May Issue 2002
Frank Toms' Art Legacy Comes to Converse College in Spartanburg, SC
by Zan Schuweiler Daab
When Frank Toms greeted me at the door of his suburban rancher, I knew by his appearance that he is no ordinary man. He is tall and lanky, with Warhol-like hair-blondish-white hair that hangs to his shoulders. His youthful appearance belies his age; I could not have guessed that he was in his early eighties. Once inside, I was astonished to see that against wallpaper and next to gold drapes hang prints by some of the Western world's most renown artists. A very fine print by Alberto Giacometti greets visitors in the hallway, followed by prints by Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Alexander Calder, and Helmut Newton, to name just a few of the most famous artists. Signed posters by Andy Warhol and Jim Dine are also in the collection.
In an act of great generosity, Toms has donated his collection of 52 prints to the Converse College Department of Art and Design in Spartanburg, SC, where they will be displayed in the new Nita Milliken wing of the Milliken Art and Design building. The prints in his collection include several print mediums, such as etching, lithography, photography, screenprints, woodcuts, and color intaglio. They are available for public viewing and art students will see them daily on their way to classes.
Frank Toms chose the prints in his collection solely on what he liked; therefore the artists, styles, mediums and themes vary. But there are some schools of art that clearly appeal to him. For instance, there are several works by Surrealist artists, including Dali, Miro, Paul Delvaux, Giacometti, Rufino Tamayo (a Mexican artist loosely affiliated with the Surrealists). Pop art is another area he is attracted to, and these artists include Andy Warhol, Jim Dine, Allen Jones, Roy Lichtenstein (this will not be in the Converse collection at this time), and Mel Ramos. There are two works by the Amsterdam artist Karel Appel, who was a significant member of the Cobra group which was comprised of artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. Other well-known artists include the American Social Realist Raphael Soyer, and the sculptor, printmaker Leonard Baskin. It is an international collection, including art from England, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary, the United States and elsewhere.
When he first began collecting prints in 1959, it was not a popular medium for collectors. One could then buy prints by famous artists for a very inexpensive price. Now, if he chose to, he could sell his collection for a great deal of money. He purchased his first print, Coffee by Joseph Hirsh, for $10 from a catalog published by the American Associated Artists which formed with the purpose of introducing printmaking to the public. It is now worth $850. In those days, according to Toms, major galleries would send print catalogs and that is how he began his collection. In 1960 he saw a Giacometti lithograph, "Buste II", in a catalog for $180. After Giacometti's death, his widow wrote a letter to Toms asking about the print. She informed him that it is a portrait of Giacometti's mistress. Although he didn't reveal the worth of the print now, it has multiplied its original value.
Toms collects prints instead of paintings not only because they were a relatively inexpensive medium when he began collecting, but also because he considers prints to be more complex than oils and therefore he appreciates them more. "An oil's an oil," according to Toms, "but a print is really a marvel." A true collector, he never bought them to make money or to sell them. He lives with them -they are part of his life. Because they are part of his life, a number of the prints hold special meaning for him. For instance, he bred Black Masked Love birds at one time, and has a great affection for birds. Several of the prints are of birds, including Paul Jenkins' color lithograph The Red Parrot, 1964, Jacques Hnizdovsky's Lyre Bird, and Jack Coughlin's etching Hawk.
Although he never studied art in college, it is clear that Toms has a natural eye for fine art. He grew up outside of Manhattan and went to the Museum of Modern Art as a child. This promoted his early interest in modern art, encouraged by a book of etchings he was given. Toms moved to Spartanburg, SC, in 1963 as a Spanish Professor at Converse College where he taught for 21 years. He also taught photography, an interest he developed while completing his Ph.D. in Spanish at Tulane University in 1954. Prior to graduate school, he played saxophone in a jazz band. His doctoral work left little time for late nightclub engagements, so he taught himself photography instead. Converse College will exhibit his photographs in September at the Milliken Art Gallery. He calls his photographs "abstractions" although they are typically taken from urban debris. His photographs have been published in national magazines. In addition, he began making movies in 1963, using a Super 8. During the summers he taught cinematography at Converse College, and sponsored the Piedmont Super 8 Movie competition form 1976-1978.
For the first time, thanks to Frank Toms, students and the public will not need to leave Spartanburg to see works by some of the most famous artists of the twentieth-century in a range of print mediums and styles that vary from realist, Surrealist, abstract and Pop. Needless to say, it is a valuable contribution to the culture of the Upstate of South Carolina and the education of Converse College students. Although Frank Toms started collecting prints simply because he wanted to live with them, his donation of this collection of twentieth-century art to Converse College will guarantee that he will be remembered long after his death.
For more information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call the gallery at 864/596-9181.
Zan Schuweiler Daab, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of art history at the Converse College Department of Art and Design in Spartanburg, SC.
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