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January Issue 2005
Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC, Offers Exhibition From Area Collections
One of the most unusual and remarkable exhibitions to grace South Carolina's shores opens Jan. 7 at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC. Myrtle Beach Collects will house 152 works of art borrowed from the homes of 52 Grand Strand collectors. The exhibit will remain on view through Feb. 27, 2005.
From Georgetown to Briarcliffe, residents have been collecting art for many years, from many different places and for many reasons. There are those who have collected artwork from artists whom they adore. There are those who have had artwork passed down to them from generation to generation. Some have brought home pieces of art that evoke fond memories of past journeys and adventures. And there are some who found pieces of art that spoke to their souls and, therefore, were compelled to own them. All reasons aside, there is one thing that these collectors all have in common: their passion and their high regard for art.
"There are 152 stories to go with these 152 objects," explains museum director Patricia Goodwin, "and it weaves a marvelous story about the importance of art in people's lives and their homes. We've never done a show like this, and it is fantastic from the point of view of diversity and quality."
Bill and Lineta Pritchard, long-time Myrtle Beach dwellers as well as art enthusiasts, will have three items in the show, including a 1970 oil by North Carolina artist James Tucker entitled Sugar Maple.
"It was
the first piece we ever bought when Bill was in school (at North
Carolina State University). We bought it on the lay-away plan
from a gallery just outside Raleigh for $250. That was a lot of
money for us back then, but Bill liked it because it reminded
him of the trees in upstate New York (Schenectady) where he was
from.
"I like it more and more each year," Lineta says.
Another Myrtle Beach collector, Claudia Stowe, says that friend, artist and traveling companion E.M. (Ernie) Saniga, faculty member at the University of Delaware, led her and husband Harold to one of their favorite pieces: Study of Horse, a 1905 sketch by famed impressionist Wait Kuhn.
During a Christmas 2002 trip to New York, "We were standing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art looking at an exhibition of drawings by impressionist artists, and I asked Ernie, 'How do people get these drawings?'"
"He said, 'Follow me.' We went to a gallery where Wait Kuhn's works were being sold, and we bought three, two horses and one of a chicken. They were our Christmas presents that year," Ms. Stowe remembered.
Brenda and
Dick Rosen, long-time Museum advocates, say their favorite entry
in Myrtle Beach Collects is Blue-Green Abelard by
Theodor Geisel, who also goes by the name of Dr. Seuss. "At
least it's one which causes a lot of conversation," Mrs.
Rosen chuckles. "It makes me happy."
The piece is a reproduction of the original Blue Green Abelard
cast by Geisel in 1934 and modeled after materials sent to him
by his father, a taxidermist, according to Mrs. Rosen. Geisel
made eight pieces that year based on his father's handiwork. In
recent years, Geisel's widow has commissioned reproductions of
the originals including Blue Green Abelard. The Rosens
purchased their treasure five years ago at a gallery in Carmel,
CA. "We now own six of these pieces, added Rosen.
It took Kay
S. Teer, curator of the Art Museum, nearly a year to select the
pieces that will be on display. The fascinating array of carefully
selected artwork is a magnificent manifestation of the cultural
interests that define our Grand Strand community. "This exhibit
says as much about this community as it does about art,"
according to Goodwin.
Works range in date from pre-Columbian to contemporary times and
in origin from Africa, China and Europe all the way to our very
own South Carolina Lowcountry. Their media will vary from ceramics
to painting to photography to batik and all those in between.
Internationally renowned artists, such as Salvador Dali, Pablo
Picasso, Edgar Degas and Henri Matisse, as well as some of our
beloved locally renowned artists, such as Jonathan Green, Ben
Owen III, Alex Powers and Dixie Dugan, will all be represented
in this fine exhibition.
Join in this celebration of art and of the community by visiting this exhibition, which will fill all ten galleries of the Museum.
In keeping with the enthusiasm of Myrtle Beach Collects, the Art Museum will host a black-tie gala in honor of the exhibit and our community. Ticket information is available by calling the Art Museum at 843/238-2510.
For further
information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call
the museum at 843-238-2510 or at (www.myrtlebeachartmuseum.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.