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April Issue 2007
Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC, Offers Look at Private Collection
The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC, is presenting the exhibition, Personal Preferences: Paintings from the Jim Craig and Randy Johnson Collection, on view in the Museum's Belk, Dwelle, and Jones Galleries through June 3, 2007. The exhibition was organized by the Mint Museums.
Consummate collectors Jim Craig and Randy Johnson have amassed a diverse collection that fills their Independence, VA, mountain home. This rich body of works comprises traditional and contemporary paintings, pastels, works on paper, sculpture, antique stained glass, antique American and English furniture, silver, crystal and porcelains. Personal Preferences: Paintings from the Jim Craig and Randy Johnson Collection has been assembled from these holdings. Sixty-seven paintings, out of the more than 170 paintings displayed in the Craig/Johnson home, present the work of some of the most successful painters of portrait, genre, landscape and abstraction of the last two centuries.
Among the portraits are works by: Jane Cooper Sully Darley, the talented daughter of American master Thomas Sully; William Morton Jackson Rice; William Merritt Chase; Henry Inman; Robert William Vonnoh; James Carroll Beckwith; and Emma Fordyce MacRae, among many others.
The collection houses a wealth of landscape and genre paintings which are sure to please many viewers. From Frank Myers Boggs' serene harbor scene On the Quay, to the wintry mood of William Wallace Gilchrist, Jr.'s Evening, to the Italianate scenes of Louis Aston Knight as he captures in oil The Arch of Titus (The Forum), Rome and The Lion of St. Mark, Venice, the range and variety of these art categories present rich offerings. Also of interest are two magnificent landscapes by W.C.A. Frerichs that depict scenes from the southeastern Piedmont region of the United States during the second half of the 19th century. These paintings stand in sharp contrast to the selection of contemporary paintings that have been acquired by Craig and Johnson. These large-scale canvases present the abstract work of Joan Thorne, Robert Natkin, John McCracken, and Richard Anuskiewicz, to name but a few. Also from the 20th century are two wonderful collages by North Carolina's native son Romare Bearden, whose name has become synonymous with the art of collage.
Jim Craig is a native of South Carolina. He
was trained as a classical violinist, yet always maintained a
strong interest in the visual arts. In 1965, he published The
Arts and Crafts in North Carolina, 1699-1840. During the mid-1960s,
he further pursued his interest in art and antiques when he established
James Craig Antiques. Shortly thereafter, he and Sam Tarlton opened
Craig and Tarlton Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their commercial
partnership lasted until 1985 when the gallery was closed due
to Tarlton's retirement. Both businesses offered the finest works
of art and antiques to local, state and national collectors. Since
that time, Craig continues to seek out and place outstanding works
of art in private collections.
Randy Johnson, a native North Carolinian, oversees the management
of his family's farm in Wilkes County, NC.
The exhibition is sponsored by the RBC Financial Group.
For further information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Museum at 704/337-2000 or visit (www.themintmuseums.org).
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