The University of Kansas Art Collections

The University of Kansas Art CollectionsAuthor(s): Edward A. MaserSource: Art Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Spring, 1961), pp. 168-170+172Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/774223 .

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Edward A. Maser

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS ART COLLECTIONS

The University of Kansas Museum of Art, although it has been in existence since 1926 and functioning since 1928, has only a rela- tively short history as it exists in its present form. Originally founded as the result of the gift of Sally Casey Thayer of a large collection of American, European and Oriental decorative arts and a few paintings, and housed in the former library of the University, a "Richard- sonian Romanesque" building by Ware and Van Brunt, built in 1894 (Fig. 1). The Mu- seum became a true teaching collection for the history of art only in 1949. At this time, John Maxon re-organized the Museum, adding significant examples of painting and sculpture to the collections and establishing a department of the history of art. Since that time the Museum's collections have grown steadily, through both monetary support from the State of Kansas and through many gifts. The outstanding works are displayed in Spooner Hall, the Museum building, but a large number of works of art are scattered about the campus, for instance, the John Steuart Curry sketches for his Topeka murals, which are displayed in the John Steu- art Room of the Kansas Student Union, the collection of 19th and 20th century prints which is exhibited in the Student Cafeteria, as well as other individual works of art in vari- ous locations on the campus.

Attached to the Museum is a sculpture court- yard built as a memorial to a leading citizen of Lawrence, Arthur D. Weaver, containing an 18th century bronze fountain as well as examples of modern sculpture displayed in the open air.

These "artistic bridgeheads" placed through- out other portions of the campus are not nec- essitated by any lack of space, but rather by a deliberate program of the University aimed at introducing the visual arts into as many aspects of the students' University experience as is possible. With this aim in mind, the Museum of Art functions also as an important cultural center, offering lecture series, film programs, and continually changing exhibitions. The Mu- seum also publishes a scholarly bulletin, The Register, twice yearly, as well as numerous illustrated catalogues of the temporary exhibitions.

Also housed in the building is the Depart- ment of Art History, whose chairman is also the director of the Museum. The teaching programs of the department are integrated as much as is possible into the Museum activities and vice versa.

The Museum's collections do not attempt, in

Mr. Maser, who for several years has been Director of the Museum and Chairman of the Department of History of Art at the University of Kansas, has re- cently resigned to become chairman of the Depart- ment of Art at the University of Chicago.

Fig. 1. Ware and Van Brunt: the Museum at Lawrence, 1894.

Fig. 3. Bernardo Zenale: Madonna and Saints.

Fig. 2. Pisanello: Novello Malatesto.

any way, to present a comprehensive survey of the artistic efforts of the past and present in single "typical" examples, but, rather offer the student an interesting group of works of art in a few significant fields such as Italian painting from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century, German and Austrian painting and sculpture of the eighteenth century (Figs. 12, 13, 14), medals and plaquettes from the Renaissance (Fig. 2) to the present, and American painting of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Al- Fig. 4. Agnolo Bronzino: A Lady as the Magdalene.

ART JOURNAL XX 3 168



Fig. 7. Master L. C.: Crossing of the Red Sea.

Fig. 5. Giovanni da Bologna. St. Luke.

Fig. 9. J. B. Hagenauer: Glorification of St. Sigismund, 1754.

though these might be considered the major fields of specialization in the Museum, many isolated works from other fields offer significant examples of paintings, sculpture and the decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the present.

Outstanding is the Samuel H. Kress Foun- dation Study Collection, a group of fourteen paintings and three sculptures, incorporated into the collections of the Museum. One of the few Kress collections yet given to a university

Fig. 8. Tilmann Riemenschneider: Madonna and museum it was presented to the University in Child. 1960. Works by such artists as Sassetta, Bern-

Fig. 10. Joseph Gotsch: St. Damian.

ardo Zenale (Fig. 3), Guido Reni, and Sebas- tiano Ricci are included. To be used primarily in the teaching of art history, this group of works is the only collection of Medieval and Renaissance paintings and sculpture in the state of Kansas. Other important works in the field of Italian painting are A Young Florentine Lady Portrayed as the Magdalene by Agnolo Bronzino (Fig. 4), Christ at Gethsemane by Jacopo Palma the Younger, paintings by Guer- cino, Bernardo Bellotto, Jacopo da Empoli, and Bernardo Strozzi. In the field of American painting, another of the strong areas in the

169 Maser: The University of Kansas Art Collections

Fig. 6. Massimiliano Soldani: Autumn.



Fig. 13. F. A. Maulpertsch: The Portrait Painter.

Fig. 12. Januarius Zick: Vision of St. Jerome.

Fig. 11. Joseph GStsch: St. Cosmos.

Fig. 15. J. B. Le Prince: The Poet Anacreon. Fig 16 John Barry Coffee Pot 1765

Museum collections, are such works as The Lady of the Lake by Thomas Sully, oil and two watercolors by Winslow Homer (Fig. 20), examples by Inness, Ryder, Remington, Ben- ton, Wood and Curry. In the field of American decorative arts, a significant collection of woven coverlets and American ceramics and glass also deserves mention.

In the field of sculpture, in which the Mu- seum is particularly strong, are a fine Madonnr and Child by Tilmann Riemanschneider (Fig. 8), a Tuscan Dugento Madonna, and a number of other late Medieval carvings. Bronzes by Giovanni da Bologna (Fig. 5), Adrian De Vries, Orazio Mocchi and Massimiliano Sol- dani (Fig. 6) are outstanding examples in the Italian field. Perhaps the most important pieces which are the pride of the Museum and are certainly the finest examples of their kind out-

Fig. 14. Martin Johann Schmidt: Martyrdom of Sts. Fig. 17. J. B. Kandler: Plate from the Service of side of Bavaria, are two German Rococo lin- Simon and Judas Thaddeus. Count Bruhl. denwood figures, almost life-size, of Saints




Fig. 20. Winslow Homer: Sky Shadows, Oil.

Fig. 19. Antonio Canova: The Athlete Kreugas, 1806.

Fig. 18. Benjamin West: Study for "The Inspiration of the Prophet Isaiah."

Cosmas and Damian by Joseph Gitsch (1725- 1793), a pupil and collaborator of Ignaz Giinther (Figs. 10, 11). This unique pair of figures forms the nucleus around which the group of sculptures from Germany and Aus- tria, such as the Glorification of St. Sigismund, dated 1754, by Johann Baptist Hagenauer (Fig. 9), a figure of Bacchus attributed to Balthasar Permoser, and a number of German and Austrian sculptures of slightly earlier date are grouped.

Although not collected in any systematic manner, the collection of prints and drawings contains choice examples of works by Direr, Rembrandt, Schongauer, Lely, Degas, Blake, Rodin, etc. The Thayer Collection contains several thousand Japanese prints and also has a sizeable group of lacquers and ceramics, notably Korean and Japanese. The Oriental holdings are both varied and large, with the

above-mentioned categories the outstanding ones.

The decorative arts in the European field include Coptic textiles, 18th century European textiles, English silver (Fig. 16), Continental porcelains (Fig. 17), and fine examples of metalwork and enamel from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.

Based on the principle that works of super- lative quality are more important than docu- mented works by artists whose names are familiar, and that the teacher of art history can, with a little imagination, utilize them more effectively in training the student's eye to 'dis- cern quality as well as style, the acquisition program of the Museum is not an organized and deliberate one. Such a happy "find" as the Limoges plate by the Master I. C. (Fig. 7) is a better example of French Renaissance painting than would be an oil of the period within the same price range (if, indeed, such a picture could be found at all). As a small state-sup- ported institution, the growth of the Museum collections depends on the "bargains" uncov- ered by the faculty both here and in Europe. The results of "necessity" have been happy ones, and are responsible for the addition to the collections of fifteenth century Spanish panels, sixteenth century Italian majolica, and Austrian and German works from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.

The originals in the Museum are, of course, supplemented by the slide and photograph collections of the Department of Art History, numbering about 45,000 respectively. The es- tablishment of a new Photograph Library and Study Hall in the Museum building this month

will further integrate the collections with the students' studies.

Photography Exhibitions

"Creative Photography at Six Universities" was the title of an exhibition at the University of Florida, organized by Van Deren Coke.

(U.C. Santa Barbara, U. Fla. Gainesville, In- diana U., U. of Minnesota, Ohio U. Athens, Syracuse U.) Handsome booklet in offset de-

signed by Roy Craven. It is to be seen at the

participating schools. "Three Photographers" (Wynn Bullock,

Aaron Siskind, David Vestal) were shown in an exhibition at the Kalamazoo Art Center with illustrated catalogue prepared by Robert Forth with an essay by Henry Holmes Smith.

"Six Photographers" (Harry Callahan, Robert

Frank, William Garnett, Eugene Meatyard, Wayne Miller and Henry Holmes Smith) was

organized by Art Sinsabaugh for the University of Illinois Festival. Beautifully printed letter-

press catalogue with large illustration of a work

by each exhibitor. Typography and exhibition

design were by A. D. Moore.

American Art in the 1860's

Paintings and sculpture of American artists

working at the close of the 1850's and through- out the 1860's will be brought together in an exhibition scheduled for early in 1962 at Wil-

mington, Delaware. Architecture of the period will also be represented.

The Delaware Art Center of Wilmington and the University of Delaware are cooperating on the project, which also celebrates the centennial anniversary of the institution of land-grant col-

leges and state universities. Among the artists to be represented are: Bing-

ham, Bierstadt, Catlin, Church, Homer, Inness, E. Johnson, Kensett, Page, Quidor and Whistler. After closing in Wilmington, the show will be available for one or two other institutions.

A catalogue with a comprehensive essay on this period in American Art is in preparation.

Inquiries about the exhibition may be sent to Prof. Wayne Craven, Dept. of Art and Art History, University of Delaware, Newark, Dela- ware.




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The University of Kansas Art Collections