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Selections from Advancing American Art
October 24, 2009–January 23, 2010
Chi Omega-Hargis Gallery
The 36 paintings and works on paper in JCSM’s Advancing American Art collection constitute one of the most significant components of our permanent collection.
Sadly, yet for good reasons, these well-loved works cannot be placed on view in the galleries in a “permanent” installation. Limited exhibition space, the need to accommodate other projects, and the fact that works on paper are harmed by too prolonged exposure to light all contribute to the necessity to rotate this and other collections on and off the walls. This fall, however, we are pleased to bring many of the works back from their recent respite to highlight anew this seminal art in the museum’s collection.
Paintings by Arthur Dove, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe and Ben Shahn are among the featured works in the exhibition. Originally part of a group of over 100 works of art assembled by the U.S. State Department in 1946 to demonstrate the ascendancy of American modern art, the works came to Auburn University in 1948. The State Department’s plan to purchase and tour the art worldwide as a form of cultural diplomacy stirred much controversy in the popular press and Congress. Forced to abandon the project, the government sold the collection as surplus property. The Art Department at Auburn University was among the successful bidders, acquiring one of the two largest groups of lots in the auction, which were transferred later to the JCSM collection. This fall’s reinstallation offers a chance for viewing again in advance of a planned reunion of the original 119 works for a major exhibition and publication in 2012 organized collaboratively by JCSM, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, and the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia.
Louis Guglielmi (1906 - 1956)
Subway Exit 1946
oil on canvas
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University;
Advancing American Art Collection
