UD holds receptions to thank art benefactors

A new exhibition of prints donated by the Brandywine Workshop to UD’s Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art is on view in Mechanical Hall.

Jessica Litt with a lithographed circus poster from the 1930s donated by her mother, Margaret Litt

David Byers with some of the minerals he has donated to UD’s mineral collection

3:01 p.m., Feb. 20, 2006--Currier & Ives' Midnight Race on the Mississippi, Andrew Wyeth's Battle Scenes with Soldiers and American Gothic painter Grant Wood's Château at Périgueux now hang in the University Gallery as part of an exhibition, “Objects of Desire,” that opened in January and displays works donated to UD within the past two years.

On Thursday evening, Feb. 16, University Museums hosted a reception to honor Margaret Litt, who donated more than 600 pieces from her private collection; David Byers, who added to the University's mineral collection; William I. Homer, UD's H. Rodney Sharp Professor Emeritus; the Dorothy Dehner Foundation for the Visual Arts; and Barbara Stein, art director in UD's Office of Public Relations.

A reception also was held that night for “Printed Proof,” a new exhibition from the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art of pieces donated by the Brandywine Workshop, a national printmaking center in Philadelphia.

Speaking at the “Objects” reception, UD President David Roselle, thanked all donors to the University's collections and recalled an exhibition in the early 1990s, “From the Brandywine to the Bay,” that he called “remarkable.”

Roselle said the University requested works of art from individuals in this region for a two-month exhibition. “We collected 93 pieces of art, and no one said, 'No.' It was one of our best attended shows,” he said.

Tom Apple, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, also thanked donors. “The legacy of these gifts is manifold,” he said. “They will be used to educate future generations of students to create and study art and culture. They will also provide untold hours of pleasure to those who visit our museums simply to enjoy the wonderful works that reside here, thanks to our generous benefactors.”

As an example of the educational benefit donations such as these can have to a university, Janis Tomlinson, director of University Museums, introduced three students who worked on the Litt collection.

Lorena Baines, Ellery Foutch and Dawn Morehouse, art history graduate students, worked directly with each collection in the research, transfer and inventory of the gifts.

Emily Ruby, a history graduate student researched and wrote the texts for the “Objects of Desire” display. She said the history of some of the pieces was fascinating, especially a mid-19th-Century lithograph portrait of famous conjoined twins Eng and Chang Bunker.

She said in researching the twins, born in Siam in 1811, she learned that they were discovered by a British merchant at age 13. He put them in sideshows, but they soon took control of their celebrity and arranged tours of the U.S. and Europe. In their 20s, they bought a farm in North Carolina, married sisters, had a total of 21 children and died within hours of each other at age 63.

Barbara Stein, an art director in UD’s Office of Public Relations, with the artwork she donated to the University Gallery--‘Red Devil,’ a 1988 pastel by Deborah Deichler

Yeonjoo Kim, a graduate student in art conservation, worked on a Grant Wood painting of a church in ruins with sunlight streaming through its deteriorating windows. She explained that there were stains on the spots in the church where the sunlight rested making the brush strokes look murky. She analyzed the material that had dulled the sunspots and when she discovered its chemical makeup, she was able to remove it, restoring the painting's original brightness.

When not on display, collections are available to students for study in all disciplines.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Duane Perry

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