Museumgoers in Indianapolis have never seen anything quite like it.
“American Traditions: Art from the Collections of Culver Alumni” is one of the most ambitious exhibitions of American art ever mounted in a city that is not one of the country’s major art centers.
Including 164 pieces from more than 30 collections, the show is at three venues-the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art in Indianapolis, and Columbus Gallery of the Indianapolis Museum-and is clearly not a typical alumni exhibition.
It presents masterpieces by Albert Bierstadt, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, William Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Richard Diebenkorn and Mark Rothko alongside first-rate works by lesser artists to celebrate the centennial of the Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., by showing an unusually high level of discernment.
The contemporary section of the show also inaugurates a branch gallery in Columbus, Ind., about an hour away from the Indianapolis Museum, in an elegant shopping mall designed by architect Cesar Pelli.
“The exhibition is not a textbook survey of American art,” says Ellen Lee, chief curator of the Indianapolis Museum. “But it is strong in the Hudson River School, American Impressionism and Regionalism, conveying a pronounced sense of optimism, a vision of the American Dream.”
Initiator of the show was Jonathan “Jack” Warner, a paper industrialist from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who loaned more than 50 pieces from a wide-ranging collection that has a special focus on works from the first half of the 19th Century.
“American art from that period tells a story of individual thinking and has a certain attractive toughness,” says Warner. “A sense of duty, honor and country was prevalent. And I thought those qualities fit Culver to a T.”
The Culver Military Academy was founded in 1894 as a college preparatory school. When Warner entered in 1932, he says it had a Spartan atmosphere that promoted individualism and moral strength. The Culver Girls Academy, founded in 1971, modified and continued that tradition-a tradition alumni sought to draw attention to on a large scale.
“We wanted to organize a traveling exhibition,” says Jim Dicke, chairman of the exhibition’s organizing committee. “But we started planning two years ago, and that was too late. Only when Jim Henderson, president of Culver’s board (of trustees), refocused the concept, were we able to go ahead. But, even then, we thought we’d never finish because every time we got close to finalizing the list, we found more spectacular pieces.”
The organizers initially contacted about 70 collectors, some proposed by curator Lee. A level of excellence in the collections was paramount. The museum ensured that the level be maintained by having final approval on the pieces entering the exhibition.
“Bret Waller, our director, had a polite but cautious reaction when approached by the organizers,” says Lee. “But once we saw the works in the Warner Collection, we became confident we could proceed.
“We were under no obligation to make the show as large-it is, I think, the largest of any alumni exhibition-but from the earliest pieces through the Western art to the contemporary representation, the quality is there.”
The exhibition continues through March 6 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Eiteljorg Museum of Indian and Western Art; the section at IMA-Columbus Gallery may be extended until March 13.
– The Georges Pompidou Center, the arts complex in Paris that draws 8 million visitors a year, may close for as long as 18 months to replace or recondition escalators and the air-conditioning system. The controversial building, designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, opened in 1977 and has needed repairs for some years. The cost could reach as high as $70 million. A decision on the closing will be made in March.
– The Alumni Association of School of the Art Institute of Chicago has issued a call for works from more than 10,000 former students for an exhibition at the school’s new building at 112 S. Michigan Ave. Entries must be in two dimensions measuring 3-by-5 inches. All work submitted by Feb. 28 will be exhibited. The show will run from March 19 through 27. Call 708-441-8769.
– Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art will present a screening of documentary films and videos on six visionary artists from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Chicago Filmmakers, 1543 W. Division St. Admission: $10, $6 students.
