Norman exhibit studies American artists’ Russian roots
Ghislain d’Humieres, director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, talks about “American Artists from the Russian Empire,” an art exhibit opening Saturday. (Photo by Steve Sisney/The Oklahoman)
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman. To see a video and slide show of the exhibit, click here.
Russian-born American artists highlighted
University of Oklahoma museum one of only two U.S. venues to showcase collection
NORMAN – At first glance, an abstract sculpture of bright red pipes, a colorful portrait of King Solomon and a cubist still life painting might not seem to have much in common.
But the works by Alexander Liberman, Leon Gaspard and Max Weber are part of an important international exhibit exploring the key influence of Russian immigrant artists on 20th century American art.
The exhibit “American Artists from the Russian Empire” will open Saturday at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma. The museum will be the first of four venues to host the exhibit of more than 70 paintings and sculptures by famed artists such as Nicolai Fechin, Mark Rothko, Ben Shahn and Alexis Arapoff.
All are renowned 20th century American artists, but they were actually born and raised in the Russian Empire, said Ghislain d’Humieres, the museum’s director and chief curator.
“This exhibition … is studying the connection between their background as Russians and their life as Americans and how much of that appeared in their work,” he said.
Since the Russian Empire was a “mosaic of principalities and kingdoms,” the exhibit includes artists born Russia as well as in the Ukraine, Poland and Armenia. Differences in religion, culture and family background give the artwork diversity.
About half of the artists, especially those who were Jewish and faced persecution, came to the United States before the Russian Revolution of 1917. The others came later, when the Soviets under Lenin and Stalin prohibited freedom of expression.
“The Russians were an extremely artistic people, they had a … wonderful sense of beauty and culture and they brought that with them when the moved to America,” he said.
Only a few of them were successful artists when they left Russia; most of them were poor and worked other jobs so they could practice their art. When they became famous, they were identified as Americans.
While some continued to paint images of their homeland, others adopted a style that couldn’t be obviously tied to their Russian roots.
OU President David Boren said the international exhibit is one of the most significant to ever come to the university.
“Oklahomans will have a chance to see a remarkable exhibition by Russians in America. Only two states in the U.S. will be visited by this exhibit,” Boren said.
Evgenia Petrova, deputy director for science at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, curated the exhibit. It took the Maryland-based Foundation for International Arts and Education two years to put it together, d’Humieres said.
Lenders include the Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and private collections including those of Kate Rothko and Mary Arapoff, whose fathers are among the artists in the exhibit. The OU museum is loaning about 10 works.
The exhibit will be shown at OU until Jan. 4 and then travel to the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and then the San Diego Museum of Art in California. Most of these works have never been shown in Russia.
“This is the first time all of these paintings have been put together on American ground, and this is the first time they’re all going back to Russia,” d’Humieres said.
He added, “With the situation in the world, with what’s going on between Russia and the U.S., well, this is a perfect example that even if sometimes we have differences between the countries, in art, we’re still collaborating.”
ON EXHIBIT
What: “American Artists from the Russian Empire.”
Where: Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., on the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus.
Opening: A public opening reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. A lecture with Derrick R. Cartwright, executive director of the San Diego Museum of Art, and an exhibit walk-through with curator Evgenia Petrova of the State Russian Museum will be at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Through: The exhibit at the OU Museum until Jan. 4.
Activities: The museum is planning a full slate of activities related to Russian culture, including lectures, movies, concerts and a Russian photography exhibit opening Nov. 8.
Information: Call 325-3272 or www.ou.edu/fjjma.
-BAM
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