrait Painting and the Perspective Competition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Joan Catherine Wisner and I were married in my second year while at PAFA. Our first son Cole Chapman Kelley II was born in my third and Kevin Carson Kelley in my fourth year--so I worked hard both in and out of school.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> While at the PAFA a group of us ate at a small French restaurant with music students from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. We would go to musical performances with them and to their critiques afterwards and they would do the same with us vis-à-vis art exhibitions. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">While at PAFA I signed up for a coordinate degree program as part of the University of Pennsylvania and was accepted. When I went to register I ran into some PAFA students who advised me to not divide my time and energy, but to instead pursue the academics later, which I did. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The principal painting instructors a<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">t the PAFA </span></span>were Franklin Watkins who had had a one man exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1950--I own one of his paintings from that exhibit. Also on staff were Hobson Pittman and Walter Steumpfig who had each been featured in a series of Life Magazine articles about leading painters of the time; it wound up with the one asking if Jackson Pollock was our greatest living artist. In sculpture class we had instructors Walker Hancock and Harry Rosin. In drawing class it was Roy Nuse, in printmaking Morris Blackburn and in painting we had Francis Speight, Julius Bloch and Rosewell Weidner. Guest artists as teachers included Peter Blum, Stuart Davis, Jacques Lipchitz and Abraham Rattner. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">I took my paintings regularly to Watkins, Pittman and Stuempfig and guest instuctors for critiques but also periodically to all the others as well.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In my first or second year I was chosen to interview French surrealist painter Yves Tanguy for a television program broadcast live, which I did. The student body cast their vote to have me head a committee to the academy's administration. But I deferred to an older student who assumed that chairmanship. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of my first exhibits at Atelier Chapman Kelley included the work of some of my former PAFA teachers--some major works by John McCoy were sold and that of Hobson Pittman, whom I regularly represented.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> PAFA students were taken to visit with major art collectors. For example, we spent time with Henry Plumer McIlhenny whose dining room featured Toulouse-Lautrec's "Moulin Rouge" with a Degas "Ballet Master" in the powder room. Mcllhenny's sister, Bonnie Wintersteen, had her fabulous Matisses. Robert Sturgis Ingersoll who at different times was president and director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, challenged us to express and defend our historical and aesthetic opinions. After Ingersoll's death Sotheby's had a 1970s auction of his personal art collection. I had to leave New York and return to Dallas for an event and so I asked one of realist painter Andrew Wyeth's daughters-in-law to bid for me. She assured me that if she bid for me one increment above the highest estimate I should be able to get a 7" and a 9" krater pottery and a stone Jacques Lipchitz that I remembered seeing in Ingersoll's garden. I acquired none because Ingersoll's "eye" was so respected that each object fetched several times the highest expectations.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In addition to the Cresson Award I had also been awarded four years of tuition scholarships, three of which were used at the PAFA. For my first Cresson European Scholarship Award I traveled along with Richard Gibney, a mural student. We went to England, France, Spain (for Pamplona's Fiesta San Fermin and its El Encierro or "running of the bulls"), Italy through Switzerland with time in Germany and Holland. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">We sailed on the Queen Mary and returned on the Queen Elizabeth. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> We spent most of the time in museums and often met up with other PAFA students. We learned to eat at student Mensas where we frequently found students of music with whom we went to the opera and concerts. They came with us to art exhibits. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Among academy students, a date was likely to be spent in a museum, which charged no admission fee; as they must be again soon in the U.S. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Whenever guest instructors were announced, many students would arrive early to sign up for a critique of their work. The students' early arrival had to do with the estimate of the guest instructor's importance. I did not arrive on time so American Expressionist painter Abraham Rattner did not get around to viewing my work. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was the end of the day and everyone was outside going home. The director and administrators were on the verge of taking Rattner to dinner. </span></span> However, on his way out he saw me putting my paintings away in my locker and stopped me saying he wanted to see more. I chased around to present as good a group possible for him. Luckily I found an empty room and quickly propped my work along the floor leaning them on the walls. Earlier in the day Rattner had been urging most of those whose work he had reviewed to learn more about their material, anatomy and solidity related to space--to develop a very painterly authority before expecting to make nonfigurative masterpieces as the Abstract Expressionists had--with the authority they had. And that pursuing a strained novelty was not the same as a well earned and considered truly personal originality. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rattner's last minute critique of my work caused a quickness, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">a gathering of the entire school. At the time I was painting figures very solidly. Rattner used my work to make his points and surprisingly predicted national recognition for me; it was another example of my good fortune.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> One memorable event was seeing a large Giorgio de Chirico exhibition in Venice. At the PAFA his bold use of chiaroscuro and free use of dramatic abstracted shadows inspired my first original group of paintings which became known as my "Nuns" series with titles like "Nuns on a Staircase," "Shine Boy - Toledo, Spain," "Cloistered Life"--and I am certain having seen original de Chirico work helped me to gain a second Cresson Award in 1955. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> My generation considered going into the arts as a vocation. No one had delusions of fame and fortune or to ever make a living at it. So in 1955 I returned to San Antonio and in order to support my painting and my family; I took a job working 45 to 50 hours a week as a purchasing agent. My employer was Martin Wright Electric Company, the largest entity in the south and southwest U.S. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">I never expected for my painting to support me, and family. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Once back in San Antonio, Dr. Adah Robinson critiqued my paintings. She advised me that some universities were hiring the best exhibiting professionals they could get and that among them was the University of Texas at Austin. I had had my works graded at PAFA anticipating going back to do academic work and had all of the records sent for an appointment with Dr. Donald Weismann chair at the University of Texas. I arrived on a Saturday morning with a station wagon full of paintings. He asked me why I wanted to go back to school after completing four and a half years of formal study and winning two PAFA Cresson Awards. I replied that much of my family was in academia and why not--it may make me a better painter. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Weismann's university colleagues <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">studied <wbr></wbr>my paintings and drawings. They </span></span>said that if I insisted on becoming a student there, I would be accepted. The consensus was that the art department would grant credit based on PAFA success. They agreed that my having previously studied and discussed history, philosophy, etc., that enrolling for those classes would be so elementary for me as to be a bore. Their strong advice was for me to instead exhibit my paintings. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Weismann </span></span>gave me copies of four letters that he sent to his friends at other similar universities to watch for me because he felt that any teaching job that I would accept later in my career would be because of professional standing and not accumulated degrees.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Years later in 1966 I had a juried exhibition at Atelier Chapman Kelley for my current and former students work and a good bit of prize money. I had Dr. Weismann as the juror--he contributed his honorarium to the prize sum. I told him that before he heard from others I wanted him to know that I used our 1956 discussion as a lesson for others planning their careers in art. He laughed at this and said that he did also. I then added that I also included the fact that a couple of years after our last meeting, and largely due to his advice, my professional stature had advanced to the extent that I was in a position to recommend him to my dealer Mary Nye for his first one-man exhibit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Of course I had family and friends in San Antonio and continued to work, paint and play tennis. My good friend Bill Thornton arranged for us to use his cousin's swimming pool. The pool was located in an estate requiring seven full time gardeners. In 1956 I painted a full length very Whistler-like picture of Bill against an interesting background; it was a paneled room imported from England, steeped in rich colors. We went for a coastal trip to Galveston with Bill and his boat. That's where I painted "Beach at Eventide.” </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Next week's memoirs installment to include:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Second European trip courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art's William Emlen Cresson Award</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Chapman Kelley imported from San Antonio to Dallas, TX</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">First commercial gallery exhibition at age 24</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">First major art prize</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">All of the above is coyrighted material, all rights reserved. Permission for use will be considered upon written request. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Comments are welcome, the use of actual full names is strongly recommended, as are affiliations with organizations.</span></span></span></div>
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adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-40944912793785416652011-11-26T23:51:00.000-06:002011-11-26T23:51:40.894-06:00Speaking of Sculpture by Bill Verhelst I hung up the phone and said to my wife, "Well, they want me to say something about where do we go from here?" Her immediate reply was, "Who is we?"<br />
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I guess That is a pretty good place to start. I am sure that you and I are most concerned about where we are going from here. It is the nature of the creative spirit that is within all of us ever to be asking questions. It is also our responsibility to our society and to our existence. This is the quality that the early school years manage to systematically destroy particularly in our childhood art. They seem to forget that it is also the responsibility of our society and its educational systems to create the circumstances allowing us freely to pursue the creative spirit within us. Perhaps rather than ask that collective question, "where are we going?" we should be asking "what are they doing to us and what can they do for us to achieve our vision?"<br />
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Having started art school in 1946 after returning from the Second World War, it seems to me that I have seen a steady erosion of some of the values and conditions that made it possible for artists to remain true to the pursuit of their vision. The art market, art galleries and museums at that time respected this quality and tampered far less with the artist and his product. What has happened to connoisseurship? Where is the respect for creativity and the artist's dreams and visions? We might very well ask,what are they doing to us?<br />
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Certainly the art scene today is most disturbing. For those who have spent time reading and thinking about art and aesthetics, distinguishing a work that has substance or content, goes well beyond a nicely designed piece with all the colors and shapes in the right place. Its silent message grasps the viewer without word, thought or explanation. What is disturbing today is an eroding of that quality. Vast numbers of creative works seem to lack originality and the aesthetic elements that lead to achieving that hidden vision. Attitudes in art schools, art galleries, art museums, municipal and corporate institutions all seem to focus on a sort of product and marketing mentality. Consequently, I see the artist being cast in the role of designer or illustrator ready to fill the next trend, order or assignment. All we need do is look a the art galleries and their lack of critical judgement and their mad scramble to handle anything marketable. Crude bad drawing (often conveniently called appropriation), derivative rehashing of any image, anything goes if it will sell!<br />
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I worked as a museum curator when art museums carried the leadership role indetermining eminence in art. Their local, regional, and national competition formed a proving ground for the young artist, free of the marketplace. An artist had to have a credible resume of those kinds of shows in order to get gallery representation. A level of connoisseurship existed that is not prevalent today. Museum curators are inclined to shop the market now for what's hot and in.<br />
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Art museums have changed considerably. The block buster shows produced to raise revenue, take on a sports event character, with all the hype. Booths selling memorabilia and the museum shop are examples. Art images are reproduced on jewelry, plates, coffee mugs, scarves and T-shirts. If there is any way to destroy the visual potency of something, simply reduce it to the commonplace.<br />
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Unfortunately, this also shifts the public's interest from substance in a work and away from purchasing a serious print, drawing, painting, sculpture or finely conceived jewelry, pottery or craft object.<br />
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Municipalities and the corporate community pose another problem. Often demonstrating a Chamber of Commerce mentality, they try to place works of art palatable to everyone. Asking artists to address themes, their easy solution, force an artist to speak not to what is in his heart but on what is on the mind of the administrator.Censorship and the quaint notion that art should address ecological, sociological or political problems can also be a limiting factor if it is imposed on the artist.<br />
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I, personally, find it hard to abandon the feeling that visual art like poetry teaches us something about ourselves and our universe that goes far beyond simply putting down some nice colors and shapes. What should be done so that we can pursue acreative path to our inner visions?<br />
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Education is obviously the principle force that could make a difference. Arts and humanities are an essential part of the human spirit. Learning how to live is certainly as important as learning how to make a living. Sound visual education of students by all educational institutions is a must if we are to have the kind of audience that is needed so that artists can pursue the best of their creative visions. Art schools, also, must focus on strong aesthetics and go beyond their trade school mentality.<br />
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Lastly, we as artists, need to do some self-examination. We should try to be aware of and focus on that silent voice within us that when revealed can produce a creative and original work.<br />
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The above text was originally published in the Texas Sculpture Association Newsletter of Sept/Oct 1991 (reprinted by the TSA in 2008)<br />
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More of Wilbur Verhelst at http ://www .txsculpture .com /member /verhelst_ wilbert.html <br />
Note: transcribed by Council for Artists' Rights, 2011adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-46271930859873553852011-07-26T20:10:00.000-05:002011-07-26T20:10:13.703-05:00Dallas wildflower artist petitions Supreme Court of the United States for reviewThe Council for Artists' Rights recently issued this release:<br />
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<strong>Flawed 7th Circuit 2011 precedent in Visual Artists Rights Act case is ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review - </strong><strong>U.S. arts community envision high court opening the door to protecting artists' rights </strong><br />
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July 26, 2011<br />
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Dear ally of artists' rights:<br />
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On July 18, 2011, Dallas wildflower artist Chapman Kelley filed a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/60497047/Chapman-Kelley-Petitions-Supreme-Court-of-the-US-7-18-11">petition</a> with the Supreme Court of the United States requesting it to review the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) February 2011 adverse decision to him in Kelley v Chicago Park District. The 7th Circuit had denied Kelley's public artwork the <a href="http://www.chapmankelley.com/2/Artist.asp?ArtistID=9918&Akey=JLBDK6W2">Chicago Wildflower Works</a> (CWW) protection under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 or VARA saying that the work failed to hurdle two aspects of copyright law, namely, authorship and fixation. <br />
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<em>To our knowledge, never before in the history of U.S. copyright law has a professionally trained and exhibited artist, such as Kelley, had to defend a work of art against someone else's definition of what constitutes art. </em><br />
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In its February 2011 decision, the 7th Circuit's "en banc" panel of justices, Daniel Manion, Diane S. Sykes and John Daniel Tinder unanimously <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/48931744/Chapman-Kelley-v-Chicago-Park-District-2-15-11">said</a> that Kelley had not "authored" CWW and that its flowers were not sufficiently "fixed" to merit protection under federal copyright law. During the same time period, this original panel of justices denied the timely filing of a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/51417727/Amicus-Curiae-Brief-of-VLA-for-plaintiff-Chapman-Kelley">amicus curiae</a> - friend of the court brief - prepared in support of Kelley by the laudable Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts - New York.<br />
<br />
The 7th Circuit's decision about the true "author" of CWW leads one to believe that all those wildflower plant seeds, independently and collectively, created CWW. The time, money and effort expended on CWW was the seeds' own making, instead of Kelley. What a preposterous idea! The justices' notion of the lack of "fixity" of CWW, they ruled that flowers are "temporary" and therefore unable to be experienced or recorded in a meaningful way is just as contestable. The DNA of plants is so dependably fixed that plants furnish us obviously with much of our food, clothing and shelter material. <br />
<br />
After flourishing in a Chicago lakeside park for 20 years, during the summer of 2004 the Chicago Park District destroyed Kelley's public artwork, the CWW. CWW was installed by him in 1984 as a noncommissioned work with official park district approval. At 66,000 sq. ft. its elements were organic and inorganic; many species of native Illinois plants configured in a double ellipse, framed in gravel and steel banding. CWW thrived solely on rainwater and used no insecticides or fertilizers. It was maintained for 20 years by an army of volunteers under Kelley's direct supervision. It garnered wide acclaim and was an environmental success story ahead of its time. Notable about CWW was that it bloomed sequentially, constantly, through three seasons. Imagine the environmental and monetary savings that resulted.<br />
<br />
Artists whose work has been altered without their permission have the federal copyright statute, VARA, to potentially aid them in their fight for justice. We say potentially because obviously justices are reluctant to recognize Kelley's declaration and intention that his Wildflower Works was a work of art; Kelley initially entertained the notion that flowers could be used in art, publicly, since the mid-1970s. The Council for Artists' Rights is not a legal scholar but it appears that those in the legal community use a term to differentiate what artists say and intend versus what the court recognizes as final and settled; the word is dispositive. So although Kelley had consistently utilized flowers in his public artwork for nearly three decades, the court has stripped him of his identity and considered his statements, action and intention as not dispositive and legally without merit.<br />
<br />
Will the Supreme Court of the United States parrot the 7th Circuit's adverse decision and carry on the tradition of being hostile to the arts community in the USA or will it instead agree with Kelley's (and other artists) decades-old declaration that flowers can be used in artwork? <br />
<br />
Should the Supreme Court not take up the issue during its next term, when, if ever, will professional artists such as Kelley be allowed to control the material, image and therefore content of their creations, to call it art and have it protected by VARA?<br />
<br />
If a court's approval is going to be necessary for an artist's choice of material and image, as implied by the 7th Circuit's holding, then it is the court who controls content. Having the power to do so is a flagrant violation of all artists' 1st Amendment right to free speech.adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-60550202774575074782011-05-02T01:07:00.011-05:002011-05-05T00:40:21.262-05:00U.S. Art Museums Must Follow this Leader<span lang=""></span><br />
<div align="center"> At a time when a number of American art museums are plagued by scandals related to the lack of public accountability, mismanagement, and gross conflicts of interest, there is one director and museum that stand out as a beacon of responsibility to the public and the professional community coupled with a cognizance of its indebtedness to the American taxpayer. The Council for Artists' Rights would like to recognize Maxwell Anderson of the Indianapolis Museum of Art as the decade's most laudable museum director in the U.S.A.</div><br />
Founded on November 7, 1883, the Indianapolis Museum of Art has long had a very distinguished record as a premier encyclopedic museum. In recent years and under the guidance of Maxwell Anderson it has gained new accolades as an up to date example in setting the tone for museums of the future. He is fully aware that tax-exempt public institutions, such as art museums, must avoid the pitfalls of being operated for the personal social enrichment and monetary benefit of a few. <br />
<br />
In the spring of 2010 the American Association of Museums published a policy paper on its website, "<em>A Clear View: The Case for Museum Transparency</em>" written by Maxwell Anderson. In it, Anderson lays the groundwork for what an art museum should aspire to. His not for the faint-hearted "gold standard" recommendations have been incorporated into the IAM's day to day operations and long-term vision. You can read Anderson's paper in its entirety at the end of this post. And prior to that, on April 4, 2001 Anderson made a statement to the U.S. Congress championing artists' rights. It is part of the Congressional Record -Senate, on pages S3444 and S3445 available <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=S3445&dbname=2001_record">here</a>.<br />
<br />
With such a stellar example of museum stewardship available to emulate such as Maxwell Anderson, the search committee of the Dallas Museum of Art would be well advised to consider its own Senior Curator of European and American Art, Olivier Meslay, to fill the position as DMA museum director<br />
<br />
By the way, we have yet to hear back from the Dallas Museum of Art in response to our letter:<br />
<br />
<em>"April 12, 2011<br />
Olivier Meslay, Senior Curator of European and American art<br />
Dallas Museum of Art<br />
1717 North Harwood<br />
Dallas, Texas 75201<br />
Tel. 214-922-1200<br />
Email: to follow<br />
<br />
Re: The Eugene McDermott Interim Director<br />
<br />
Dear Olivier Meslay:<br />
<br />
I trust this email finds you well. Your direct contact information is not available on the DMA website. Congratulations on being chosen as the Interim Director of the Dallas Museum of Art.<br />
<br />
It is our hope that you will emerge as a serious candidate to become the next Eugene McDermott Director. Should you be chosen to fill that important position, we have every expectation that you will manage the DMA as a public institution and not--as some have commented over the years--as a "private country club." <br />
<br />
Your background indicates that you value fiduciary trustworthiness; art museum scandals in Europe are virtually nonexistent and artists are held in the highest esteem.<br />
<br />
All the best,<br />
John Viramontes<br />
Council for Artists' Rights<br />
founding member</em> <br />
<br />
The reason the Council for Artists' Rights feels so strongly about having Mr. Meslay at the head of the DMA is because under its previous management, we consider the DMA to have been the worst run art museum in the U.S. A quick Google search will reveal much evidence of instances of taxpayer and fiduciary accountability issues at the DMA such as the lack of transparency about the financial details of the King Tut exhibition, the dismantling of the Claes Oldenburg-Coosje van Bruggen <em>Stake Hitch</em> sculpture, a museum trustee's <u>secret sale</u> of a museum-promised Rothko painting valued at $31.4 million, and yet another sale yanked from the museum's future a Jeff Koons sculpture originally purchased by the Rachofskys for $1.2 million and sold at auction for $25.8 million, among others incidents going back to at least the 1970s.<br />
<br />
Here is Maxwell Anderson's article as published in 2010 on the American Association of Museums website: <br />
<br />
<span lang=""><em>"A Clear View: The Case for Museum Transparency </em><br />
<em>by Maxwell L. Anderson</em><br />
<br />
<em>Museums continue to operate largely as we always have, with minimal regulatory oversight of the kind routinely accorded institutions of higher education. Social media—such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter—now play an increasing role in the revelation of misconduct, bias and cluelessness. Yet our funding is principally from sources requiring superficial accountability, our strategic planning is rarely compelling, board and staff are uninformed about exactly who is and is not participating in our exhibitions and programs, and we provide fare that is indexed to internal priorities, with minimal effort to explain what we have chosen not to do, or the explicit rationale for what we have chosen to do.</em><br />
<br />
<em>It is essential that museum leaders resist self-congratulation and start explaining our priorities, our intentions, and the desired and measurable outcomes of our efforts. Fostering transparency in our operations is an indispensable attribute of every museum’s overarching management philosophy. It cannot remain an occasional indulgence or an option, any more than budgeting accurately, hiring thoughtfully or operating responsibly. Reciting bromides about our traditions or inherited purpose has no discernible impact on those texting observations about us on some of the 2.2 billion cell phones in use today.</em><br />
<br />
<em>In the same vein, excessive claims about attendance, box-office results or economic impact are behaviors that will come back to haunt us. We must explain the basis of attendance statistics; once we confess that many of our visitors and members return multiple times each year, the stats look a lot less rosy in relation to an exploding world population. Our ostensible economic impact should be measured and reported, with the supporting evidence explicit. And if we acquire and sell objects for and from our collections with only a secondary regard for potential claims on ownership, ethical dilemmas or sources and destinations of funds, we are exposing our institutions to great risk.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The following five truths are not self-evident; they need to be explained. And explain them we can, but only if we are true to ourselves and to the public in soliciting, capturing, contextualizing and revealing information about our activities.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The size of a cultural organization’s audience should not dictate the extent of its support from the public purse or from any other combination of sources. Every museum measures participation differently, so the purported results are unreliable. More importantly, the contributions of museums cannot be reduced to foot traffic/head count, any more than the contributions of scientific laboratories can be reduced to the number of laypeople who avidly follow advances in research. </em><br />
<br />
<em>We are not a subset of the entertainment industry and should not be measured by the same standards or adopt similar pricing conventions. Museum programming begins not with asking what a mass audience wants, but with what we might all benefit from experiencing, even if we have to struggle and sometimes fail to draw a huge audience. </em><br />
<br />
<em>A healthy museum should aim for a budget that supports its exhibitions, programs and other activities instead of looking for mission-irrelevant activities to pay the bills. Rather than focusing first on revenue-generating activities, administrators should start with a quest for contributed support. Otherwise, we veer towards a sales or entertainment model that ultimately jeopardizes our tax-exempt status. Exorbitant admission fees can’t pay the bills of art museums, but they can drive away families and younger audiences. </em><br />
<br />
<em>As mission-driven nonprofits, museums are red-ink businesses. Back-of-the-house costs include security, climate control, research, publishing, educational offerings, care of collections and salaries for employees not tasked with earned or contributed revenue. We must build endowments and solicit support to offset these expenses. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Government support of culture is an appropriate use of the public purse. While the system of tax-exemption provides a progressive mechanism to incentivize philanthropic support, it rarely results in contributions adequate to offset all costs facing cultural organizations. Furthermore, the premise in every Western democracy other than the U.S. is that cultural offerings are indispensable to their citizenry—they define a nation’s identity and shape a national conversation about what matters most. </em><br />
<br />
<em>So what is it about museum leaders that hampers the embrace of transparency? The answer is simple: the reward system for museum directors is antiquated and needs to be revamped to incentivize scholarship, conservation and educational outcomes—rather than the pursuit of crowds. The Internal Revenue Service has encouraged some rethinking of the current reward system. Compensation committees of boards are now obligated to disclose how they arrive at compensation decisions as part of the revised Form 990. Six pages of dense instructions published in January 2009 effectively stripped away the fig leaves of our cultural executives. It is a foregone conclusion that excessive compensation and first-class travel will need convincing explanations from here on out.</em><br />
<br />
<em>But this is only a small piece of the puzzle. Combating profligacy is a very low standard for what transparency can achieve. It is not asking too much for chief executives of nonprofit organizations to observe certain standards of behavior, eschew excessive benefits and avoid conflicts of interest. But surely the revelation of compensation on a broad scale should be the norm. Not revealed by a tax form are the less tangible expectations of leadership. Such expectations should include an open workplace culture, ample room for contrasting views and a focus on best practices rather than short-term glory.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The compensation committee normally asks the chief executive only to keep a balanced budget and make the museum relevant to its community, leaving other goals unstated. This limited mandate stems from the traditionally cordial accord between board and director that allows the management of the organization to oversee staff and the board to focus on policy and fundraising. But there are strains in the relationship, as witnessed in the public drama attendant to now-routine, high-profile exits of museum leaders. Several departures in recent years are a function of unrealistic expectations of the commercial viability of expanded facilities, which were built without adequate planning for increased operating expenses.</em><br />
<br />
<em>One problematic, often board-driven expectation of the chief executive today is to rattle the tin cup while holding one’s nose in the face of unwelcome conditions attached to gifts. In recent years, there has been a trend towards "venture philanthropy," in which a donor’s wishes can trump institutional need. True transparency would reveal that contributions with strings can lead institutions astray, as when philanthropist Catherine Reynolds signed a contract to support a hall of achievement for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. By the terms of the contract, she was entitled to propose people for inclusion in the hall. The Smithsonian had the right to make the final selection, but human nature could easily have prompted the lauding of some individuals based on donor preference rather than on a review panel’s objective assessment. Whether the inclusion of Sam Donaldson and Martha Stewart would have been worth a $38 million gift may remain a question for the ages, but the offer was withdrawn in the face of public criticism.</em><br />
<br />
<em>This is but one example of how transparency can serve the public good: The revelation of the terms, names and process led to controversy and a rescinded offer, and ultimately contributed to Lawrence Small’s exit as secretary of the Smithsonian. Nothing about this tale bears celebration. But the lesson learned is surely that there must be limits on how philanthropy plays out in a cultural landscape run largely on contributed revenue. And that open disclosure of gifts with strings is both a necessity and a means of preventing institutions from going down a path on which the long-term detriments exceed the benefits.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The dangers of pursuing earned revenue are no fewer. The feverish chase of ticket revenue or corporate underwriting has led to wrongheaded programming, from the Guggenheim’s Giorgio Armani retrospective to the legions of ground-breaking, revelatory and compelling exhibitions abandoned because their financial promise was deemed inadequate. True transparency would reveal that ticket sales are marginally beneficial for most museums and that they divide prospective audiences into haves and have-nots. And it might even open the door a crack to programming that provides a greater educational value than box-office appeal.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Despite these challenges, running a complex 21st-century organization with reflexive transparency is easier than it seems. At the Indianapolis Museum of Art, we approach every decision with the assumption that our activities will be open and evaluated. The topics for every senior staff meeting are posted on a staff-wide intranet in advance, and minutes are posted following every meeting. We manage budgets and projects with files open to all staff, encourage unedited staff commentary on the IMA blog hosted on our website and in general assume that apart from medical records and performance reviews, there is little we should keep from one another. We post our IRS Form 990 on the IMA website as soon as it has been approved by the board rather than waiting for Guidestar.org to find it almost a year later.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The IMA Dashboard has received a fair amount of notice since its September 2007 launch. An evolving template for institutional performance metrics, it was conceived by staff to help the public evaluate our museum’s adherence to mission, addressing issues such as energy consumption, the circulation of artworks in and out of the galleries, conservation treatment hours, funds raised year-to-date as a percentage of budgeted goals, size of endowment month-to-date and other potentially embarrassing matters. Recent additions have included an interactive map showing the Zip codes of our visitors, revealing the extent to which we attract an audience reflecting the demographics of our metropolitan area.</em><br />
<br />
<em>We also added a novel feature to the IMA website that lists objects to be deaccessioned (sold, transferred or exchanged), with valuations provided. The public can follow the disposition of deaccessioned works online or search for them, since we post the reasons for deaccessioning, sale date, funds received and links to works acquired from the proceeds of sales.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The steps we are taking towards transparency at the IMA are born of an instinct to rethink how a museum should operate in today’s electronic fishbowl culture. The ultimate objective is to raise the standards of the profession as we step into uncharted territory. The unexpected, rewarding result is a more honest organizational culture in which constructive dissent and failed experimentation are not punished, profession-wide innovation is favored over score-keeping about our successes and going to work in the morning is a continuous adventure. Once you decide to transition from providing select information to restricting select information, a host of new institutional behaviors becomes the norm. While a diminished endowment and challenging economic environment present many obstacles, our staff has chosen to model the best practices we can invent or follow, resist territoriality, reveal agendas when they surface and face tough choices with equanimity and honesty.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Of all workplaces, a museum should prize innovation and social benefit over personal or professional gain. That’s easy to say if you’re earning a salary as competitive as this author’s, and harder to say if you’re not. But unless I’m delusional, the majority of IMA’s staff is focused on our mission, energized by our potential and persuaded that our embrace of transparency has improved workplace ethics and performance. And if that isn’t the case, you’ll likely read qualifying commentary on our blog in short order."</em></span>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-21971003602210363482011-04-28T23:24:00.000-05:002011-04-28T23:24:23.961-05:00A lighter look: the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals gives us a new seed! Valentines Day 2011 undoubtedly sparked the imagination of many lovers.<br />
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The following day, the unbounded imagination of 7th Circuit Court appellate justices Daniel A. Manion, Diane S. Sykes, John Daniel Tinder was revealed for all to see. That's the day, delivered via their ruling in Chapman Kelley v Chicago Park District, the judges unveiled their new concept: a seed with amazing properties.<br />
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That precedent-setting ruling essentially said that Kelley was not the "author" of his artwork the <em><a href="http://chapmankelley.com/">Chicago Wildflower Works</a></em>. Instead, the trio of judges declared the "author" of the artwork to be a wildflower seed itself. <br />
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Anyone with an intimate knowledge about the Wildflower Works concept knows that Kelley purchased many thousands of dollars of wildflower seeds. He would be intrigued to no end and would be most anxious to encounter this new seed rolled out by the 7th Circuit. <br />
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This 7th Circuit creation has some truly magical attributes, the seed:<br />
<br />
1. It has the brain to conceive and plan its own future.<br />
2. It possesses a mouth and communicative skills able to convince many humans and fellow seeds to carry out its ideas.<br />
3. It has access to funds that drive results.<br />
4. It commands scientific knowledge able to design a community of plants that provide continuous flowering, solely using rainwater, utilizes no fertilizers, or insecticides, and yields a sequential growth pattern throughout the Midwest's three seasons.<br />
5. It has the ability to inspire a small army of citizens, causing them to spend many hours as volunteers over a 20 year span, whose work caused flower blooms that delighted casual passersby of local and international origin, leading to much documented public praise.<br />
6. It is able to lead and coordinate at a complex level to produce a work that everyone, including the Chicago Park District---excepting the 7th Circuit--has hailed as a successful work of art.<br />
<br />
It seems that all of these talents would rather define a human author. <br />
<br />
If seeds--there are far more seeds in the world than humans--truly have these humanoid abilities, we humans had better immigrate to another habitable planet. Perhaps now that the 7th circuit has brought forth this remarkable seed as author, it can also provide an escape to the beyond for us.<br />
<br />
Should these justices and their law clerks be remanded to the third grade? adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-62876802135053824992011-04-04T23:44:00.000-05:002011-04-04T23:44:27.861-05:00Marla Fields: Frank Reaugh Production ContinuesIndependent filmmaker Marla Fields continues to garner support from the wider community. The work-in-progress documentary on the life of Texas painter <a href="http://www.marlafields.com/dallas_video_producer/frank_reaugh_production_continues.html">Frank Reaugh</a> gains steam.<br />
<br />
Wikipedia has more information on the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Reaugh">Dean of Texas Painters</a>."<br />
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Spread the word if you can. adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-73282154803020303702011-03-25T21:38:00.001-05:002011-03-25T21:39:36.479-05:00Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts New York files amicus brief in Visual Artist's Rights Act case: Chapman Kelley v CPD<div class="post-header"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content"><strong><em>Amicus</em> brief champions an artist's perspective; primes 7th Circuit Court Appeals justices as they prepare to cast votes on whether or not to rehear the case "en banc"</strong><br />
<br />
On March 22, 2011the appeals process surged forward via an arts-friendly court filing.<br />
<br />
In the wake of the adverse appellate decision regarding Kelley's <a href="http://chapmankelley.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Chicago Wildflower Works</span></a>--handed down by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on February 15, 2011--savvy arts professionals realized a far reaching anti-artists' rights precedent had been established. <br />
<br />
Keenly aware of the long term negative effect the precedent would have on the U.S. art world, especially impacting painters and sculptors, on March 22, 2011 the nonprofit <a href="http://www.vlany.org/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts - New York</span></a>, filed its <em>amicus</em> "friend of the court" brief. The team who authored VLANY's amicus brief are: <a href="http://www.vlany.org/aboutus/staffdirectory.php"><span style="color: blue;">Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento, Dena Bouchard and Anna Kadyshevich</span></a>. <br />
<br />
VLANY, as advocate for the arts community, recently represented Swiss artist Christoph Büchel in the Visual Artist's Rights Act dispute <a href="http://www.vlany.org/advocacy/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art v Christoph Büchel</span></a>. In the Art & Design section of the New York Times, Randy Kennedy wrote about the case on January 28, 2010, "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/arts/design/29artist.html"><span style="color: #7c93a1;">[</span><span style="color: blue;">Visual] Artists Rights Act Applies in Dispute, Court Rules</span></a>." VLANY was successful in convincing a New York appeals court panel of justices to <em>reverse</em> a district court's ruling to find in favor of the artist. <br />
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The perception is that in Kelley's hometown of Dallas, Texas, news media, arts organizations, arts patrons and even artists themselves are reluctant speak out about this important artists' rights cause. Perhaps folks are nervous about being labelled as rabble-rousers; other people may fear being ostracized after getting drafted into an often crippling art museum, gallery, art dealer, or social blacklist. <br />
<br />
Whatever the reason, it is just plain wrong to have so many art lovers remain passive...silent. But let us be clear: it is supremely uplifting to know VLANY is standing tall by doing the right thing for artists' rights in the USA. <em>¡Que viva VLANY! </em><br />
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The VLANY <em>amicus</em> brief springs from an artist's viewpoint--Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento is an artist and art law counsel--and its thrust is particularly important to the art community. Read the incisive brief <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/51417727/Amicus-Curiae-Brief-of-VLA-for-plaintiff-Chapman-Kelley"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>.<br />
<br />
Should a rehearing en banc be voted down by the justices of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Kelley will plead for relief in the Supreme Court of the United States.</div>adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513262021600011831.post-18727310410324058422011-03-25T21:17:00.001-05:002011-03-25T21:20:17.681-05:00Dallas' D Magazine and arts writer Peter Simek get a letter to the editor: Historical Truth Does CountLast January 4th, D Magazine arts writer Peter Simek posted on FrontRow that he had read the first installment of Dallas Art History blog and <a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2011/01/while-we-were-out-a-dallas-art-news-roundup/"><span style="color: blue;">promised</span></a> to follow up and share his reaction. Well, nearly 60 days later he finally did it. <br />
<br />
The following unedited letter to the editor was sent by the Council for Artists' Rights to D Magazine regarding Peter Simek's article "Art Cops." The article is not currently available on the Internet; it can only be accessed via the March 2011 print version or by becoming a magazine subscriber.<br />
<br />
The letter needs no set up other than to say that today CFAR received a confirmation email from D Magazine thanking CFAR and that the letter had been received. It is anyone's guess whether or not the letter will ever get published.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><strong>Council for Artists' Rights</strong></span></div><br />
March 4, 2011<br />
<br />
D Magazine<br />
Letters to the Editor<br />
Dallas, Texas<br />
<a href="mailto:receptionist@dmagazine.com"><span style="color: blue;">receptionist@dmagazine.com</span></a><br />
<br />
Dear Letters to the Editor:<br />
<br />
Much thanks to arts critic Peter Simek for alerting your readership to the existence of Sam Blain's respectable <a href="http://dallasarthistory.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Dallas Art History</span></a> blog and for informing them of the resurrection of the artists' rights movement in Dallas/Ft. Worth via Simek's D Magazine March 2011 article, "Art Cops."<br />
<br />
Peter, several points in your article need clarification. Regarding the "immobilized" Alexander Calder sculptures, prior to meeting your magazine deadline you were supplied the personal contact information of the Nasher Sculpture Center exhibit's two museum-goers who initially reported their shock at the lack of movement of those mobiles. To our surprise, your article omits their first-hand report and involvement. This particular couple are long-time Dallas residents who are respected visual arts professionals in their own right. To support their contention that the Calder mobiles were not moving, ironically, arts critic Lucia Simek (your wife) previously wrote about that exhibition for D Magazine and declared the artwork was "<em><a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2010/12/with-renzo-piano’s-nasher-alexander-calder’s-sculpture-finds-a-natural-bedfellow/"><span style="color: blue;">perfectly still</span></a></em>" (emphasis added). Obviously it is a struggle to argue against those three eyewitnesses.<br />
<br />
Another item needs more explaining, the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Art outdoor sculpture, Pegasus. The artist who collaborated on that sculpture was not contesting the mere 'repositioning' of it, which you focused upon, rather he was disputing the weightier issue of its form being altered without his or others' consent.<br />
<br />
Regarding your take on the Dallas Art History blog, because Sam Blain's blog is offering a 'first-time ever' reporting of Dallas' past, no published references exist for the purpose of comparing notes. And as you probably learned first hand, witnesses who can corroborate Blain's reporting of those historical events, those folks are most likely reluctant to step forward to voice their agreement. A Dallas arts blacklist is alive and well--the blog will deal with those 'stilled' voices.<br />
<br />
Your section about the secret sale ($31.4 million value) of the Rothko painting needed expansion. You cast some sunshine on the issue in May 2010 in your D Magazine article<br />
"<a href="http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2010/05/in-wake-of-rothko-sale-questions-loom-over-2005-donations’-impact-on-museum’s-future/"><span style="color: blue;">In Wake of Rothko Sale, Questions Loom Over 2005 Donations' Impact on Museum's Future</span></a>." Your readership needs to be reminded the Rothko painting was part of three art collections worth $400 million which were irrevocably promised as gifts to the Dallas Museum of Art, as described in the DMA's "Fast Forward" museum catalog. Similarly, art collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky pulled from the DMA's future a sculpture made by Jeff Koons, that one was also in the museum catalog billed as an irrevocably promised gift. The Rachofkys sold it for $25.8 million after he had paid $1.2 million for it in 2001. Another casting recently brought only about $16 million; expectations were for it to bring between $25M and $50 million.<br />
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Recently you wrote of Christo's visit to Dallas. He told you his and Jeanne Claude's work was "the freedom of art when it exists outside of corporate, institutional, or gallery contexts.' That description is a perfect fit for someone in Dallas' own backyard. It is precisely the form of outdoor public artwork Dallas resident <a href="http://www.chapmankelley.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Chapman Kelley</span></a> pioneered in the 1970s--Wildflower Works--when he installed it at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport and later on the grounds adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Natural History. Further, in the mid-1980s Kelley installed his double ellipse 66,000 sq. ft.Chicago Wildflower Works (1984 - 2004) in Chicago's lakefront park at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Identical to Christo's belief in self-funding work--all three of Kelley's public works were noncommissioned--Kelley financed them by selling off his Henry Moore bronze1960, a 1957 Calder mobile, a 1968 Jules Olitski, a 1969 Frank Stella Protractor, his last three Franz Klines, and liquidated much of his personal art collection. Your article misstated Chicago Wildflower Works as a being a "public commission," again, it was not.<br />
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A little known historical fact is that in the early 1970s, right after "Valley Curtain" was installed, Kelley spent an evening with Jeanne-Claude and Christo. During the 1980s the iconic duo traveled to cities in the U.S. By coincidence Kelley crossed paths with them several times. In 1984 Christo and Kelley worked at adjoining tables and created prints at the Jack Lemmon Gallery in Chicago. Kelley recently said of Christo-Jeanne Claude "they gave me the heart to embark on such ambitious projects artistically and environmentally and to self-fund them."<br />
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Finally, your article attempts to marginalize the Council for Artists' Rights, as if somehow its work does not merit a place at the table. That assassination attempt is a classic case of "to hell with the message, let's kill the damn messenger!" The maiden installment of Dallas Art History blog leaves much unfinished business on your plate, the many unanswered questions and issues, for example the vigorously contested $4.5 million Virginia Lazenby O'Hara bequest. Peter, why ask hostile museum officials--who you say demand absolute secrecy--about CFAR? The bottom line is that CFAR garnered the fiscal sponsorship blessing of New York City's <a href="http://www.fracturedatlas.org/"><span style="color: blue;">Fractured Atlas</span></a>, is proud of its work and continues to have an unblemished track record.<br />
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I realize that your bosses may have muzzled you in your attempt to grapple with the Dallas Art History blog, its Hydra-like potential and the rest, as that the bosses have to 'make nice' as they deal with Dallas' prominent art collectors, art museum officials, and monied advertisers of D Magazine.<br />
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So, Peter, in the spirit of the recent Southern Methodist University project sponsored by Creative Time, let's consider this letter to the editor a courageous contribution to that forum.adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00361580640077048985noreply@blogger.com0