UNews - Juliet Graham

Companion pieces by artist Joan Miró reunited after 60 years

caroline.zentner — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 17:36:47 +0000

In 1955, when two drawings by Spanish artist Joan Miró were up for sale at the Curt Valentin Gallery in New York, Roloff Beny (LLD’72), a Medicine Hat-born artist and internationally known photographer who frequently shopped at the gallery, contacted his good friend, Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess (DFA ’04), with a proposition.

The two Miró drawings flank a photo of Beny and Hess taken in 1974.

Beny wrote to Hess about “two small but superb Miró drawings” that he could get a better price on if he bought both. Hess took him up on the offer, buying her Miró drawing from the gallery via Beny the same year.

“The drawing titled Composition stayed with Beny and came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 1982 as a gift from Roloff,” says Juliet Graham, U of L Art Gallery registrar. “The drawing titled Sun Moon & Man stayed with Marmie and ended up here because of her bequest. This is the first time they’ve been together again in 60 years.”

The two drawings are currently being exhibited in the U of L’s Hess Gallery, along with a photo of Beny and Hess taken at the McIntyre Ranch in the winter of 1974 (courtesy of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Special Collections). The exhibit, Collected by Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Hess: Roloff Beny, explores the relationship between Beny and Hess. The works on display illustrate the scope of Beny’s practice and his influence on the international art Hess collected.

“This show is all about the friendship of Roloff and Marmie,” says Graham. “Marmie followed Roloff’s career and kept a scrapbook of his achievements.”

Beny and Hess met at the Banff School of Fine Arts (now the Banff Centre) in the early 1940s, where Hess was teaching and Beny, 15 years old at the time, was studying with H.G. Glyde, a well-known Alberta artist. Even though Hess was eight years older than Beny, the two stayed in touch and became close friends. Beny advised Hess on many of her art purchases.

Beny passed away in 1984 at the age of 60 and Hess served on an advisory committee to his estate which unanimously determined that Beny’s collection of more than 1,000 artworks should come to the U of L.

When Hess passed away at the age of 100 in 2016, many pieces in her art collection, including her Miró drawing, were donated to the U of L. The drawing might have been lost forever if not for a keen-eyed executor who went through her personal papers and effects one by one.

The Collected by Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Hess: Roloff Beny exhibit is open until Thursday, August 29 in the Hess Gallery, located on the sixth floor of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Centre for the Arts.

They're back!

caroline.zentner — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 22:43:53 +0000

After a two-year absence, the six maquettes, or preliminary models, that were perched on the seventh-floor plant deck of the Atrium are back pointing, waving and peering after being reinstalled in their boxes.

From the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Collection; gift of an anonymous supporter, 1995. Workers install Man & Child next to the Waver and Pointer figures.

They’ve been joined by four new figures and all are characters from The Audience sculpture by Canadian artist Michael Snow. They are about a third of the size of the final figures that are suspended above the two main entrances to Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

“Each character has such a strong personality and, after two years, it’s really good to see your friends again,” said David Smith, assistant curator/preparator with the Art Gallery.

The original six, including Pointer, Bruiser, Binoculars, Point-to-Sky, Man & Child and Waver, were taken down after a structural problem with the deck was identified in 2016. The statues were not in danger of falling but a restraining handrail was beginning to bend as a result of pressure from two steel cables attached to two of the sculptures. They were moved to the U of L’s Art Vault while reinforcements were made to the plant deck.

Ribbon Bronx Cheer

While they were in storage, students in Museum Studies helped to clean the sculptures using

Binoculars

cotton swabs and a special conservation detergent. Given to the U of L by an anonymous donor in 1995, the maquettes are made of wood, foam, burlap and plaster. They vary in size with an average weight between 75 and 85 kilograms.

“While we missed the sculptures the two years they were down, it gave our students the chance to learn about hands-on collection care, cleaning, repairing and the whole process of doing a project,” says Juliet Graham, Art Gallery registrar.

The four new maquettes installed include Ribbon Bronx Cheer, Blow-a-Kiss, Fatso and Thumbs Down. Still in storage are Heart Attack, Nose Thumber, Camera and V-for-Victory. Art Gallery staff hoped to display all 14, but the final four can’t be installed yet because their box interferes with a drop-down screen attached to a nearby concrete beam.

Exhibit explores act of artistic conservation

trevor.kenney — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:00:44 +0000

A new gallery exhibit on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus brings exposure to the behind-the-scenes activity that keeps art alive and well in our community.

"Preventive conservation is a continual and on-going process that combats the process of aging and deterioration of artist's media," says Juliet Graham, co-curator of the exhibition entitled Caring for the Collection in the Helen Christou Gallery, running Oct. 26 through Dec. 24.

The opening reception for Caring for the Collection is in the Main Gallery on Friday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m.

"This exhibition has been created as a snapshot to illustrate the team approach to preservation through the daily, behind-the-scenes work that goes into preserving the U of L Art Collection and to demonstrate to the community that the collection is being maintained and protected for future generations," says Graham. "Included in the exhibition are works that have received conservation treatment along with in-depth text, photographs and videos, which show some of the behind-the-scenes activities of collections and explains the importance of this work to our cultural heritage."

UNews - Juliet Graham

Companion pieces by artist Joan Miró reunited after 60 years

Related Topics

They're back!

Related Topics

Exhibit explores act of artistic conservation

Related Topics