UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 5, Page 1
October 3, 1991
University Gallery exhibition to feature private artworks

     William Homer spent the first six months of this year on a
treasure hunt in Delaware and part of Pennsylvania, tracking down
some extraordinary paintings, drawings and sculptures.
     The treasures he found make up the "Brandywine Valley to the
Bay: Art from Private Collections" exhibition, which opens tomorrow
at the University Gallery and runs until Nov. 3.
     As guest curator, Homer, who is H. Rodney Sharp Professor of
Art History and chairperson of the department, has had as a primary
responsibility the location and selection of artworks in private
collections for the show.
     Once the decision was made to hold a collectors' exhibition,
the search was on, and Homer, literally, hit the road from Chadds
Ford to Rehoboth, clocking hundreds of miles, in his quest for
works of art for the exhibition.
     It helped that Homer has taught art history and lived in this
area for 25 years, and is active in the local art scene. He began
his search by talking to collectors he knows, and they, in turn,
suggested other sources. "The effort snowballed so that in the end
93 works of art from 38 collectors are on loan for the exhibition,"
Homer said.
     Homer also helped to form an Exhibition Advisory Committee,
chaired by Ruth du Pont of Centerville. The nucleus of this group
was the art history subcommittee of the College of Arts and
Science's Arts and Humanities Scholarship Committee. "This group of
community-minded individuals who had shown their interest in the
University of Delaware and the art history program, all agreed to
help with the exhibition project, and their contributions as a
working committee were invaluable," Homer said.
     Homer found treasures in the area that surprised him with
their variety and intrinsic artistic merit.
     "I was impressed with the discriminating judgment shown by
collectors and the high-calibre quality of the works of art in the
private collections," he said.
     The collectors were very different people-from young
professionals who were just beginning to collect art to families
whose works of art had been handed down from generation to
generation. The common bond the collectors shared, Homer said, was
their enthusiasm and willingness to share their works of art
through the University Gallery exhibition.
     The kinds of art owned by the collectors varied also: some
collecting medieval sculpture, others collecting abstract modern
art, some interested in art from the Orient, and still others
focusing on works by artists of the Brandywine Valley.
     After the collectors gave permission to exhibit their works of
art, the next task awaiting Homer was editing the catalog and
writing several articles for it. The catalog, which will be sold at
the exhibition, features 92 photographs, 44 of them in color, and
articles about each artist and the specific work that is on
exhibition.
     The catalog is very important as a permanent record of this
unusual and outstanding exhibition, Homer said.
     " 'The Brandywine Valley to the Bay' project has been carried
out in a professional manner and has given students invaluable
experience. The exhibition is the result of the cooperation of many
individuals, including Belena Chapp and the gallery staff, the
collectors, the advisory committee, members of the University staff
and students. It is my hope that everyone at the University will
take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to see these works of
art, many of which have never been shown publicly before."
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure